[GA - PASSED] Epidemic Investigation Act

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Epidemic Investigation Act
Category: Health | Area of Effect: Research
Proposed by: Imperium Anglorum | Onsite Topic​

The World Assembly,

Believing that further action is necessary to ensure that appropriate actions are taken proactively to ensure knowledge and containment of epidemic outbreaks,

Recognising that, even with the provisions of GA 53 "Epidemic Response Act", many governments still will downplay epidemics due to fears of harms to trade or general reputational damage,

Concerned that possible government action against healthcare workers harms the ability of international organisations to monitor and be truthfully informed of new epidemics, and

Hoping to cut through cover-ups, dissembling, and obfuscation by nations generally while ensuring that healthcare workers conveying truthful information or opinion are not penalised, hereby enacts as follows:

  1. Inspection requirements.When a report is received by the World Health Authority (WHA) of an outbreak of disease or of the emergence of a novel pathogen under section 2 infra, the WHA may dispatch inspectors to investigate and report publicly on the origins of, response to, and make recommendations on the outbreak.
    • All member nations must permit the entrance and exit of WHA inspectors (hereinafter Inspectors) and fully cooperate with such requests for access or information which Inspectors may deliver to member nation authorities, subject to the following subsection.

    • Inspectors’ request for access to sensitive areas or sensitive information may be rejected by the local jurisdiction. Such rejections shall be reviewed by the Independent Adjudicative Office, which may overrule such rejections if the likely harm of release is less than the likely harm to international public health interests.

    • No member nation may otherwise bar the access of Inspectors to medical personnel. Nor may any member nation retaliate against the provision of information by medical personnel to Inspectors.
  2. Reporting requirements. Any novel pathogen with suggestive evidence of person-to-person transmission must be reported to the WHA forthwith. Member nations must collect statistics on transmission of pathogens in healthcare settings and report such statistics to the WHA in a timely manner.

  3. Opt-in inspection authority. WHA inspectors may undertake a section 1 investigation and report in a non-member nation with the approval thereof. If after granting approval, that nation fails to comply with section 1 access and retaliation requirements as if it were a member nation, at the instigation of the WA Solicitors Office, the Independent Adjudicative Office may declare appropriate sanctions to be enforced by member nations against the nation or those persons responsible in that nation for such non-compliance.

  4. WA healthcare. WHA inspectors shall take all necessary precautions to prevent their transmission of any disease they are investigating. The General Fund shall pay for healthcare costs, or insurance therefor, of WA employees. Nations opting in under the previous section, which do not regularly remit assessments to the WA General Fund, must consent to levies against their nation for healthcare costs incurred by WA employees operating under the auspices of this resolution.
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Note: Only votes from TNP WA nations and NPA personnel will be counted. If you do not meet these requirements, please add (non-WA) or something of that effect to your vote.
Voting Instructions:
  • Vote For if you want the Delegate to vote For the resolution.
  • Vote Against if you want the Delegate to vote Against the resolution.
  • Vote Abstain if you want the Delegate to abstain from voting on this resolution.
  • Vote Present if you are personally abstaining from this vote.
Detailed opinions with your vote are appreciated and encouraged!
[TR][TD]For[/TD][TD] Against [/TD][TD] Abstain [/TD][TD] Present [/TD][/TR][TR][TD]10[/TD][TD]2[/TD][TD]0[/TD][TD]0[/TD][/TR]
 
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IFV
Overview This resolution seeks to improve global health by tasking the World Health Authority with investigating the causes of epidemics and making recommendations on how to handle the spread of these epidemics--all mandatory steps for member nations. The author also makes it clear that once the WHA is called into non-member states, the same sanctions regime for non-compliance (as they have voluntarily opted into WA services) remains in place for non-member states. In addition, this resolution establishes health benefits for employees of the World Assembly conducting investigations and other work of the WHA.

Recommendation This proposal effectively establishes means for the WHA to safely and effectively investigate epidemics without being impeded by the nations in which they are investigating. It also goes further in protecting public health by allowing non-member states to opt into the WHA, allowing the finest researchers in the multiverse to track a greater number of pathogens. Preventing epidemics is, in our estimation, an important pillar of the public health regime and this is an exemplary measure in protecting that most precious thing.

For these reasons, the Ministry of World Assembly Affairs recommends a vote FOR the at-vote General Assembly proposal, "Epidemic Investigation Act."
 
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I am seriously concerned at Article 3's requirement that member states impose sanctions upon non-members for failing to comply with international laws that they are not even bound by.
 
This proposal has achieved the necessary approvals to enter the formal queue. Barring it being withdrawn or marked illegal, it will proceed to a vote at Sunday’s Major Update.
 
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