Putting this here as a placeholder:
In preparation for the next outbreak, he said the clock is ticking on nations to come together and sign an international agreement on pandemic preparedness, with just 15 weeks left on the timeline agreed upon in 2021. Tedros said the treaty, which the Biden administration has been involved in negotiating, is a set of commitments by countries to strengthen the world’s defense with a “one health” approach.
While ‘Disease X’ is a hypothetical placeholder virus that has not yet been formed, scientists say it could be 20 times deadlier than COVID.
It would involve cooperation in research and development, access to vaccines and other products and sharing of information, technology and biological samples.
He cited two reasons why a consensus has not been reached. The first is nations have some differences, but he was confident they would be worked through.
The second major barrier, he said, is the “litany of lies and conspiracy theories about the agreement.”
“That it’s a power grab by the World Health Organization. That it will cede sovereignty to WHO. That it will give WHO power to impose lockdowns or vaccine mandates on countries. That it’s an ‘attack on freedom.’ That WHO will not allow people to travel, and that WHO wants to control people’s lives.
“These are some of the lies that are being spread. If they weren’t so dangerous, these lies would be funny. But they put the health of the world’s people at risk. And that is no laughing matter.
“These claims are utterly, completely, categorically false. … Anyone who says it will is either uninformed or lying.”
WHO director warns Disease X outbreak is 'a matter of when, not if' (nypost.com)