Global recommendations
The summary report concludes with seven recommendations that, if acted upon immediately (by fall 2021) will change the course of how the world deals with virus outbreaks. The strongly iterate that their recommendations be "fulfilled in their entirety."
The recommendations focus mainly on increasing the authority and power of the WHO and vastly increasing the amount of money given annually to them.
The global recommendations are:
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"Elevate pandemic preparedness and response to the highest level of political leadership." This would include setting up a “Global Health Threats Council.”
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"Strengthen the independence, authority and financing of WHO." This would include increasing the fees of Member States to cover 2/3 of the WHO (in 2019, Member State fees made up 51% of the budget). Further, the authority and independence of the Director-General would be strengthened and include a "single term of office for seven years with no option for re-election" and that the WHO "be empowered to take a leading, convening, and coordinating role in operational aspects of an emergency response to a pandemic, without, in most circumstances, taking on responsibility for procurement and supplies."
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"Invest in preparedness now to prevent the next crisis." The Panel is calling governments to update their plans to meet the benchmarks set by the WHO, which include separate nations completing peer reviews of each other on their pandemic preparedness of "as a means of accountability and learning between countries." The report also recommends that there be an annual assessment of each country by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) regarding their preparedness.
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"A new agile and rapid surveillance information and alert system." The WHO needs to establish "a new global system for surveillance, based on full transparency by all parties, using state-of-the-art digital tools to connect information centers around the world and including animal and environmental health surveillance, with appropriate protections of people’s rights." This includes the "explicit authority to publish information about outbreaks with pandemic potential immediately without requiring the prior approval of national governments, and the power to investigate pathogens with pandemic potential…"
Along with the global surveillance, the Panel is further recommending that the Director-General be given the authority to act out of precaution. "The bias of the current system of pandemic alert is towards inaction — steps may only be taken if the weight of evidence requires them. This bias should be reversed — precautionary action should be taken on a presumptive basis, unless evidence shows it is not necessary."
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"Establish a pre-negotiated platform for tools and supplies."
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"Raise new international financing for pandemic preparedness and response." The Panel here is proposing that countries around the world, not only up their membership fees to the WHO, but work to raise an additional "US$5-10billion annually to finance preparedness" so that the WHO can distribute US$50-100 billion at a moment's notice if needed.
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"National Pandemic Coordinators have a direct line to Head of State or Government." Each state should have a national pandemic coordinator that will have the power to drive the coordination of the government response under the guidance of the WHO. As well, each state "should conduct multi-sectoral active simulation exercises on a yearly basis." These simulations should be with various populations to make sure the people remain accountable and know how to respond as they are expected to.
The so-called “Independent Panel” offers a timetable for immediate action. By September 2021, the WHO wants to see countries with a "vaccination pipeline" to begin providing at least 1 billion doses to lower income countries. Immediately, they are recommending that the WHO take charge to develop the roadmap to guide the globe to end the Wuhan Virus pandemic and that testing for the virus be "scaled up urgently" in low and middle-income countries. Further, as there is $19 billion US needed to purchase and develop more vaccines in order to vaccinate all the middle and lower income countries, they are requesting an immediate $11.4 billion of this cost be incurred by the G7 countries.
Entirely absent from this report is any analysis of the impact on society that these recommendations will have. Further, the clear implication from the document is that the WHO believes it has made no mistakes in its response to COVID-19 thus far. The report contains no analysis of the impact of the global response to COVID-19 on small businesses, the middle-class, mental health, the education of children, health of citizens, infringement on personal rights, or the enormous debt incurred by governments through the investment of billions of dollars in vaccines and other COVID-related costs.