Health Sovereignty: Coalition Writes President Tinubu to reject WHO’s IHR Amendments

The coalition against the World Health Organisation (WHO) International Health Regulations (IHR) and Equity International Initiative (EII) has called on President Bola Tinubu in an open letter to reject the proposed new amendments to the WHO’s health regulations.

The letter states specifically why the amendments should be rejected and what threat it poses to the nations sovereignty.

Coalition calls Tinubu to protect Nigeria’s sovereignty, reject WHO’s new amendments to IHR

We call on President Tinubu to write to the WHO, Reject the Amendments to the IHRs, and STOP THE NEGOTIATIONS on Nigeria’s behalf

• IHRs are non-binding recommendations that delegates to the World Health Assembly at the WHO, on behalf of Nigeria and 193 other nations of the world, freely agreed to follow in 1963. These recommendations guide member Sates on how to respond to public health events that can cross national borders and affect regions, continents, and the whole world.
• As non-binding agreements, these IHRs come into force without the need for parliamentary or executive input from member States.
• The IHRs have been amended multiple times over the years without incident. However, these new amendments, which began to be negotiated in 2021, have been fraught with numerous irregularities.

-The first set of amendments were adopted in May 2022 and reduced the time period for rejection of amendments from 18 to 10 months, and reduction of the time period for enactment into force from 24 to 12 months. There is no reason for this reduction except to make engagement & response to WHO policies/decisions by citizens of the world more difficult.

-Having no merit or benefit to Nigeria, and only leading to a stifling of the voices of we the people of Nigeria, we call on President Tinubu to write to the WHO, rejecting the Amendments to the IHRs adopted in May 2022.

• In addition, stealthy, underground negotiations continue, and these new amendments involve many areas of the domestic life of Nigerians that should never be controlled by people outside of Nigeria
• The WHO & its partners, claim that this total power shift is to be done for our own good, to protect us against biological threats. Yet decisions will be made without our consent/ participation, with total immunity and no liability for the repercussions of the actions of unelected WHO bureaucrats.
• Specifically, these amendments to the IHR give the WHO the power to, at any time, suspend our constitutions and our human rights in international law in the name of an actual or potential health event.
• This global power grab is a corruption and abuse of international law that will lead to harm to the health, economies, and national sovereignty of Nigeria and all nations of the world.
• These amendments include widening the concept of a PHEIC such that climate change and the reduction of CO2 levels are now issues that can trigger a PHEIC. Thus, this rule of emergency law shall become our new normal, and our normal constitutional lives become the exception
• As such, the WHO can describe anything as a threat, make draconian laws/interventions essential to dealing with these threats including which medicines to be given for them, whether people can travel, what travel documents will be acceptable, etc. These edicts will be enforced by making these IHRs binding on nations to implement them on their citizens and institutions.
• We call on well meaning Nigerians to ensure that our national sovereignty is protected by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. This letter rejecting the IHR Amendments need to be received by the WHO before Dec. 1st.

-President Tinubu, protect Nigeria’s sovereignty. and our freedom. Write and reject the WHO Amendments to the IHRs!!!