Thread by @alexandraphelan

Australia has called for legal amendments to give the @WHO power to investigate outbreaks similar to UN weapons inspectors.

1. How would this be done legally? What are the implications? I haven't done a thread in a while, so here we go.

smh.com.au/politics/feder…

2. When States revised the International Health Regulations after SARS in 2005 they sought to balance sovereignty w public health but there was a "subtle but undeniable dilution of sovereign control" @Gianlucaburci, w WHO able to investigate reports from other states/ngos/media.

3. Another example of this sovereignty dilution: if a State doesn't accept WHO's offer to assist with investigating reports of an outbreak they may have, WHO may share the report with other States if it poses a public health risk (art 10).

4. These were considered big shifts in @WHO's authority. Australia's proposal to have investigation teams wld be profoundly expanding these powers & require revision of the IHR. This would likely get significant push back from major powers because of the sovereignty issue.

5. However, States have agreed to investigation mechanisms in other international regimes: notably arms control treaties like Chemical Weapons & Biological Weapons treaties. The mechanisms under these treaties operate differently & there's controversy about their (lack of) use.

6. There are a lot of potential lessons from intersections between arms control & public health (examples below) however we should examine carefully incorporating blame or punitive measures into public health accountability lest we risk countries becoming even less transparent.

7. Example 1
Last year, We (@RebeccaKatz5 Michelle Rourke & me) produced & presented @BWCISU this White Paper as part of @georgetown_ghss & ILIAID.

Accessing Biological Samples for United Nations Secretary-General Mechanism Investigations

georgetown.app.box.com/s/ynejnxbou0vg…

8. Example 2
At @georgetown_ghss we've been examining potential revisions of the IHR & mechanisms for some time.

Here is @RebeccaKatz5's piece last year on the argument States should adopt a Review Conference framework (like BWC).

nature.com/articles/d4158…

9. Finally, any investigations mechanism proposal must answer:
– when can WHO use power?
– is WHO right body for this power?

WHO is already underfunded and unsupported in the use of the powers it does have: giving WHO more powers without more support is a recipe for failure.