Antony Thanikkal Verghese

The Need for a Reform of the WHO and for a WHO Pandemic Treaty and Protocols Antony Thanikkal Verghese

The intention of writing this book is not that many read it but rather the right people get to read it. 'Right people' here refers to those who are in influential positions of power to take decisions and have the authority to direct courses of action for the betterment and security of the future of humanity. Right from the time of the inception of the pandemic COVID19 till today there seems to be not a single discourse on the ways and means to avert another pandemic (possibly a more deadly one) in future (possibly in the near future). The current COVID19 pandemic could have been nipped in the bud if there was a single international body with the executive authority of a world treaty which could have acted quickly by immediately following specific set protocols to restrict the spread of the virus to the place of its origin. This would have resulted in millions of lives being saved from the virus and also in saving the world from the severe economic recession that is happening now. For the current COVID19 pandemic the place of origin was the city of Wuhan in China. For the next pandemic (possibly a more deadly one) it could be any city, town or village in any country, in any part of the world. The proposed norms and protocols of this treaty have nothing to do with any particular virus but to restrict/eradicate a highly contagious infection within a small geographical area by a total lockdown of that affected area. Doing this would be crucial in saving lives by averting a pandemic. The help that WHO offers seems to be limited to giving travel advice, giving aid, giving rolling updates on the disease, situational reports, answering questions, etc. all of which are good but the WHO utterly failed in promptly and effectively restricting the highly contagious infection to the area of its origin and then eradicating it. The reform of the WHO is crucial to avert future (maybe more deadly) pandemics because as in the case of the current pandemic and may be also in the case of future pandemics the WHO seems to have no executive powers to exercise a concerted effort to deal with highly contagious infections that are potential pandemics. The failure to avert the COVID19 pandemic was despite the fact that this highly contagious infection was known to the world well in advance. The WHO today is in the midst of controversies (with some reasonable questions being asked) which seem to have tarnished its credibility and hence there is also the need to reform the WHO. Only after a reform of the WHO will the proposed WHO-PTP (WHO - Pandemic Treaty and Protocols) be effective. This book is all about inviting the global community (of individuals, states and organizations) to read the present to 'right' the future. This book focuses only on two points - firstly, reforming the WHO to make it more effective and to preserve its credibility and secondly, to propose a structure and mechanism (an international treaty and protocols) for the WHO to promptly deal with highly contagious infections at its place of origin and thus avert another (may be a more deadly) pandemic in future (maybe even in the very near future). It is a well-known fact that through mutation or by human intervention a virus could possibly cause a pandemic that could even annihilate humanity. Humanity has the 'Sword of Damocles' over it and yet the international community of world citizens seems to be lackadaisical about being prepared to avert the onslaught of pandemics (may be more deadly ones than COVID19) in future. Humanity just cannot afford to be under the siege of yet another (maybe a more deadly) pandemic. Hence it is absolutely crucial that any highly contagious infection (a potential pandemic) in any part of the world must be dealt with promptly and effectively by an efficient organization (possibly by a reformed WHO) armed with the authority of an international treaty and protocols.