“The director-general of WHO may appoint members of the emergency committee according to the IHR,” Attaran said. He then received an invitation from WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan to sit on WHO’s independent committee of Zika experts, which meets Tuesday. Lindmeier said that WHO was unaware of any previous cases of a potential committee member refusing to sign the confidentiality agreement. “She doesn’t get the right to gag them.”Lindmeier said the open letter authored by Attaran and others would be part of the background materials considered by the Zika expert meeting. “I was surprised, but thought it would be a good opportunity to have a full discussion of the concerns around Zika and the Olympics,” Attaran said.

Source: National Post June 14, 2016 13:07 UTC