WHO Gold Standard: Emergency as a Business Model

Switzerland has many talents. Building watches, maturing cheese, conducting referendums that leave everyone offended yet proud. And apparently, it can also turn an exceptional situation into a product line. Complete with an upgrade package. And a maintenance contract.

While other countries at least pretend to have learned something from the past few years, here in Germany the next chapter is already lined up: International Health Regulations (IHR), a revised Epidemics Act (EpG), and, as a bonus, a health agreement with the EU. All of this, of course, is described as "minor," "administrative," and "of limited scope." In other words, exactly the kind of language you always hear when something is indeed far-reaching, just inconvenient for the public.

In the EDU podcast, lawyer Philip Kruse explains why the whole thing reeks of "pure arbitrariness." And you don't even have to be a lawyer to recognize the whiff of it: If a system is designed in such a way that a single authority can more easily declare a state of emergency, maintain it for longer, and extend it more broadly, then that's not healthcare. That's securing power.

Emergency 2.0: More buttons, fewer brakes
The core criticism is that the IHR amendments expand the discretion of the WHO Director-General. New label, new category, more leeway: alongside the "international health emergency," a "pandemic situation" now appears. It sounds like a Netflix genre, but it's the legal lever that can force states into a kind of permanent state of alert. And because the WHO is considered the "gold standard" in political practice, a formal order isn't even necessary. A "proposal" suffices. Just like a "note" from the boss is enough to get everyone running. Except here, it's not coffee machines being descaled, but fundamental rights.

Things get particularly interesting when it comes to "key health products." The WHO will now be able to determine what is considered relevant during the pandemic. And this product list explicitly includes cell- and gene-based therapies. This is precisely the category where common sense would dictate demanding "long-term data, please" before establishing them as the standard solution for entire populations. Instead, it seems more like: "Standardize first, discuss later."

Test until the drain glows red-hot.
Then comes what sounds like satire, but is unfortunately formulated as a legal obligation: 24/7 testing readiness. The revised Epidemics Act (EpG) would allow the federal government to compel institutions to participate in monitoring, including through wastewater analysis using genomic sequencing. Imagine this: the country that cherishes its democracy is scanning its sewage system for traces of genetic material in order to derive emergency political decisions.

And yes, wastewater monitoring can be epidemiologically useful. But the point isn't "Is it permissible to analyze wastewater?" The point is: Will this be used as a basis for decision-making that is difficult to verify in practice, easily politicized, and extremely flexible? Because if the trigger for far-reaching measures isn't "proven disease" but "something was detected," then precisely what Kruse calls "arbitrariness" emerges. A system that can use any curve it chooses for legitimacy.

Vaccination as default setting
The revised Epidemics Act also bears a striking signature: vaccinations, vaccination rates, monitoring, and obligation. Doctors, pharmacists, and healthcare institutions could be obligated to administer vaccinations; vaccinations could be made mandatory for certain groups. This is the moment when the term "informed consent" is no longer just sadly sitting in a corner, but is being carried out of the room.

And this is where it gets legally tricky, because the fundamental principle isn't "vaccination yes/no," but rather: The state must not force people into medical interventions without full information, without free choice, and without disadvantages for opting out. Period. Especially when products are developed and rolled out under time pressure, the threshold for coercion isn't "lower," but higher. Anything else isn't "public health." It's a training exercise with a syringe.

Information control with a seal of approval
As if that weren't enough, the next layer comes: "risk communication" and addressing "misinformation" and "disinformation." Words that always sound neutral until you realize that in practice they mean: Who determines what is true? Who marks what deviates? And who imposes sanctions?

Switzerland has indeed made a reservation regarding a corresponding annex to the International Data Protection Ordinance (IDP), it is said. Fine. A reservation is the Swiss version of "I have concerns." The problem: The last few years have shown that pressure to provide information, deletions, warnings, and algorithmic throttling work perfectly well even without a formal legal obligation. If the political culture already reflexively thinks "deviation = danger," then the legal basis is merely a safety net.

And that has explosive democratic implications: If the population has to make decisions (personal and political) based on curated information, then that's not free will formation. That's guided navigation. With a user-friendly interface.

Federalism: The cantons are allowed to pay, but the federal government should make the decisions.
Interestingly, according to the text, three cantons are clearly opposed to the revision: Bern, Ticino, and Obwalden. Bern argues that the Epidemics Act (EpG) damages cantonal autonomy and opens the floodgates for the federal government to engage in "mischief" under the guise of pandemic control. In other words: Federalism becomes a mere facade while the bill is passed down the line.

We know the pattern: central decision-making, decentralized implementation, cantonal payments, and public acceptance. And if anything goes wrong, there are "no final figures," "redacted contracts," and "unfortunately, no jurisdiction." A perpetual motion machine of public administration.

And then there's the EU.
As a final touch, there's the health agreement with the EU: approvals will no longer be primarily national, but European; pandemic decisions will be more strongly controlled by EU structures; sovereignty will be offered as a subscription model. And, as a symbolic gesture, the story lingers that billions of euros were negotiated via text message for vaccine procurement. Transparency as the most modern form: "Just trust me."

Of course, all of this is sold as "cooperation" and "security." It's always security. Security is the trump card played when freedom raises too many questions.

Conclusion: The state as an experimental setup
The common thread is simple: more emergency powers, more testing and surveillance mechanisms, a greater focus on vaccination, more control of communications, less effective legal oversight, less genuine accountability. And all of this is then called "further development." Like a software update that suddenly demands administrator rights, access to your camera, your contacts, and your decision-making abilities.

This is not "precautionary measures". This is a system that keeps open the option of ruling again without having to clearly demonstrate what exactly the basis for this is and who is liable.

And the absurdity is this: in a direct democracy of all places, an architecture is being built that elegantly circumvents direct democracy when it really matters. One could almost call it ingenious. If it weren't so distasteful.

Ultimately, it's not about being "for" or "against" individual measures. It's about a fundamental principle: those who can create an emergency will exploit it. Those who set standards, create power. And those who control information spaces, control reality.

Welcome to the age of healthcare 2.0. Now new: "Minor adjustments" with unlimited duration…

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