There is an interesting conversation around what is commonly known as the WHO Pandemic Preparedness Treaty: changes to the International Health Regulations (2005) (IHR). Started in 2021 "The main goal of this treaty would be to foster an all of government and all of society approach, strengthening national, regional and global capacities and resilience to future pandemics. This includes greatly enhancing international co-operation to improve, for example, alert systems, data-sharing, research and local, regional and global production and distribution of medical and public health counter-measures such as vaccines, medicines, diagnostics and personal protective equipment."
I think this is the latest draft.(at least, it is a late draft), and the the opening peroration mentions that signatories are
"Recognizing the importance of building trust and ensuring the timely sharing of information to
prevent misinformation, disinformation and stigmatization,"
It was hoped that it would have been finalised in time for a high level conference at the end of May 2024. Then it was agreed at the start of the conference that there would be a statement at the end of the conference (here) with agreement to finalise things in 2025 at the latest. Part of the problem is reaching agreement over information sharing.
My attention was drawn to it by this article, which clains that the process has been delayed by the spread of disinformation: https://www.thinkglobalhealth.org/article/safeguarding-pandemic-agreement-disinformation
There is a useful summary on the UK Government website https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-9550/ It seems like a former UK Prime Minister was an early signatory, but last month the UK Government said it wouldn't sign it but "did not explicitly state the reasons for this". The implication seems to be that it has believed some of the misinformation that was spread....
Photo by Sheila Webber: trees in Stanley Park, Vancouver, Canada, May 2024
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