The pandemic treaty was first proposed due to the Covid-19 pandemic that began in 2020. This treaty has been proposed by the World Health Organization, backed by the United Nations. It is currently in a Zero Draft and is not expected to be completed until 2024. 

The Zero Draft of the pandemic treaty mainly outlines recommendations that the World Health Organization has for those aligned with the UN, in times of global pandemics. This includes ways that countries should respond to global pandemics, how we can prevent them, and how we may prepare for them. The primary problem with this pandemic treaty, which can likely be attributed to it being in the earlier stages of its development, is that it is in general very vague, especially when concerned with the enforcement of these “recommendations.” The draft also lacks a detailed outline of what exactly these recommendations will be. 

While this pandemic treaty may have benefits, the United States should not be allowing a health authority to determine what our country does during times of strife but rather should be allowing the Citizens of the United States to vote on ways that we can prevent, prepare, and respond to global pandemics in accordance to our constitution. The pandemic treaty is a developing issue and should continue to be looked at as it evolves into its final stages, however, as of now, We The People do not support Congress joining this treaty. 

Trust and Freedom Initiative: 

Recently, as more and more talk of the Pandemic Treaty has been discussed, and more members of the EU are moving forward toward accepting this “treaty,” citizens in other countries are taking a stand and have formed an initiative called the Trust and Freedom initiative which “ is a resolute response to the power consolidation observed in governments and institutions, where extensive negotiations with non-governmental and non-transparent organizations, such as the World Health Organization (WHO), occur. Citizens express concerns about the looming threat to freedom of choice, particularly regarding personal health decisions, as well as a loss of trust in governmental institutions negotiating legal documents such as amendments to the International Health Regulations (IHR) and the proposed WHO Treaty.” This initiative would allow citizens to have a greater voice when it comes to decisions about how to respond to things like, for  example, another pandemic, rather than a giant institution. 

 This initiative is a step in the right direction to the rejection of WHO’s pandemic treaty.