The director of the World Health Organization (WHO) argued today at the World Government Summit in Dubai that a global treaty on pandemics, which is still being negotiated, "does not give the WHO any sovereign power over any country".

Quoted by Notícias ao Minuto, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus explained that the pandemic treaty faces two main obstacles: "the lack of consensus" between countries and "conspiracy theories".

The possible treaty is being criticized for being "an attack on freedom, control of lives and a travel ban", which is why the WHO director stressed that all these accusations "are false".

The head of the organization argued that "the treaty does not give the WHO any power over any state", according to the draft published on the UN agency's website.

"Our job is to advise" those who ask for it, said Ghebreyesus, confirming that the WHO "won't even be part of the treaty", but only governments will be part of the pact that aims to "strengthen prevention, research, access to vaccines and the sharing of data and biological samples".

"The world is not prepared for a new pandemic," said Ghebreyesus, who sees the possibility of a new epidemic emerging that is still unknown.

On January 30, more than 40 former world leaders signed a letter calling on WHO member countries to negotiate a global treaty to prepare for future pandemics, before the current disagreements culminate in failure.

The difficulties in the negotiations seem to lie in the different views between drug-producing countries and developing nations regarding the patents needed to produce vaccines and other vital tools in pandemics and health crises.