A rare strain of hantavirus that has a 40% mortality rate and spreads through human-to-human contact could be responsible for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/mystery-illness-eyed-in-deaths-aboard-luxury-cruise">three deaths</a> on board a luxury cruise ship, health officials believe.
The outbreak on the MV Hondius, which was sailing from Argentina to Cape Verde, has resulted in at least seven other infections and has trapped other passengers on the ship as government and health officials try to figure out how to get sick passengers off the cruise ship. Most hantavirus strains only spread to humans from rodent droppings, urine, or saliva, but one rare and extremely dangerous strain can spread from human-to-human and “can’t be ruled out,” the World Health Organization said on Tuesday.
“We do believe that there may be some human-to-human transmission that is happening among the really close contacts,” World Health Organization official Maria Van Kerkhove <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/05/05/world-news/cruise-ship-infected-with-terrifying-hantavirus-strain-that-has-40-mortality-rate-who-believes-heres-what-happens-next/">said</a>.
“We do know that some of the cases had very close contact with each other and certainly human-to-human transmission can’t be ruled out,” Van Kerkhove <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/05/world/africa/cruise-ship-hantavirus-cape-verde-hondius.html">added</a>.
The deadly strain suspected of spreading on the cruise ship is known as the &#8220;Andes virus&#8221; and is most commonly found in the Andes Mountains of Argentina and Chile. Van Kerkhove assured the media that the risk posed to the public from the hantavirus outbreak on the ship &#8220;is low.&#8221;
The cruise ship, along with its nearly 150 passengers and crew members, is being held off Cape Verde, an archipelago off the coast of West Africa. Van Kerkhove said on Tuesday that the ship would soon move around 1,000 miles northeast to the Canary Islands, a Spanish territory. The Spanish government said it was still trying to figure out &#8220;which port of call is most appropriate&#8221; for the ship to dock.
Health officials in hazmat suits checked out the cruise ship on Monday, and the World Health Organization said that no rodents were found on board, giving more credence to the human-to-human transmission theory. Medical teams also went aboard the ship to look into suspected infections of two crew members, The New York Post reported.
Jake Rosmarin, an American travel blogger who&#8217;s stuck on the ship, <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/health/trapped-cruise-ship-passenger-shares-update-cleanliness-ship-amid-deadly-hantavirus-outbreak">said</a> in a video recording on Tuesday that all the healthy passengers &#8220;are doing well&#8221; and are in &#8220;good spirits.&#8221; He said that healthy passengers &#8220;have the option to have meals delivered directly to their cabins,&#8221; but &#8220;gathering in indoor common areas such as the lounge is currently restricted.&#8221;
Two of the people who died after contracting hantavirus were a Dutch couple who had been traveling in South America before boarding the MV Hondius, which left from Argentina on March 20 for a weeks-long voyage. The World Health Organization believes the couple contracted the disease before boarding the ship.
The first person, a 70-year-old Dutch man, died on board the ship on April 11. His wife, a 69-year-old woman, died 15 days later in South Africa while she was attempting to fly home to the Netherlands, The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/05/world/africa/cruise-ship-hantavirus-cape-verde-hondius.html">reported</a>. A German national died on the ship on Saturday.
Hantavirus typically begins with flu-like symptoms such as fever, chills, and body aches, before potentially progressing to breathing problems and possible lung or heart failure.

FRANCE-ILLUSTRATION-HANTAVIRUS

Deadly Rare Virus Prime Suspect In Cruise Ship Nightmare

Disease

World Health Organization

The Trump administration is setting up an alternate system to monitor global disease outbreaks and assist in response in direct competition with the World Health Administration.
President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the WHO last year, citing complaints he has had about the United Nations health body dating back to his first term. The Trump administration is now spending billions to set up an alternative, according to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2026/02/19/alternative-world-health-organization-proposal/">The Washington Post</a>.
The Department of Health and Human Services, run by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., is spearheading the effort to set up the new, U.S.-led global health body. The new agency will be built on dozens of bilateral agreements between the United States and other countries and extend the HHS’ international footprint to many more countries than it is currently operating in.
“This $2 billion in funding to HHS is to build the systems and capacities to do what the WHO did for us,” an official told the Post. Kennedy’s department has already requested the funds from the Office of Management and Budget.
Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-orders-u-s-to-withdraw-from-world-health-organization">signed</a> an executive order on the first day of his second term withdrawing the United States from the WHO, citing an unfair cost burden that it placed on the United States and the agency’s poor handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“So, we paid $500 million to World Health when I was here and I terminated it,” said Trump, referring to his first term when he initially withdrew from the organization. The president added that the cost to the United States “seemed a little unfair” in the context of what China paid to the WHO.
“China pays $39 million and we pay $500 million, and China’s a bigger country,” said Trump.
The financial burden the WHO placed on the United States had been substantially larger than the figure the president cited, according to HHS data. Assessed dues and voluntary contributions that the United States paid to the UN health agency amounted to roughly $680 million a year, amounting to 15-18% of the WHO’s total funding, the Post reported.
The president’s executive order also cites the WHO’s actions during the pandemic. Trump initially <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-united-states-will-withdraw-from-the-world-health-organization">withdrew</a> from the body in 2020 because of “the organization’s mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic that arose out of Wuhan, China, and other global health crises, its failure to adopt urgently needed reforms, and its inability to demonstrate independence from the inappropriate political influence of WHO member states.”

Trump Left The World Health Org Last Year. Now, He’s Replacing It.

Department of Health and Human Services

Donald Trump

Executive

Health

U.S.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced on Wednesday that the United States would not donate to Gavi, a global vaccine alliance, unless and until the organization took steps to &#8220;re-earn the public&#8217;s trust.&#8221;
Kennedy&#8217;s criticism of the <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/06/25/rfk-vaccine-donations-gavi-00422705" target="_blank" rel="noopener">global body</a> was rooted primarily in its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, and he made that abundantly clear in a video he sent to the Gavi pledging summit – in which he accused the organization of silencing dissent over the highly controversial COVID vaccines and pushing them despite concerns about their safety, per <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/06/25/rfk-vaccine-donations-gavi-00422705">POLITICO</a>.
&#8220;When the science was inconvenient, Gavi ignored the science,&#8221; Kennedy said, arguing that if the United States was going to continue funding the organization, they would have to do better in the future. He also accused Gavi of coordinating with the World Health Organization (WHO) to &#8220;recommend best practices for social media companies to silence dissenting views, to stifle free speech and legitimate questions during that period.&#8221;
&#8220;I call on Gavi today to re-earn the public trust and to justify the $8 billion that America has provided in funding since 2001. And I’ll tell you how to start taking vaccine safety seriously: Consider the best science available, even when the science contradicts established paradigms,&#8221; Kennedy declared. &#8220;Until that happens, the United States won’t contribute more to Gavi.&#8221;
The pledging summit, which is being held in Brussels, hopes to raise $9 billion in funding for the next five years — 2026-2030, but the approximately $300 million the United States provides on an annual basis is what is in question.
&#8220;When vaccine safety issues have come before Gavi, Gavi has treated them not as a patient health problem, but as a public relations problem,&#8221; Kennedy said in his video presentation. &#8220;Business as usual is over, unaccountable and opaque policymaking is over. I invite all of you to join us in a new era of evidence-based medicine, old-standard science and integrity.&#8221;
Kennedy&#8217;s announcement follows earlier reports that suggested President Donald Trump&#8217;s administration planned to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/26/health/usaid-cuts-gavi-bird-flu.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cut funding</a> to Gavi — although they planned to continue funding key grants for things like natural disaster response, HIV, and tuberculosis medications.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

RFK Jr. Nixes U.S. Funding For Vaccine Alliance Until It ‘Re-Earns The Public’s Trust’

RFK Jr. Nixes U.S. Funding For Vaccine Alliance Until It 'Re-Earns The Public's Trust'

Health and Human Services

Health Care

Politics

Vaccines

Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ripped into the World Health Organization (WHO) as a “moribund” institution under undue influence from China in a Tuesday message to the organization’s governing assembly. 
In a video message shown at the World Health Assembly in Switzerland on Tuesday, Kennedy called for nations to follow America’s lead and create new health-focused institutions. His address comes after President Donald Trump issued an executive order in January <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-orders-u-s-to-withdraw-from-world-health-organization?author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump+Orders+U.S.+To+Withdraw+From+World+Health+Organization" target="_blank" rel="noopener">withdrawing</a> the United States from the WHO, citing its handling of the COVID pandemic and “onerous payments.”
“Like many legacy institutions, the WHO has become mired in bureaucratic bloat, entrenched paradigms, conflicts of interest, and international power politics,” Kennedy said Tuesday. “While the United States has provided the lion’s share of the organization’s funding historically, other countries such as China have exerted undue influence over its operations in ways that serve their own interests and not particularly the interests of the global public.”
During COVID, Kennedy said that the WHO suppressed reports of human-to-human transmission and worked at the behest of China to promote the “fiction” that COVID originated from bats and not a government-sponsored lab in Wuhan. 
“Not only has the WHO capitulated to political pressure from China, it’s also failed to maintain an organization characterized by transparency and fair governance by and for its Member States,” Kennedy said. “The WHO often acts like it has forgotten that its members must remain accountable to their own citizens and not to transnational or corporate interests.”
He said the international health body has reflected the biases of corporate medicine and has pushed “harmful gender ideology” at the expense of wellness. 
Kennedy said he would like to see other public health officials reboot their entire systems, pointing to the changes he has implemented in the United States. He cited his department&#8217;s focus on chronic health issues, removing dyes and additives from food, investigating the cause of autism, and moving away from processed foods. 
“Global cooperation on health is still critically important to President Trump and myself, but it isn’t working very well under the WHO as the failures of the COVID era demonstrate,” he said. “I urge the world&#8217;s health ministers and the WHO to take our withdrawal from the organization as a wake-up call.”
The World Health Assembly is made up of member nations that determine the WHO&#8217;s policies, budget, and leadership.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
Like many legacy institutions, the WHO has become mired in bureaucratic bloat, entrenched paradigms, conflicts of interest, and international power politics. While the United States has provided the lion’s share of the organization’s funding historically, other countries such as… <a href="https://t.co/VvWbVBkb6M">pic.twitter.com/VvWbVBkb6M</a>
— Secretary Kennedy (@SecKennedy) <a href="https://twitter.com/SecKennedy/status/1924790453682970951?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 20, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Democratic Presidential Candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Delivers Address To Jewish Community In New York

RFK Jr. Slams World Health Organization In Message To Group’s Annual Meeting

RFK Jr. Slams World Health Organization In Message To Group's Annual Meeting

China

COVID-19

Senator Marsha Blackburn (TN) introduced a bill on Thursday that would make President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the World Health Organization permanent, barring massing reform. 
The <a href="https://www.blackburn.senate.gov/services/files/E5F2FE62-438C-4157-98FE-439FA3126326" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bill</a> would block taxpayer dollars from either funding WHO programs or American membership in the organization unless the organization took significant steps to demonstrate independence from China and root out leftist ideology. Blackburn&#8217;s fellow Republican Senators John Barrasso (WY), Rick Scott (FL), and Ted Cruz joined Blackburn in putting the legislation forward.
“The World Health Organization has long been a puppet for the Chinese Communist Party, grossly mismanaging the COVID pandemic and taking over a billion dollars of U.S. funding without advancing our interests,” Blackburn told The Daily Wire. “We must support President Trump’s actions to hold the WHO accountable by ensuring any future president who wants to rejoin meets concrete conditions of improvement.”
The bill would codify Trump’s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-orders-u-s-to-withdraw-from-world-health-organization" target="_blank" rel="noopener">day one executive order</a> withdrawing the United States from the organization, citing WHO handling of COVID and demands for &#8220;onerous&#8221; and unfair payments. 
Under certain conditions, the legislation said that it would be possible for the United States to rejoin WHO. These conditions include the WHO adopting reforms to ensure that humanitarian aid is not politicized, demonstrate independence from the Chinese Communist Party, grant observer status to Taiwan, and end funding or promotion of things like abortion, climate change, and sex-change procedures. 
Another condition would stipulate that humanitarian aid and medical supplies could not be diverted to Iran, Syria, and North Korea. 
“American tax dollars cannot be used to fund the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) and World Health Organization’s (WHO) cover-up of the COVID-19 pandemic. The mismanagement, failed transparency, and lack of independence at the WHO is inexcusable,” Barrasso told The Daily Wire. “Our bill ensures that not one penny of taxpayer money is spent rejoining the WHO if serious reforms aren’t made to prevent another failed pandemic response.”
A companion version has been introduced in the House by Republican Representatives Jodey Arrington (TX), Ron Estes (KS), Greg Steube (FL), and Anna Paulina Luna (FL).
When Trump issued the executive order last month to pull America out of WHO, he said that the country was paying too much to be a member of the United Nations-backed organization in comparison to other countries like China. 
“So we paid $500 million to World Health when I was here and I terminated it,” Trump said, adding that it “seemed a little unfair” because China was paying around $39 million to the organization. 
Trump ended American participation in WHO back in 2020, but that decision was later reversed by Joe Biden.

Twitter Whistleblower Testifies Before Senate Judiciary Committee

EXCLUSIVE: Blackburn Bill Would Make Trump’s World Health Organization Exit Permanent

John Barrasso

Marsha Blackburn

Rick Scott

Ted Cruz

United Nations

President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/donald-trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Donald Trump</a> signed an executive order Monday night to withdraw the United States from the World Health Organization (WHO) over its handling of COVID and demands for “onerous payments.” 
The order from Trump restored a policy that had been put in place at the end of his first administration, but was later revoked by President Joe Biden. When speaking with reporters about the order, Trump said the U.S. was paying too much to be a member of the UN-backed WHO in comparison to other countries like China. 
“So we paid $500 million to World Health when I was here and I terminated it,” Trump said, adding that it “seemed a little unfair” because China was paying around $39 million to the organization. 
“China pays $39 million and we pay $500 million and China’s a bigger country,” he said. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
🚨 President Trump withdraws the United States from the World Health Organization <a href="https://t.co/YyKYMP53Ur">pic.twitter.com/YyKYMP53Ur</a>
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) <a href="https://twitter.com/TrumpWarRoom/status/1881515312644030635?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 21, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Trump’s <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/withdrawing-the-united-states-from-the-worldhealth-organization/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">executive order</a> says that the U.S. first withdrew from WHO in 2020 because of “the organization’s mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic that arose out of Wuhan, China, and other global health crises, its failure to adopt urgently needed reforms, and its inability to demonstrate independence from the inappropriate political influence of WHO member states.”  
“In addition, the WHO continues to demand unfairly onerous payments from the United States, far out of proportion with other countries’ assessed payments,” the order added. “China, with a population of 1.4 billion, has 300 percent of the population of the United States, yet contributes nearly 90 percent less to the WHO.”
The order officially retracts a letter Biden sent to the United Nations on January 20, 2021, re-entering the U.S. into the global health body. 
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WHO said that it was disappointed with Trump&#8217;s decision. 
&#8220;We hope the United States will reconsider and we look forward to engaging in constructive dialogue to maintain the partnership between the USA and WHO, for the benefit of the health and well-being of millions of people around the globe,” the organization <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/world-health-organization-who-trump-pulls-us-2018064" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. 
WHO has again faced scrutiny from Republican lawmakers in recent months over its transgender guidelines and a global “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/republican-governors-issue-warning-about-who-pandemic-treaty" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pandemic treaty</a>” it was proposing.
In November, a coalition of congressional Republicans <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-republicans-demand-who-chief-disband-activist-panel-on-transgenderism" target="_blank" rel="noopener">urged WHO to disband</a> its Guideline Development Group (GDG) on transgenderism because of its ties to leftist activist groups. The lawmakers said that the group has bypassed and ignored scientific evidence showing the harms of transgender procedures.
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Inauguration Of Donald Trump As 47th President Of The United States

Trump Orders U.S. To Withdraw From World Health Organization

Global Politics

Joe Biden

A coalition of congressional Republicans urged the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/world-health-organization" target="_blank" rel="noopener">World Health Organization</a> on Monday to “disband” the group it put in charge of developing guidelines on transgenderism, according to a letter first shared with The Daily Wire.
Led by doctors Rep. Rich McCormick (R-GA) and Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS), the lawmakers sent a <a href="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/11/Quill-Letter-L21750-Letter-to-the-Director-General-of-the-World-Health-Organization-RE-Gender-Guideline-Development-Group-Ve-169.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> to WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus demanding that he dissolve the organization&#8217;s Guideline Development Group (GDG) on transgenderism because of its ties to leftist activist groups. The lawmakers say that the group has bypassed and ignored scientific evidence showing the harms of transgender procedures in favor of ideology.
“Any guidelines that affect the health and well-being of individuals must be rooted in rigorous scientific evidence and must be free from conflicts of interest,” McCormick told The Daily Wire. “We cannot allow the voices of powerful activists to dictate medical practices that should prioritize patient safety and health outcomes.”
The guidelines group was <a href="https://www.who.int/news/item/18-12-2023-who-announces-the-development-of-a-guideline-on-the-health-of-trans-and-gender-diverse-people" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> in December 2023 with the purpose of developing a framework “on the health of trans and gender diverse people&#8221; and promoting &#8220;health policies that support gender-inclusive care, and legal recognition of self-determined gender identity.&#8221;
In addition to Marshall and McCormick, the letter was signed by 27 House Republicans. Marshall told The Daily Wire that the group was another example of why the United States should cut ties with WHO. 
&#8220;The World Health Organization has abandoned its mission to cater to radical globalist activists; it is past time to stop its funding and cut our losses,&#8221;the Republican senator said. &#8220;The WHO&#8217;s &#8216;gender identity&#8217; cult and its embrace of irreversible mutilation surgeries and psychologically harmful chemical therapies are just one of the many reasons the U.S. needs to walk away from this globalist organization.&#8221;
The letter says that the process surrounding the guidelines has “been shrouded in secrecy, irregularities, and profound conflicts of interest.”
&#8220;Incomprehensibly, the Group bypasses evidence reviews on the safety, effectiveness, risks and costs of treating gender dysphoria with medical interventions, including cross-sex drugs,” the letter says. “Instead, it moves directly to consider how countries should provide such interventions and impose the highly controversial, sex-denying framework of &#8216;gender identity,&#8217; including through legal ‘self-identification.’”
Specifically, the lawmakers take issue with the fact that multiple of the members of the guidance group are members of the far-Left World Professional Association for Transgender Healthcare (WPATH), an organization that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-harris-admin-sued-for-records-on-trans-surgeries-on-minors" target="_blank" rel="noopener">removed</a> age limit restrictions for its guidelines for transgender procedures at the behest of the Biden administration.
The letter noted that Walter Bouman and Gail Knudson, members of the WHO guidance group and WPATH, signed onto a letter to pressure researchers not to publish results that would “negatively affect the provision of transgender health care in the broadest sense.”
The letter said that other <a href="https://cdn.who.int/media/docs/default-source/hq-hiv-hepatitis-and-stis-library/biographies_tgd-gdg_proposed_members_2024.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">members</a> of the GDG have been part of a group called Global Action for Trans Equality, a group that promotes transgender procedures.
“GATE exists to promote, not assess gender transition interventions. It cannot possibly serve as an unbiased participant,” the Republicans wrote.
The lawmakers said that the GDG’s group so far looked more like “a global marketing campaign rather than an honest assessment of the medical evidence.”
“The proposed GDG guidelines mirror the fraudulent WPATH process: like WPATH, the GDG has opted not to review the evidence to determine whether hormones should be widely available. Instead, it will only focus on how to best promote their wide availability,” the lawmakers wrote.
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The Republicans said that WHO <a href="https://cdn.who.int/media/docs/default-source/hq-hiv-hepatitis-and-stis-library/tgd_faq_16012024.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">policies</a> that allow sex to be determined by “self-identification” pose a risk to women and children.
“Policies that treat sex as a matter of ‘self-identification’ endanger women and children,” the letter says. “Most Americans recognize this fact, and strongly oppose ‘self-identified’ biological males accessing private spaces and competitions reserved for females.”
The letter says that the whole group should be scrapped, and any future guidelines grounded in a careful review of scientific evidence.
“This vulnerable population deserves evidence-based care, not a shameless promotion of medical experiments tainted by ideology and industry interests,” the lawmakers wrote. “We urge you to disband this Guideline Development Group, investigate the disreputable process that led to its formation, and discard its proposed guidelines.&#8221;
WHO has long come under fire and been accused of politically motivated action from its handling of COVID and close ties to China.

Clinton Global Initiative 2024 Annual Meeting

EXCLUSIVE: Republicans Demand WHO Chief ‘Disband’ Activist Panel On Transgenderism

Congress

gender ideology

Transgender

transgender surgery

World

WPATH

With just 34 days until the election, Vice President Kamala Harris is pulling out all the stops. She’s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/kamala-plays-border-hawk-in-first-border-visit-as-democratic-nominee" target="_blank" rel="noopener">going to the border</a>. She’s busting out <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/kamalas-new-campaign-accent-has-people-comparing-her-to-classic-cartoon-character" target="_blank" rel="noopener">previously-unheard accents</a>. And she’s telling voters that former President Donald Trump is coming for their booze.
Earlier this month, the Harris campaign <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/harris-alcohol-prices-trump-tariff-plan-1235113532/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">launched</a> “Trump’s Tequila Tax,” a social media push aimed at convincing voters that Trump’s tariff proposals would cause imported alcohol prices to skyrocket.
“He wants to tax your tequila, and your Coronas, your Modelos, your Hennessy, all of it,” a campaign surrogate says in a TikTok.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Have you heard of the Trump Tequila Tax?
Trump wants a 20% tax on all imported goods. That includes your tequila, Modelos, and Coronas. <a href="https://t.co/GjsZcRkp7q">pic.twitter.com/GjsZcRkp7q</a>
&mdash; Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) <a href="https://twitter.com/KamalaHQ/status/1839725556981510590?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 27, 2024</a></blockquote>
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If one wanted to engage in a little armchair psychology, one might say that Harris is projecting. Because if she wins the White House in November, there might not be any tequila to tax in the United States.
Under Harris and President Joe Biden, an obscure bureaucratic committee has been drafting new guidance, which, if adopted, would recommend that Americans never drink — at all. While these guidelines would not ban alcohol outright, they could, as <a href="https://reason.com/2024/08/10/the-secret-committee-behind-americas-prohibition-comeback/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reason reports</a>, lead to a wave of bad press and a slew of class action lawsuits against alcohol companies. Together, that could cripple an already-faltering alcohol industry.
This is hardly the first instance of the Biden-Harris administration attempting to meddle in Americans’ lives in the name of “public health.” Biden proposed banning <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-reverses-course-on-banning-menthol-cigarettes-over-fear-of-angering-black-voters-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">menthol cigarettes</a> early in his term, only to reverse course earlier this year when it became clear the ban would make then-candidate Biden unpopular among black voters. And the White House has come under fire for its attempt to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/democrat-official-who-supports-gas-stove-crackdown-has-a-gas-stove-in-his-own-home" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ban gas stoves</a> in order to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
But unlike the Biden-Harris administration’s attempts to ban gas stoves and menthol cigarettes — both of which received ample media coverage and public scrutiny — the effort to change alcohol guidelines has taken place behind closed doors.
Federal dietary guidelines are updated every five years by the Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services. For the current revision, HHS has <a href="https://www.statnews.com/2024/08/06/alcohol-dietary-guidelines-congress-koob/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">kicked</a> the alcohol question to something called the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Prevention of Underage Drinking (ICCPUD). The committee is, <a href="https://www.jsonline.com/story/opinion/2024/08/03/dietary-guidelines-alcohol-consumption/74595108007/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, a “secretive, six-person panel” that “operates deep within” HHS, far from the public eye.
Currently, the federal government <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/about-alcohol-use/moderate-alcohol-use.html#:~:text=to%20not%20drinking.-,Moderate%20drinking,or%20less%20in%20a%20day." target="_blank" rel="noopener">defines</a> “moderate drinking” as two daily drinks or less for men, and one for women. But <a href="https://tomwark.substack.com/p/no-amount-alcohol-healthy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sources</a> close to the ICCPUD say the committee is close to adopting the World Health Organization’s 2023 <a href="https://www.who.int/europe/news/item/04-01-2023-no-level-of-alcohol-consumption-is-safe-for-our-health" target="_blank" rel="noopener">declaration</a>: “No level of alcohol consumption is safe for our health.”
It may seem strange that an American agency would so wholeheartedly embrace the WHO’s position, particularly since it’s at odds with longstanding federal recommendations.
But it’s less shocking when you consider that three members of the six-person committee are literally Canadian — like, they live in Canada. It’s even less shocking when you realize that those three Canadian panelists were instrumental in imposing similar guidance at home, <a href="https://reason.com/2024/08/10/the-secret-committee-behind-americas-prohibition-comeback/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">slashing</a> Canadians’ recommended weekly drink intake in 2013 from 15 for men and 10 for women to two across the board.
That recommendation was so controversial it came under fire in Canada, a country where shady, unelected bureaucrats already govern what kind of drugs <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/patented-medicine-prices-review.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">patients can take</a>, and whether or not someone is eligible for <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/health-services-benefits/medical-assistance-dying.html#a2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">elective euthanasia</a>. Imagine how it’ll play in the United States, a country that almost started a whole <a href="https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/whiskey-rebellion" target="_blank" rel="noopener">second Revolutionary War</a> two years after the first one ended because the government tried to tax whiskey.
In fact, the ICCPUD maneuverings are already so unpopular that they’ve spurred waves of bipartisan opposition. In April, Reps. James Comer (R-KY) and Lisa McClain (R-MI) <a href="https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Letter-to-HHS-re-alcohol-review.pdf">wrote</a> to Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra expressing concern that the Dietary Guidelines revision may be violating federal law. By September 5, Becerra had not responded to Comer and McClain’s request for information, prompting the lawmakers to send a follow-up <a href="https://oversight.house.gov/release/comer-issues-subpoenas-to-hhs-and-usda-for-docs-related-to-development-of-alcohol-consumption-guidelines%EF%BF%BC/">letter</a>.
In the intervening months, two separate bipartisan groups of lawmakers wrote to Becerra, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, and NIH Director George F. Koob, to express concern about the opacity and legality of the revision process and request further clarification on what the ICCPUD would decide and when.
<a href="https://www.amiracist.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amiracist.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1726313279401000&amp;usg=AOvVaw115_qPFFEePDP86-Fvo-Vd">Am I Racist? Is In Theaters NOW — Get Your Tickets Here!</a>
So far, they haven’t heard back.
It’s unclear if Harris will allow the committee to impose its new guidelines should she win the White House — but signs indicate that she will. She was presumably on board with her administration’s plans to ban menthols and gas stoves, and has previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/kamalas-campaign-says-she-will-not-push-medicare-for-all-she-fully-supported-it-5-years-ago" target="_blank" rel="noopener">endorsed</a> remaking the American healthcare system to look more like Canada’s.
She certainly won’t face any pushback from Tim Walz, who imposed a <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/white-house/3118502/zynsurrection-walz-zyn-tax-minnesota/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">95% tax on Zyn nicotine pouches</a> as Governor of Minnesota. Nothing goes better with no drinks like unaffordable nicotine.
It’s ironic that Harris, who has made so much hay about Trump’s “secret” plan to remake the federal bureaucracy, is currently overseeing a behind-closed-doors push to completely upend American dietary guidelines. Of course, unlike Project 2025, the ICCPUD’s proceedings are not public, nor the subject of any headlines. And, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-again-addresses-project-2025-says-dems-are-engaging-in-pure-disinformation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">unlike Trump</a>, Harris has not disavowed, nor even acknowledged, this effort to stop Americans from enjoying the occasional drink.
That’s about as ironic as her saying Trump’s coming for your tequila.

Kamala Prohibition

No, Donald Trump Isn’t Coming For Your Tequila. But Kamala Might Be.

Alcohol

Canada

Cigarettes

Elections

Kamala Harris

A group of 24 Republican governors are urging the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/biden-administration" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Biden administration</a> to reject a proposed <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/world-health-organization" target="_blank" rel="noopener">World Health Organization</a> (WHO) global “pandemic treaty,” warning that it would endanger the rights of American citizens.
The governors <a href="https://governor.sc.gov/sites/governor/files/Documents/5.22.24%20Final%20Joint%20Letter%20WHO%20Pandemic%20Treaty.pdf">wrote</a> on Wednesday that the WHO’s proposal would encroach on the sovereignty of American states and put the civil liberties of Americans in the hands of a group of unelected global officials. The WHO has been widely criticized over its investigation of COVID&#8217;s emergence, especially as it pushed out a report that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/top-who-scientist-behind-report-questioning-covid-lab-leak-theory-axed-over-alleged-sexual-misconduct" target="_blank" rel="noopener">declared</a> the COVID lab leak theory as “extremely unlikely.”
“The objective of these instruments is to empower the WHO, particularly its uncontrollable Director-General, with the authority to restrict the rights of U.S. citizens, including freedoms such as speech, privacy, travel, choice of medical care, and informed consent, thus violating our Constitution’s core principles,” the governors wrote. 
According to a <a href="https://apps.who.int/gb/inb/pdf_files/inb9/A_inb9_3Rev1-en.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">draft</a> of the WHO proposal, participating countries “shall cooperate with one another, in bilateral, regional and multilateral settings, to progressively strengthen pandemic prevention and public health surveillance capacities.”
The agreeing countries are also told to “recognize that environmental, climatic, social, anthropogenic and economic factors increase the risk of pandemics and endeavour to identify these factors and take them into consideration in the development and implementation of relevant policies, strategies and measures at the international, regional and national levels.”
Legacy media fact-checkers have downplayed <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-the-who-is-using-a-covid-19-pandemic-treaty-to-create-a-new-global-health-security-architecture" target="_blank" rel="noopener">concerns</a> about the pandemic agreement, but the governors argued that joining the agreement would pose risks for the United States.
“If adopted, these agreements would seek to elevate the WHO from an advisory body to a global authority in public health,” they wrote. “Under the proposed amendments and treaty, the WHO’s Director-General would supposedly gain unilateral power to declare a ‘public health emergency of international concern’ (PHEIC) in member nations, extending beyond pandemics to include a range of perceived emergencies.”
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&#8220;Additional concerns arise regarding the establishment of a global surveillance infrastructure and requirements for member states to censor speech related to public health, potentially facilitating the proliferation of biological weapons,&#8221; the governors added. 
The governors of Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming signed the letter. 
Negotiators are <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/pandemic-treaty-talks-wire-likely-miss-first-deadline-sources-say-2024-05-10/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">still working</a> on coming up with the final &#8220;pandemic agreement&#8221; guidelines after a missed deadline for wrapping up talks.

TOPSHOT-SWITZERLAND-US-POLITICS-WHO-HEALTH-VIRUS-TRUMP

Republican Governors Issue Warning About WHO ‘Pandemic Treaty’

Biden Administration

Republicans

The World Health Organization (WHO) established an expert advisory group on transgender health, seeking guidance from a transgender former prostitute who called the line of work “empowering” and an academic attempting to popularize “genderf**king” as a critical legal theory.
The WHO’s Guidelines Development Group on the Health of Trans and Gender Diverse People was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/gender-ideology-critics-slam-whos-biased-and-rushed-transgender-guidelines-process">established</a> to facilitate the creation of <a href="https://www.who.int/news/item/18-12-2023-who-announces-the-development-of-a-guideline-on-the-health-of-trans-and-gender-diverse-people">guidelines</a> aimed at &#8220;increasing access and utilization of quality and respectful health services by trans and gender diverse people,&#8221; and establishing “health policies that support gender-inclusive care, and legal recognition of self-determined gender identity.”
Among the experts named by the WHO is Erika Castellanos, who the WHO <a href="https://cdn.who.int/media/docs/default-source/hq-hiv-hepatitis-and-stis-library/biographies_tgd-gdg_proposed_members_2024.pdf?sfvrsn=5b1e7491_3">says</a> is “a trans woman living with HIV from Belize who resides in the Netherlands.” Castellanos, a former prostitute, is a member of the International AIDS Society, where he <a href="https://www.iasociety.org/meet-our-members/erika-castellanos">focuses</a> on “youth engagement in HIV activism.” It also includes Florence Ashley, an Assistant Professor at the University of Alberta and former clerk at the Supreme Court of Canada, who the WHO <a href="https://cdn.who.int/media/docs/default-source/hq-hiv-hepatitis-and-stis-library/biographies_tgd-gdg_proposed_members_2024.pdf?sfvrsn=5b1e7491_3">describes</a> as a “transfeminine jurist and bioethicist whose work focuses on trans issues in the legal and healthcare systems.” His most recent work is on how to use &#8220;genderf**king&#8221; as a strategy to resist &#8220;gender governance.&#8221;
The WHO&#8217;s decision to staff the board with radical transgender activists calls into question the organization&#8217;s ability to objectively assess the medical consequences of interventions that attempt to modify one&#8217;s sex.
It told The Daily Wire that its recommendations &#8220;are always based on balancing of available evidence, human rights principles, consideration of harms and benefits, and inputs of end users and beneficiaries.&#8221;
The experts, however, are clearly out of the mainstream community, and have no health expertise. Castellanos <a href="https://www.erika-castellanos.com/blank-1">said</a> that he became an expert in the field by being a prostitute.
“Surviving migration, sex work and homelessness, all while being HIV positive and transgender, have made me strong and resilient in the work I do,” Castellanos noted in a biography. “I have had the opportunity to share my insights with young trans and HIV activists.”
Rather than just “surviving” prostitution, however, Castellanos says “sex work was the most empowering thing that ever happened to me,” explaining that he &#8220;started working in the streets, offering my sexual services” in Mexico after fleeing home, eventually using drugs and ending up in prison.
Castellanos is now engaged in various fields of activism, previously serving as a <a href="https://unaidspcbngo.org/delegate/erika-castellanos/">delegate</a> to the Joint United Nations Programme on AIDS on behalf of Trans United Europe, a “sex worker umbrella NGO for Trans Black People of Color (BPOC) and migrants from the global south.”
He’s also listed as the <a href="https://gate.ngo/about-us/people/#:~:text=Erika%27s%20background%20is%20in%20sex,dignified%20death%20for%20the%20clients.">Executive Director</a> of Global Action for Trans Equality, an <a href="https://gate.ngo/">organization</a> that calls itself “an international advocacy and expert organization focused on gender identity, gender expression, and sex characteristics.” The organization’s site explains that “Erika’s background is in sex work issues and HIV activism.”
Florence Ashley, another transgender activist who was appointed to the WHO&#8217;s Guidelines Development Group, describes <a href="https://www.florenceashley.com/">himself</a> as “metaphorically a biorg witch with flowers in their hair” and is the author of an <a href="https://deliverypdf.ssrn.com/delivery.php?ID=098115008081070091089119075105027090008027046078024071069076074124101102011120080118041001120035023028110097001084067021001068029091024062067121094110116079079066030055045081094107083121098095007015025121025118002069084118029001015027067022117004081021&amp;EXT=pdf&amp;INDEX=TRUE">article</a> set to be published in the McGill University Law Journal titled “Genderf**king as a Critical Legal Methodology,” where he discusses ways to resist “gender governance.”
“Genderf**king is defined by its focus on the needs and experiences of those who ‘f**k’ with gender, resisting attempts at gender governance through laws, policies, and practices,” an abstract from the article reads before going on to claim that the approach “offers a rich and fertile approach for analyzing a social, political, and legal world indelibly marked by regimes of gender and, in so doing, steps on the path towards gender liberation.”
The 34-page article expounds on the approach through “stylistic” means, namely, sexually charged humor. “The present article as well as several of the past writings I mention include puns and jokes, many of them sexual. More than incidental, I would suggest that these stylistic elements are an extension of genderf**king’s substance into the realm of form and style,” the paper reads before explaining that the theory can also be used to challenge academic standards. “For just as genderfucking rejects the politician’s idea that gender must be policed, so does it reject the academician’s idea that writing must be policed. The name ‘genderfucking’ itself offers a challenge to dominant mores around sex and profanity.”
Ashley goes on to ask “Are sex jokes not a celebration of scholarly fucking? Is there not something peculiarly trans about sex jokes?”
The article also addresses transgender identification among youth, claiming “Regardless of whether youth know their gender well, nobody is better placed to navigate the world of gender in their name. Only they can catch glimpses or gaze upon the shape of their gender mosaic.” Ashley goes on to apply his specific approach, writing, “Under a genderf**king lens, gender self-determination seems the only way to properly account for the needs of all trans youth, including those who defy attempts at disciplining gender.”
He also explains that the concept of “genderf**king” is intended for those “whose gender is an eldritch horror adorning a seven-dimensional tentacle c*ck. People whose gender oscillates so fast that it undergoes spontaneous fission.”
“You can’t handle the truth of their gender,&#8221; Ashley wrote.
Ashley <a href="https://medium.com/@florence.ashley/things-ive-called-my-gender-over-my-26-years-of-life-9179631ab34f">produced an extensive list</a> of largely nonsensical terms that he’s used to refer to his gender, which includes the words and phrases “alien,” “alienby,” “trashgender,” “gender malcontent,” “deception,” and “unfathomable swirling void.”
Ashley, whose placement on the WHO advisory board <a href="https://twitter.com/libbyemmons/status/1743999902726709709?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1743999902726709709%7Ctwgr%5E5abfa92d77895e0494bc5d8b4822871e10cf36a2%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thecollegefix.com%2Ftrans-professor-with-be-gay-do-crimes-tattoo-appointed-to-who-taskforce%2F">sparked</a> criticism online,  has <a href="https://cdn.who.int/media/docs/default-source/hq-hiv-hepatitis-and-stis-library/biographies_tgd-gdg_proposed_members_2024.pdf?sfvrsn=5b1e7491_3">informed</a> the WHO that he is &#8220;unable to attend due to a conflict in schedules.&#8221;
Dr. Stanley Goldfarb, the Director of <a href="https://www.googleadservices.com/pagead/aclk?sa=L&amp;ai=Cqg9s7xagZaPUF7G16toPyuOb2AfqhIP8dMSf0pbrEaqs6xsIABABILlUYMmm3ozgpNAUoAGUxZTGKMgBAcgD2CCqBFxP0Bd_9qf7mK26X9vL8wyQ2_guFATm6Qzvb5vMEhRdI6-UUxYZUOougaDWvpsY29jVwXb0aBfp7ypieAzg6dAT6sS1KOsTpnQxsJxHCIsaHCr7jTXlyFM9dZYwjMAEq4yYlcwEgAWQTogF0OC06k2gBmaAB5T95KUDiAcBkAcBqAfruLECqAemvhuoB7masQKoB_PRG6gH7tIbqAf_nLECqAfK3BuoB5KvsQKoB7uksQKoB5KmsQKoB9imsQKoB961sQKoB9uqsQKoB9CqsQKoB9ywsQKoB7-5sQKoB-qxsQKoB6q4sQKoB5S4sQKoB-y4sQKoB763sQKoB7K7sQKoB7O7sQKgCMiPpgSwCAHSCCYQAjIEg-CADjoJwuGAgICABIJAQgEESNHs8ypQCVjjh9mv4NWDA5oJHWh0dHBzOi8vZG9ub2hhcm1tZWRpY2luZS5vcmcvsQmBaxYL1YR1a7kJgWsWC9WEdWv4CQGYCwGqDAIIAegMBqoNAlVTyA0BghQOCAMSCmRvIG5vIGhhcm3IFNXE_u7ovs_nZNAVAfgWAYAXAZIXCRIHCAEQAxiSA-AXAg&amp;ae=2&amp;gclid=Cj0KCQiAwP6sBhDAARIsAPfK_waf8CA5hn0wpT-7JPdZePF1tOMFislnRKIIImR6OFVOFRV-P1GhrFYaAvcoEALw_wcB&amp;ved=2ahUKEwiQ2dCv4NWDAxVamIQIHWKZA_sQ0Qx6BAgCEAE&amp;nis=8&amp;dct=1&amp;cid=CAASFeRoM9ecC-fAT9Gf841c4yrGPd7PLQ&amp;dblrd=1&amp;sival=AF15MEDkfu_pwEqZzK2s2h4DdrM6lscvKkq5NhagFIQ2WUejSCh8Qzm0CQk0WHkTXqrVbp7_U6Zbmvk2AO6oionGhIHZXoAvMqRE3GvAWra22sg2l4ZUUybkd8mUsmYsZ9vouQRqkJ1sYd3E0u0_Od6-dXMiS5UnmvnQox6aExbXKBlUZDASA-o&amp;sig=AOD64_0Kk0wS3niecb11KqTeeINOEQtNRA&amp;adurl=https://donoharmmedicine.org/%3Futm_source%3Dgoogle%26utm_medium%3Dcpc%26utm_campaign%3D20231222%26utm_term%3Dbrand%26utm_content%3Dv1">Do No Harm</a>, a non-profit organization dedicated to fighting the politicization of medicine, warned that the WHO&#8217;s guide development group will likely ignore the increasing body of literature that challenges the basis of support for medical interventions intended to modify a person&#8217;s sex.
“At a time when the European community is in the midst of a great re-examination of the entire edifice of so-called ‘gender affirming care,’ it is indeed unfortunate that the world health organization has decided to enlist a number of gender activists to create new guidance,&#8221; Goldfarb remarked. &#8220;Guideline formation should be first based on a careful and comprehensive review of the medical literature. If this is done, these activists must come to the conclusion that &#8216;gender affirming care&#8217; should be dramatically curtailed as has occurred in five European nations.&#8221;
&#8220;Unfortunately, the World Health Organization&#8217;s choice of individuals suggest that their present commitment to this activity will prevent them from approaching this problem in an evenhanded and rigorously scientific approach,&#8221; Goldfarb continued.
The WHO defended its decision to establish the guidelines and development group, telling The Daily Wire its recommendations &#8220;are always based on balancing of available evidence, human rights principles, consideration of harms and benefits, and inputs of end users and beneficiaries. &#8221;
But Castellanos and Ashley are just two of the leftwing trans activists that the WHO placed on the Guidelines Development Group. There are also four individuals associated with the World Professional Association of Transgender Health (WPATH), the organization that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/leading-transgender-health-association-releases-new-guidelines">removed minimum age requirements</a> for medical interventions, including puberty blockers, cross-sex hormone therapy, and sex change operations from its medical guidelines.
Two former presidents of WPATH, Walter Bouman and Gail Knudson, are included in the WHO’s guidelines development group.
Critics of gender ideology have blasted the WHO over its Guidelines Development Group, launching a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/gender-ideology-critics-slam-whos-biased-and-rushed-transgender-guidelines-process">petition</a> called “WHO Decides?” that objects to the “biased panel tasked with creating new transgender health guidelines.”
“Of the 21 panel members, over three-fourths are transgender activists. The few physicians either specialize in HIV or are ‘gender doctors,’” the <a href="https://who-decides.org/">petition</a> reads before adding “There is currently a worldwide explosion of teenagers wishing to undergo a sex change; WHO’s stated plan to promote hormones and “legal recognition of self-identified gender” will harm innumerable gender-dysphoric youth, gays, lesbians and other women.”

World Health Organization Named Former Prostitute, ‘Genderf**king’ Theorist To Transgender Health Expert Board

trans

A group of gender ideology critics has launched a petition against the World Health Organization&#8217;s (WHO) ongoing process to develop transgender health guidelines.
The WHO <a href="https://www.who.int/news/item/18-12-2023-who-announces-the-development-of-a-guideline-on-the-health-of-trans-and-gender-diverse-people" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> its plan to advance new transgender guidelines on December 18. Several WHO departments that deal with gender, equity, and sexual health are working together on the guidelines.
They will advise on &#8220;health sector interventions&#8221; aimed at increasing &#8220;respectful health services&#8221; for trans-identifying and &#8220;gender diverse&#8221; people, the WHO said. Among other things, the guidelines will focus on &#8220;gender-affirming care,&#8221; including hormones, health policies that support &#8220;gender-inclusive care,&#8221; health care for trans-identifying people who have suffered &#8220;interpersonal violence,&#8221; and legal recognition of self-determined gender identity.
The <a href="https://who-decides.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener">petition</a> from gender ideology critics is dubbed &#8220;WHO Decides?&#8221; and says the signers &#8220;strongly object&#8221; to the &#8220;highly biased&#8221; panel tasked with coming up with the guidelines.
More than three-fourths of the WHO panel&#8217;s 21 members are transgender activists, the petitioners claim, and the few physicians are either HIV specialists or “gender doctors.” The panel also does not include any child development experts or detransitioners, people who transitioned but then regretted it, the petitioners noted.
&#8220;There is currently a worldwide explosion of teenagers wishing to undergo a sex change,&#8221; the petitioners say. &#8220;The majority of the panel members have expressed strong views in favor of hormonal and surgical interventions for transition, dismissed known and potential risks associated with these interventions, and denigrated psychotherapeutic approaches as &#8216;conversion therapy.'&#8221;
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The petition calls on the WHO to cancel its first meeting in February and &#8220;go back to the drawing board.&#8221;
Currently, the panel is set to meet on February 19 to offer its recommendations at the WHO&#8217;s headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.
The WHO is offering a public comment period of just three weeks that fell over Christmas and New Year&#8217;s Day and will end on January 8. The petitioners noted that most people are &#8220;unplugged&#8221; and celebrating the holidays during this time.
The petition currently has more than 3,600 signatures from pediatricians, clinical psychologists, clinical social workers, parents of trans-identifying children, teachers, counselors, nurses, professors, and even one person who self-identified as a &#8220;transsexual.&#8221;
Several groups signed the petitions, including the LGBT Courage Coalition, Sex Matters, LGB Alliance, Transgender Trend, Gender Dysphoria Alliance, and Therapy First.
In recent years, several countries in Europe have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/englands-national-health-service-abandons-gender-affirming-model-of-care">pumped the brakes</a> on both transgender social transitions and medical interventions for children. This came after detransitioners started speaking out about how it had harmed them.

SWITZERLAND-HEALTH-VIRUS-WHO

Gender Ideology Critics Slam WHO’s ‘Biased’ And ‘Rushed’ Transgender Guidelines Process

Gender Ideology Critics Slam WHO's 'Biased' And 'Rushed' Transgender Guidelines Process

Gender

Social Issues

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WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus insisted that any allegation that his organization was close to China was an “outright lie.”
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Tedros was <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/who-chief-denies-he-sided-with-china-at-start-of-covid-outright-lie/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">asked</a> by National Review reporter Jimmy Quinn if he regretted his initial handling of Covid, as concerns had been expressed that he had hewed too close to Beijing&#8217;s line.
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“At one point or the other, we had issues with many countries,” Tedros responded. “If we had issues with many countries, it means maybe we’re doing the right thing. But the allegation that we’re close to China or something is an outright lie, actually.”
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“People who try to build narratives, they say that,” he continued. “But from what happened, start from there, and until now, if you’ll see all the relationships we had with countries, and some of the misunderstandings with countries, sometimes with this country the other opposite allegation with the other, it’s because we focus on science.”
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In June 2022, it was <a href="https://www.mailplus.co.uk/edition/news/coronavirus/193248/who-boss-secretly-blames-china-lab-for-covid-leak" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that Tedros &#8220;privately believes the Covid pandemic started following a leak from a Chinese laboratory,&#8221; according to a top government official. &#8220;While publicly the group maintains that ‘all hypotheses remain on the table’ about the origins of Covid, the source said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), had recently confided to a senior European politician that the most likely explanation was a catastrophic accident at a laboratory in Wuhan, where infections first spread in late 2019.&#8221;
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In May 2020, a <a href="https://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/corona-ausbruch-vertuscht-muss-china-fuer-die-pandemie-schaeden-zahlen-a-00000000-0002-0001-0000-000170816271" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report from Der Spiegel</a> claimed WHO officials communicated with the Chinese government, and might have deliberately delayed giving other countries critical information about the spread of the novel coronavirus after being pressured by China and its president, Xi Jinping.
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The report claimed that BND, the German Federal Intelligence Service, discovered that &#8220;Xi met with WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on January 21&#8221; and asked WHO to delay reporting accurate information about the novel coronavirus, The Daily Caller reported.
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WHO called the report “unfounded and untrue,&#8221; saying that the two had never spoken over phone.
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Later, Tedros praised China, saying he appreciated the information the communist country provided to WHO.
&#8220;If you remember at the initial stage, you remember about the sequence, they provided the sequence immediately, and we appreciated that they shared the sequence of the virus Sars-CoV-2 immediately. And then there were other things like especially the measures they were taking on Wuhan to slow the speed of the spread to the rest of the world. And we identified that and we encouraged them to do that, because slowing the spread is very important,&#8221; he said.
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‘Outright Lie’: World Health Organization Chief Denies Hewing To China’s Line

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