General Assembly Resolution #566 “Epidemic Investigation Act” (Category: Health; Area of Effect: Research) shall be struck out and rendered null and void.
Knowing that Article 1 of GA#566 allows the World Health Authority (WHA) to send inspectors into member states in order to investigate disease outbreaks,
Concerned that it also demands that such members share with those inspectors any information they request, except that sensitive information for which the Independent Adjudicative Office (IAO) finds its “likely harm to international public health interests” to be greater than its “likely harm of release” - even if those interests are entirely unrelated to the disease outbreak in question, and even if the release of that information would infringe on trade secrets and matters of doctor-patient confidentiality,
Noting that, while Article 3 allows non-members to invite WHA inspectors to discharge their Article 1 duties within their own jurisdiction, it also requires them to “comply with Section 1… as if it were a member” and allows the IAO to “declare appropriate sanctions to be enforced by member nations against the nation” if they do not, without any stated time limit or other conditions for withdrawal stated,
Befuddled that Article 2 demands members collect statistics on disease spread while failing to require the collection of any additional information that could be more specific or helpful, or even the publication of any recommendations to prevent the spread of diseases, leading to a potential strain on resources for little benefit felt in many members,
Doubting GA#566’s assertation that “even with the provisions of GA 53 “Epidemic Response Act”, many governments still will downplay epidemics,” given that GA#53 requires member states to let WHA inspectors “travel to the affected area to… conduct research… or report the latest developments to the international community,” to provide more detailed reports about disease outbreaks than Article 2 describes, and to share disease-causing “pathogen samples” with the WHA’s Epidemic and Pandemic Alert and Response Center, and
Concluding that the overreach inherent in GA#566 - most notably its almost-unconditional requirements that member states hand over even irrelevant data to the WHA should they demand it - and the fact that it does little of value that GA#53 does not do warrants its repeal without any further replacement…
The General Assembly hereby repeals GA#566 “Epidemic Investigation Act.”