On Friday, as the International Negotiating Body were admitting that they were unable to reach an agreement on the text of the Pandemic Treaty, corporate media were trying to salvage whatever credibility the World Health Organisation’s (“WHO’s”) pandemic plans had left, if any.
Writing for The New York Times, Apoorva Mandavilli’s article ranged from the sublime to the ridiculous, according to Dr. Mery Nass.
‘Countries Fail to Agree on Treaty to Prepare the World for the Next Pandemic’, The New York Times headed its article. Followed by the lede: “Negotiators plan to ask for more time. Among the sticking points are equitable access to vaccines and financing to set up surveillance systems.”
WHO was hoping to present two pandemic instruments to the 77th World Health Assembly (“WHA77”) for adoption. One is the Pandemic Treaty, also referred to as the Pandemic Accord, and the other is the amendments to the International Health Regulations (2005) (“IHR”).
“Negotiators had hoped to adopt the treaty this week,” The New York Times noted, “But cancelled meetings and fractious debates – sometimes over a single word – stalled agreement on key sections, including equitable access to vaccines.”
But regarding the IHR amendments, The New York Times only made one small mention: “The countries are also working on bolstering the WHO’s International Health Regulations, which were last revised in 2005 and set detailed rules for countries to follow in the event of an outbreak that may breach borders.”
The New York Times followed the corporate media line that we’ve been witnessing of late, fear-mongering about a bird flu outbreak. The author of the article, Apoorva Mandavilli, also threw in mpox (formerly called monkeypox) and smallpox for good measure. The “fear” of both had made a comeback in the press during the first half of 2022 before being stomped out fairly quickly by pesky “conspiracy theorists” but it seems they could be resurrected again.
Hellbound and Down 