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Fact check: False claim about Biden, WHO and U.S. sovereignty

Sudiksha Kochi, USA TODAY
·4 min read

The claim: President Biden is giving the World Health Organization control over U.S. health care and national sovereignty

The World Health Organization's 75th World Health Assembly began May 22 with officials coming together in Switzerland to discuss the COVID-19 pandemic and the WHO's role in international outbreaks.

But some online claim something more nefarious is afoot.

"TERRIFYING. The Biden administration is setting the stage to hand ultimate control of America’s health care system and U.S. national sovereignty over to the World Health Organization," reads a Facebook post shared May 12.

The post claims that the assembly will be voting on proposed amendments the Biden administration sent in January that would allow the organization "to declare an 'international health emergency,' nullifying the powers of nation states."

The post generated over 250 shares in less than a day. Similar posts have amassed hundreds of interactions on Facebook and Instagram.

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But the claim is false.

The amendments referred to in the Facebook post are intended to strengthen a country's reporting measures on public health events, experts told USA TODAY. They would not grant the WHO any authority in the U.S.

USA TODAY reached out to the social media users who shared the claim for comment.

Amendments will not give WHO authority in the US

The Biden administration drafted amendments in January to the International Health Regulations, a legally binding agreement between 196 countries to detect and report public health events, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

This agreement does not allow the WHO to dictate national health care policy or create binding law in the U.S. or any nation, according to Lawrence Gostin, director of Georgetown University's WHO Collaborating Center on National and Global Health Law.

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The proposed amendments to the agreement won’t change that.

The amendments will essentially modify the procedures and speed up the process by which countries report health events, Thomas Bollyky, director of the Global Health Program at the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonpartisan think tank, told USA TODAY. It won't give the WHO authority in any country.

For instance, countries could refuse to "cooperate with WHO expert teams" in the past, according to the Associated Press. The amendments would "seek to have all signatories agree not to block such actions."

The amendments don't list legal consequences for countries that don't comply, the AP reported. The measures are simply intended to strengthen the WHO's declaration and response to an international health emergency and allow other countries to better respond within their own borders, Bollyky said.

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The idea that the Biden administration alone can give the WHO authority over health care or national sovereignty is off the mark, Brian Abramson, adjunct professor of vaccine law at the Florida International University College of Law, told USA TODAY.

Biden does not have the power to make any aspect of U.S. governance subservient to an international organization except through a treaty ratified by a two-thirds vote in the Senate, Bollyky said.

Control of the health care system is even more farfetched. Health care in the U.S. is delivered through adisjointed array of corporate and governmental entities not susceptible to governance by any one organization, according to Abramson.

USA TODAY previously debunked a claim that WHO vaccination guidelines on parental consent were enforceable in the U.S.

Our rating: False

Based on our research, we rate FALSE the claim that Biden is giving the WHO control over U.S. health care and national sovereignty. The amendments the Biden administration proposed are intended to strengthen the WHO's response to international health emergencies. It will not give the WHO any authority in the U.S.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: World Health Organization has no authority in the U.S.