Is Global Welfare Contingent on Deadlines?

In an open letter in Le Devoir, our legal counsel Jean Piette points out the World Health Organization (WHO)'s astonishing slowness in negotiating an international convention on pandemics.

On December 1, 2021, the World Health Assembly (WHA) has decided to set up a intergovernmental group to lead the drafting and negotiation of a global convention on pandemics. Notwithstanding the scope and relevance of this decision, the proposed timeline of March 2022 to May 2024 doesn't seem to take into account how critical the epidemiological situation is.

Jean Piette suggested a clever process that would shorten the original timeline and allow the work to be completed by the end of 2022. He points out that such a mobilization is entirely possible, but that it will have to come from the will of WHO member states, namely Canada.