'Controlling' pandemics: Will our chowkidar blow trumpet, oppose arbitrary WHO move?

By Dr Amitav Banerjee, MD* 
Ezekiel, the prophet-priest of ancient Israel, in his parable of the watchman more than 2,500 years ago, conveyed, “You are the watchman for many people and we thank you for that...when one brings the sword against the people of the land...their watchman sees the sword coming ... and blows the trumpet to warn the people ... if anyone hears the trumpet but does not heed the warning ... the sword comes and takes their lives the blood will be on their own hands since they heard the trumpet but did not heed the warning.”
The world leaders of 194 countries who are members of the World Health Organisation (WHO) are the watchmen today. They need to heed the sword looming above their heads and blow the trumpet to warn their people and save them and their land before it is too late. The sword today is in the form of the amendments to the International Health Regulations (IHR). The last thing the people are prepared post pandemic is fear mongering, so it is very important that we get the facts straight.
Most of the discussion on the WHO Pandemic Treaty in the media can be a red herring to the real issues which are being pushed through surreptitiously and furiously. These revolve around the amendments to the IHR which were adopted by the World Health Assembly on 27 May 2022 and the deadline to reject these amendments which is 18 months from this date falls on 01 Dec 2023, i.e. about two months from now.
There are 300 amendments to the IHR that were submitted in September 30th of 2022 and are being secretly negotiated with a view to submit it to the IHR Review Committee on 15 December 2023. What makes it sinister is that there has been no release of any revised addition or version 2.0, no public comments, no debate in Parliament and no mention in the news about these amendments.
Unelected, unaccountable and largely unknown delegates from 194 countries meet in Geneva during the World Health Assembly meetings like they did in 2022 and adopted amendments to the IHR giving it a false assumption of acceptance by all these 194 nations. The process is not democratic as these country delegates are unelected and do not represent the people of their country.
Here comes the role of the watchmen or chowkidars of these 194 nations to blow the trumpet. They have to step up and write to the WHO invoking article 61 of the WHO constitution and reject these amendments. Strangely, none of the chowkidars has stepped forward to say no in these past 16 months. There is only 2 months to go.
In the UK, Canada, and Australia there are official petition mechanisms. In the UK there are already over 100,000 signatures and the people of this country are waiting for a scheduled discussion on these issues. The secrecy on part of the most governments is intriguing. If there is no rejection by a leader of any country, these amendments with draconian provisions will be deemed to be accepted by default.
The last amendments to the IHR were in 2005 after the SARS-CoV-1 and the anthrax scare. These amendments were quite reasonable and in fact did not recommend unwarranted restrictions to trade and travel which were likely to cause harm to the economy. The recent pandemic saw gross violations of these provisions in the IHR 2005.
The severe restrictions on trade and travel caused immense collateral harms to world economies. The Covid-19 response, intended for a virus that mainly targeted the elderly, violated all epidemiological and ethical principles. Most countries experienced a regime of suppression, censorship and coercion reminiscent of fascism.
Instead of detailed analysis of the pandemic response which went astray, it is strange that the WHO is pressing for amendments to the IHR which will have more stringent provisions. What is needed is to pause and examine the costs of such blunt and medieval public health measures which have the potential to cause immense collateral harm and lead to deaths of despair.
The IHR 2005 served the world well for 18 years. So the urgency for pushing through over 300 major amendments in such an unholy haste is not understood. It raises doubts whether the intentions of the WHO are honourable. Initially there were only five amendments, and negotiations were going on at the end of 2021 and suddenly the Biden administration in USA, quietly submitted a bunch of amendments.
These were not brought up for voting or consideration as the responses of many nations indicated that there will be no consensus. Therefore a different set of amendments were submitted at the last minute with UK being one of the nations that signed on as a proponent along with the US and the European Union and Australia, Japan, Monaco and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The chowkidars of the world nations have less than 2 months to reject the 200 pages of amendments to an original 74 pages document. What is the reason? Why the unholy haste? And why in the ensuing 10 months since the amendments were tabled no one discussed or debated the amendments?
This negligence by the leaders of the world can have serious consequences. If any world leader fails to reject the amendments to the IHR by 01 Dec 2023, by default that nation will surrender autonomy to the unelected, unaccountable and the whimsical WHO in case of any future “pandemics.” We are helplessly seeing a bus full of innocent citizens without its handbrake rolling towards the edge of the cliff!
Responsible leaders of the world have a moral duty to pick up the trumpet and blow it loudly to alert the people of the implications of these 300 amendments to the 74 page document of the IHR 2005.
The amendments to the IHR is a misnomer – there is nothing about health in this documentation. It would be more appropriate to name the document, “International Surveillance, Monitoring, Reporting, Emergency Declaring, Fear-Mongering, and Controlling Regulations.” This will become clear if one goes through the amendments.
If the amendments come through by default in a couple of months, due to sleeping chowkidars failing to blow the trumpet and reject the amendments, many will be doomed. It does not require a George Orwell to predict the immediate future in this scenario.

If he blows trumpet, people of India will join him with banging of thalis, lighting of diyas to drive away dark IHR amendments

The amendments can lead to perpetual lockdowns and threaten autonomy of nations. Dr David Bell, a former WHO scientist, has said that the pandemic preparedness will pave the way to International Fascism.
During a “declared pandemic” it will take away the right of citizens to make their own decisions. Pandemics will become self sustaining by creating a bureaucracy who’s “existence will depend on them.” Bureaucrats and career scientists will have a vested interest in finding outbreaks and declaring them potential pandemics.

This will ensure better career prospects for all concerned at the cost of the common citizen. Lockdowns will become a permanent feature of the pandemic response. Corporate interests will dominate. Their influence on decision makings by the WHO has become all too evident in the recent past. 

The pharmaceutical industry is not interested in health and natural resistance of healthy people. They would prefer to prepare products and vaccines for “Disease X” which the career scientists will produce from their hats like a magician!
In such a scenario, the people will be at the mercy of the police and bureaucrats who will be immune to any penalty for any acts carried out in “good faith.” The amendments will promote a police state. Mandatory medical procedures, forced entry into premises, forced isolation and quarantine, have all been proposed in the larger interest of humanity! 

In the recent pandemic even without any amendments to the IHR, most citizens of the world did undergo such experiences. It is frightening to imagine the heights of depravity one may witness when the amendments give legal sanction to such acts.
Can we hope that the bus will not roll off the cliff? There have been some misgivings in the European, British and Australian parliament regarding the amendments. But strangely, there is no debate or deliberations in the parliament of the largest democracy in the world.
But still there is hope. Our chowkidar is known to strike suddenly with an element of surprise. In one of his Maan ki Baats he confessed his love for democracy and strongly expressed that the Emergency during the 1970s was a crime that put the freedom of our people in danger. According to him the Emergency years was a dark period in the history of India.
Hopefully, our chowkidar with claim of strong belief in democracy and freedom of our people, will take all steps to prevent us entering into a dark period of history once again, endangering the freedom of his beloved people. He can pick up the trumpet to warn his people of the looming sword in the form of the IHR amendments before 01 Dec 2023.
And if he blows the trumpet loud and clear, the people of India will join him with banging of “thalis” and lighting of “diyas” to drive away the dark shadows of the amendments to the IHR from Indian soil. Jai Hind!
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*Epidemiologist who is presently Professor in a Medical College at Pune. He had served as an epidemiologist in the armed forces for over two decades. He has written the book, Covid-19 Pandemic: A Third Eye