Is President Joe Biden "set to sell America's sovereignty to globalists" at the World Health Organization (WHO)? No, that's not true: Proposed U.S. amendments to WHO rules are aimed at strengthening the organization's ability to prevent, detect and respond to public health emergencies. The amendments do not suggest that the United States, nor any country, cede its sovereignty. WHO has no authority to dictate the policy decisions of its member states, including the United States.
The claim appeared in a story (archived here) published by One America News Network (OAN) on May 18, 2022. Titled "Biden set to sell America's sovereignty to globalists at WHO on May 22," the story consisted of a caption and a roughly eight-minute video. The caption read:
On Sunday, May 22 the sovereignty of America will be up for a vote at the World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland. One America's Pearson Sharp has more.
Users on social media saw this title, description and thumbnail:
Biden set to sell America's sovereignty to globalists at WHO on May 22
On Sunday, May 22 the sovereignty of America will be up for a vote at the World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland. One America's Pearson Sharp has more.
In the video, Sharp expounds on the claim, stating at the 0:12 mark:
On May 22, America's sovereignty could very well be handed over to the globalist despots at the World Health Organization. Beginning on Sunday, Biden's communist regime has vowed to put control over America's entire health care system up for a vote at the World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland.
Sharp was referring to an upcoming meeting of the World Health Assembly, the main decision-making body of WHO. The assembly will be held in Geneva from May 22 to May 28, 2022. On its agenda (see page four) are amendments that the United States has proposed to the existing International Health Regulations (IHR). The amendments can be read here.
As can be seen in the actual text, there is no mention that the United States -- nor any country -- cede its sovereignty to WHO. WHO has no authority to dictate the policy decisions of its member states, including the United States.
Lawrence Gostin, a professor at Georgetown University and director of the WHO Collaborating Center on National and Global Health Law, addressed the sovereignty claim on Twitter, writing:
The IHR & WHO have no control whatsoever over national health care policy or programs. That is entirely a matter for the sovereign nation to decide. The WHO can make recs after a declaration of a global emergency, but they are just recs & non-binding.
-- Lawrence Gostin (@LawrenceGostin) May 19, 2022
OAN's Sharp further alleged, at 1:05 in the video, that the United States would be "forced to obey whatever the WHO says is best for us." He said, sarcastically:
That includes lockdowns, and mandatory vaccinations, and whatever else they can cook up for us helpless citizens.
Lead Stories has previously debunked the lockdown claim, as can be read here. Just as WHO will not have sovereignty over the United States, WHO will not have the authority to lock down the United States, nor will it have the power to mandate vaccinations.
WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus spoke about some of the false stories circulating on May 17, 2022. He said:
Unfortunately, there has been a small minority of groups making misleading statements and purposefully distorting facts. I want to be crystal clear. WHO's agenda is public, open and transparent. WHO stands strongly for individual rights. We passionately support everyone's right to health and we will do everything we can to ensure that the right is realised.
The first ever World Health Assembly, which took place soon after the WHO Constitution entered into force in 1948, was a watershed event in global public health and, like the proposed pandemic preparedness accord, this did not mean WHO usurped nations' sovereignty, in fact it strengthened countries' ability to fight diseases together.
WHO is an expression of Member States' own sovereignty and WHO is entirely what the sovereign 194 Member States want WHO to be. Every year, the sovereign governments come together at the World Health Assembly to set the health agenda for the world. Individually we can't beat pandemics. Our best chance is together.
Lead Stories reached out to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to ask about the proposed amendments. We will update this story, as appropriate, if we receive a response.
According to the United States, the aim of its amendments is to strengthen the ability of WHO to prevent, detect and respond to public health emergencies of international concern.
On May 13, 2022, we also reached out to WHO, which responded by saying, "Please note, this is a Member State led process," in effect referring the question back to its member states, including the United States.
