Biological Weapons Pact Offers Cooperation Against Pandemics
Washington - The Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BWC), which took effect in 1975, originally was designed to
ban the development, production and stockpiling of biological and toxin weapons by nation states. To meet the threats of
the 21st century, however, signatories are also using the convention to try to prevent bioterrorism and to expand
information sharing and communication that can be used to combat any pandemic, spread deliberately or otherwise.
Discussions at the annual meeting of the parties to the BWC, held December 6-10 in Geneva, reflected awareness that
prevention and response to a disease caused deliberately by a biological weapon, or accidentally by the mishandling of
biological material, or naturally in cases such as cholera or bird flu, require the same mechanisms and coordination
among governments, health professionals and scientists.
Laura Kennedy, U.S. permanent representative to the Conference on Disarmament and U.S. special representative for
Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention issues, led the American delegation to the meeting and said enhanced cooperation
among governments, health professionals and other experts will benefit everyone, including countries that do not have
the capacity to manufacture bioweapons or do not believe they will be targeted. Every country is vulnerable to an
epidemic outbreak, thus the BWC aims to reach out to all countries around the world, she said.
Speaking to America.gov from Geneva December 10, Kennedy said the Obama administration is "extremely pleased to see
growing cooperation between health and security communities," which are working together to enhance local, national and
international capacities to deal with disease outbreaks.
The United States wants to see an enhanced focus on bioterrorism as well as retention of the convention's traditional
focus on state entities, she said. President Obama recognizes that "a bio-outbreak could be just as devastating as a
nuclear incident, whether unleashed by a state or a terrorist group."
"When you build capacity, it is a powerful deterrence tool," Kennedy said.
But in the 21st century, deliberate use of biological weapons is not the only concern, Kennedy said. "There's a whole
spectrum of outbreaks of a disease that could be caused by deliberate, accidental or natural disease outbreaks. And as
we strengthen the mechanisms to deal with these challenges, we can have benefits across the board."
Haiti is currently combating the outbreak of cholera. H5N1, also known as bird flu, continues to infect and kill people
around the world. Kennedy said the parties to the BWC want the arms control and nonproliferation agreement to be used to
bring together the scientific and health communities, law enforcement professionals and governments in assisting states
to develop an integrated approach to any kind of prevention and treatment program for pandemic diseases.
"It's linking up international assistance, and it's providing the expertise that could conduct the investigations to
determine the outbreak. So it's a whole host of tools at our disposal," Kennedy said.
Along with highlighting the overlap between deliberate and nondeliberate pandemics, the meeting in Geneva discussed the
World Health Organization's (WHO) 2005 International Health Regulations which require countries to cooperate in the
prevention and treatment of diseases.
The WHO and BWC, both located in Geneva, have different mandates, but their roles complement one another, Kennedy said.
The BWC also established a network of national points of contact in the event of a disease outbreak. Kennedy said there
is still a need to help countries better react to pandemic situations by helping them develop their capacities, laws and
practices.
"It's plugging gaps. It's linking up and sharing information, and getting those networks in place" at the local,
national and international levels, she said. "This is achieved through multilateral diplomacy, providing technical
assistance to countries and conducting workshops with the help of partner states."
She said the December 6-10 meetings "put us on a very good trajectory" for the Seventh BWC Review Conference, scheduled
for Geneva, December 5-22, 2011. The BWC also plans to hold a preparatory conference in April 2011, as well as a series
of regional workshops, including in Kenya, Nigeria and Jordan, and additional experts meetings and seminars around the
world, she said.
The Obama administration is pleased by the level of global interest and hopes soon to see "every single state signed up
and fully active in the convention."
"That's certainly our overarching goal, and I think we're making progress," Kennedy said. "This is an arms control
regime ... and the implementation has great benefits for every country around the world."
ENDS