Original article (in Slovenian) was published on 23/01/2023
The World Health Assembly (WHA), a body of the World Health Organisation (WHO), will decide next year on amendments to the International Health Regulations submitted last autumn by 15 of the WHO’s 194 member states.
On 12 January, the website Triglav Media published on the content sharing platform BitChute, under the headline What are they talking about at the secret meeting of the criminal WHO?, proposed amendments to the International Health Regulations supposedly prepared by the World Health Organisation (WHO)
As of the time of writing, the post was shared by almost 300 Facebook users, including in the groups We Are Not Giving Our Children with 28,800 members, Civil Initiative of Slovenian Jurists with 18,200 members, and Pan-Slovenian National Uprising with 5,800 members.
Triglav Media claimed, among other things, that the WHO had produced a final version of the proposed changes to the International Health Regulations (IHR) at a secret meeting of the International Health Regulations Review Committee (IHRRC) during the week of 9-15 January.
The IHR is a legally binding document that sets out rules to prevent international spread of disease in WHO member states. According to the WHO Constitution, the IHR is adopted by the World Health Assembly, which is made up of delegates from all 194 member states.
Last May, the Assembly took note of the report of the Working Group on Improving WHO Emergency Preparedness and Response, which is composed of member states. Proposals for amendments to the Regulations were submitted by 15 countries. Some of them were submitted on behalf of several countries, bringing the total number of proposers to 94.
The Assembly decided that the proposed amendments should be reviewed by the International Health Regulations Review Committee (IHRRC) by 15 January to verify, among other things, whether they meet the intent of the Regulations and whether they are consistent with other articles of the Regulations and the WHO Constitution. On this basis, a working group of WHO Member States will start to prepare the final versions of the amendments, which the Assembly will decide on next year.
The International Health Regulations Review Committee held its most recent meeting on 12 January. The meetings of the Committee are private under the WHO regulations on expert committees and can only become public by decision of the Committee and with the consent of the WHO director-general. A report on the meeting is also prepared. The last public notice of the 16 December meeting was given on 12 January.
The Committee is likely to report on the proposed changes to the Regulations before the next meeting of the Working Group on Improving WHO Emergency Preparedness and Response, which will take place between 20 and 24 February, the WHO explained to Razkrinkavanje.si. The WHO did not comment on the proposed changes or on the claims made by Triglav Media.
The claim that the WHO finalised the proposed changes to the IHR during the week of 9-15 January is false.
The meetings of the committees are private, according to WHO regulations on expert committees, and the public is informed about the meetings in public reports. The Committee for the Review of the International Health Regulations reported to the public on its last meeting on 12 January. The claim that the IHRRC meeting was held in secret is not true.
Disclosure of personal data
Triglav Media further stated that the proposed amendments would allow the disclosure of personal health data.
According to the International Health Regulations, personal data is any information relating to or identifiable in relation to a specific person. The Regulations do not have detailed provisions on the handling of personal health data.
WHO Member States that collect personal data or have it transmitted to them by other countries are required by Article 45 of the Regulations to ensure the confidentiality and anonymity of the persons concerned, in accordance with national law. Countries may disclose and process personal data when necessary for the assessment and management of a health emergency, but they must do so responsibly, fairly and lawfully, and must not keep the data longer than necessary.
Indonesia has tabled an amendment to Article 45 of the Regulations which would allow countries to disclose personal data only to competent personnel when necessary for the assessment and management of a health emergency, and to obtain the consent of the disclosing country before disclosing, copying and storing the data.
However, according to the Esvatini amendment to Article 45, personal data should not be copied or stored by the WHO or a member state without consent.
The unnamed author of the publication has misrepresented the proposed amendments to Article 45 of the International Health Regulations since disclosure of personal data is already allowed under the current Regulations under certain conditions. The claim is manipulative.