The World Health Assembly (WHA), the decision-making body of the United Nation’s World Health Organization (WHO), is currently in its 75th session which began May 22, 2022, and will end on May 28, 2022, in Geneva, Switzerland. This marks the first time since the beginning of COVID-19 that the World Health Assembly has met in person.
While prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, WHO’s scope was relatively unknown to the general public, thanks to its role during the pandemic, the WHO has now been thrust into the spotlight. The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations tasked with ensuring all peoples attain the highest possible level of health. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the WHO has been trying to coordinate global response and safety measures to the pandemic. This is why its decision-making body, the WHA, will meet to discuss among many things, the possibility of a Global Pandemic Treaty.
While usually long, dull, and politicized, this year among the long sonorous speeches emphasizing the importance of good healthcare systems, there was a subdued but nevertheless interesting discussion on both arrears, funding, and the controversial amendments to the International Health Regulations (IHR). In January 2022, the delegation for the United States of America submitted controversial proposed amendments to IHR to be discussed in the current session.
The International Health Regulations, as described on the WHO’s website is a binding “legal framework that defines countries’ rights and obligations in handling public health events and emergencies that have the potential to cross borders.” The IHR was adopted in 2005 and has been in effect since then. However, the delegation for the United States has argued that it needs reformation, hence its amendments. Many people, including U.S. congressmen, have raised concerns regarding these new amendments, mainly that the amendments will increase the WHO’s power and interfere with State sovereignty. It seems that some delegations and non-state actors share the same concerns as many of them, such as Malaysia, Russia, and the Medical Mundis International Health for All expressed concerns about the current far-reaching amendments and emphasized a need to protect state sovereignty.
Among other interesting topics discussed, the delegate from Iran appeared to blame the U.S.A. for Iran’s failure to pay its share to the WHO. The Iranian delegate characterized U.S. sanctions as ‘unlawful and inhuman and unilateral coercive measures” and stated that the sanctions were the cause of Iran being in arrears. The delegate from the United States was quick to reject the suggestion that the economic sanctions were a valid basis or justification for Iran to be in arrears. Nevertheless, the committee ultimately voted in favor of granting Iran’s request for a special repayment plan.
Lastly, on another topic of much discussion was the working group’s report which recommended increasing the core basis of the World Health Organization’s budget to be comprised of 50% of assessed contributions. This recommendation was generally well-received, with some countries calling for an even larger increase, yet Mexico and other small countries expressed concern that there was insufficient information about the effect the increase would have and worried it would place a large burden on less developed countries lacking the resources of other wealthier countries. Notwithstanding, in what the WHO is calling a “Historic Decision”, the committee adopted the report in its full, including the recommendation to increase assessed contributions.
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