US Ambassador Pamela Hamamoto<\/p>\n
The meetings of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) to facilitate the negotiation of the WHO CA+ (\u201cPandemic Treaty\u201d) have largely been conducted in secret.<\/p>\n
The INB met again this past week, and the vast majority of the meetings and the documents were NOT made available.<\/strong><\/p>\n CLICK HERE for the latest meeting info<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n The very word Secrecy is repugnant in a free and open society<\/p>\n — John F. Kennedy<\/p>\n The United States has been accused of supporting a \u2018Veil of Secrecy\u2019 over the negotiations regarding the WHO CA+ (\u201cPandemic Treaty\u201d).<\/p>\n International Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) and activists have called out the United States for siding with China to exclude the public from seeing drafts of the pandemic accord<\/strong> as it is being negotiated by World Health Organization (WHO) member states.<\/p>\n The letter arises from China and US opposition to a proposal by the European Union (EU) that \u201call inputs and additions to the zero draft should be available to all stakeholders\u201d, which was made during the fourth meeting<\/a> of the WHO\u2019s Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) that is thrashing out the accord.<\/p>\n However, China insisted that the marked-up version of the pandemic treaty zero draft should be circulated only to \u201cdrafting group participants\u201d, and this was backed by the US.<\/strong><\/p>\n US Ambassador Pamela Hamamoto stated: \u201cI think at this stage, I have some concern about sharing the draft to all stakeholders given where we are in the process and so I just want to be careful about that and certainly if we are sharing it with all stakeholders [we] would support removing the attribution of member states.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cThe attempt to create a veil of secrecy now surrounding the substantive and technical text-based negotiations on the WHO pandemic treaty sets a dangerous precedent for norm-setting at the multilateral level,\u201d the group says in a letter sent on Wednesday to the US Secretary of Health and Human Services, Xavier Becerra, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken.<\/p>\n Excluding the public \u201cundermines trust in the process at a time when attacks on the WHO and on the pandemic accord are increasing\u201d,<\/strong> according to the letter signatories, which include Health Action International (HAI), Knowledge Ecology International (KEI), Oxfam America, People\u2019s Vaccine Alliance (PVA), Public Citizen and STOPAIDS.<\/p>\n \u201cNo one doubts the ability of industry lobbyists to obtain access to the negotiating text documents, creating an information and influence asymmetry that is inappropriate for public health norm-setting,\u201d they added.<\/strong><\/p>\n In contrast to the INB process, negotiations at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) are public, and observers can access the draft texts under discussion, including those with member-state attributions, the signatories pointed out.<\/p>\n https:\/\/healthpolicy-watch.news\/us-accused-of-supporting-veil-of-secrecy-over-pandemic-accord-negotiations-as-who-extends-countries-textual-deadline<\/a><\/p>\n Read the entire letter:<\/p>\n https:\/\/www.keionline.org\/38606<\/a><\/p>\n