On Friday, countries failed to come to an agreement on the WHO’s international pandemic treaty by the deadline; however, WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus says he hasn’t given up.

“Of course, we all wish that we had been able to reach a consensus on the agreement in time for this health assembly and cross the finish line,” said Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus following the failure.

“I remain confident that you still will because where there is a will, there is a way. I know that there remains among you a common will to get this done.”

Ghebreyesus further said that the impetus for the pandemic treaty was COVID-19 and the overall death count, claiming that due to the virus, “the whole world was taken hostage” and that a pandemic treaty is urgently needed.

Unsurprisingly, he did not mention the strict lockdowns imposed by governments in which people’s freedom of movement and bodily autonomy were completely eroded—the same powers the WHO would be able to utilize should countries sign the treaty.

Delayed but not abolished

While there was a lot of push for the pandemic treaty toward the end of the lockdowns, many member states of the World Health Assembly refused to sign on, citing issues such as a lack of equity in terms of medical supply access and possible threats to national sovereignty.

Specifically, the original draft of the treaty would allow the WHO to dictate health policy around the world any time a pandemic was declared, including mandating lockdowns, and decide when said pandemic was declared.

The legally binding nature of the pandemic treaty was a key point of contention, which the WHO reluctantly had to remove from the pact as they became increasingly desperate to have it passed.

In fact, two weeks ago, the UK refused to sign on for just that reason.

“Unless the current text is changed and refined, we will not be signing up,” said UK Health Minister Andrew Stephenson.

He added that Britain would only support the treaty if it is “firmly in the United Kingdom’s national interest” and respects national sovereignty.

“Under no circumstances will we allow the WHO to have the power to mandate lockdowns; this would be unthinkable and has never been proposed. Protecting our sovereignty is a British red line,” Stephenson said.

Now, according to a senior US official, despite the Biden administration’s commitment to eventually signing the treaty, it’s likely there will be another 1–2 years of talks before any headway is made—a major setback for the WHO.

And if the world’s biggest economy doesn’t sign on, then really, what’s the point of a ‘global’ treaty?