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WHO expert advisory group linked to pharmaceutical industry
Those of us who have opposed the mass vaccinations against swine flu [1-3] (Fast-tracked Swine Flu Vaccine under Fire, SiS 43; Swine Flu Pandemic - To Vaccinate or Not to Vaccinate? & other articles in the series, SiS 44; Cardiovascular Risks from Swine Flu Vaccines, SiS 45) can feel vindicated and relieved.
The truth is out. More than half of the experts advising the World Health Organisation (WHO) to declare swine flu a ‘pandemic’ are linked to drug-makers that have reaped huge profits from untested vaccines and flu drugs [4]. Eleven of the 20 members of the WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) have profited from work done for the pharmaceutical industry or are linked to it through their universities. Many have declared interests in GlaxoSmithKline, the vaccine maker that stands to benefit the most from the pandemic.
At the height of the pandemic scare, UK’s Chief Medical Officer warned of up to 65 000 deaths. The death toll now stands at 251; and the UK Government is now trying to offload up to £1 billion worth of unwanted swine flu vaccines.
Among the three UK experts with industrial links is Prof. Sir Roy Anderson, rector of Imperial College, London, also non-executive director of GlaxoSmithKline. He received £87 000 for six board meetings in 2008 and £29 000 worth of shares. Since the swine flu outbreak the shares have risen in value by more than 10 percent.
Earlier, a Danish newspaper revealed, through the Danish Freedom of Information Act, that Prof. Juhani Eskola of SAGE and director of the Finnish research vaccine programme THL received nearly €6.3 million in 2009 for his research centre from GlaxoSmithKline, which was not declared on the WHO website [5]. Seven other WHO experts have ties to the pharmaceutical industry, most of them not declared on the WHO website.
One member of SAGE, Dr. Albert Osterhaus at Erasmus University Rotterdam in The Netherlands, heads the European Scientists Fighting Influenza, and is financed by Baxter, Crucell, Novartis, Hoffmann-La Roche, MedImmune, Nobilon, Sanofi Pasteur, MSD, Glaxo SmithKline and Solvay. He was under investigation for gross conflict of interest [6], which date back to the earlier bird flu scare [7] (see Where's the Bird Flu Pandemic? & other articles in the series, SiS 30).
SAGE group redefined ‘pandemic’ to mandate mass purchase of vaccines and drugs by governments
This SAGE group redefined ‘pandemic’ in an important way in order to mandate the mass purchase of vaccines and drugs by governments. Epidemiologist Dr. Tom Jeffrey said in an interview with Der Spiegel magazine in Germany [8]: “Don't you think there's something noteworthy about the fact that the WHO has changed its definition of pandemic? The old definition was a new virus, which went around quickly, for which you didn't have immunity, and which created a high morbidity and mortality rate. Now the last two have been dropped, and that's how swine flu has been categorized as a pandemic.”
European Council enquiry on “faked pandemic”
On 18 December 2009, Dr. Wolfgang Wodarg, former SPD Member of the German Parliament and now chair of the Health Committee of Parliamentary Assembly for the Council of Europe (PACE) introduced a motion calling for an enquiry into the “faked pandemic”. It stated that [9] “In order to promote their patented drugs and vaccines against flu, pharmaceutical companies have influenced scientists and official agencies, responsible for public health standards, to alarm governments worldwide. They have made them squander tight health care resources for inefficient vaccine strategies and needlessly exposed millions of healthy people to the risk of unknown side-effects of insufficiently tested vaccines.”
It called on the member states of the Council of Europe to ask for an immediate investigation.
Wodarg is not just a politician; he is also an epidemiologist and specialist in lung disease and environmental medicine.
On 31 December, Wodarg’s resolution was passed by the Parliamentary Assembly. It will launch an enquiry in January 2010 into the influence of the pharmaceutical companies on the global swine flu campaign, focusing especially on the extent of the industry’s influence on WHO [10]. The enquiry extends to the industry’s earlier creation of the H5N1 bird flu campaign, and will be given “urgent” priority in the general assembly of the European Parliament.
References
1. Ho MW and Cummins J. Fast-tracked swine flu vaccine under fire. Science in Society 43, 4-6, 2009.
2. Ho MW and Cummins J. Swine flu pandemic, to vaccinate or not to vaccinate? Science in Society 44, 22-24, 2009.
3. Ho MW. Cardiovascular risks from flu vaccines. Science in Society 45 (to appear).
4. “Swine flu taskforce’s links to vaccine giant: more than half the experts fighting the ‘pandemic have ties to drug firms”, Fiona Macrae and Sophie Borland, Mailonline, 14 January 2010, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1243034/Swine-flu-taskforces-links-vaccine-giant-More-half-experts-fighting-pandemic-ties-drug-firms.html
5. “WHO adviser conceals a donation of millions from a pharmaceutical company”, Louise Voller and Kristian Villesen for Danish daily newspaper Information. 10 December 2009, http://www.whale.to/vaccine/who_adviser.html
6. “WHO ‘Mr. Flu’ under investigation for gross conflict of interest”, by F. William Engdahl, Financial Sense Editorials, Uncommon News & Views for the Wise investor, 8 December 2009. http://www.financialsense.com/editorials/engdahl/2009/1208.html
7. Ho MW. Where’s the bird flu pandemic? Science in Society 30, 20-21, 2006.
8. Karin Steinberger, Vogelgrippe: Der Mann mit der Vogelperspektive, Seuddeutsche Zeitung, 20 October, 2005, accessed in Seuddeutsche.de, cited in 6.
9. Faked pandemics – a threat for health. Motion for a recommendation presented by Mr. Wodarg and others
http://assembly.coe.int/Documents/WorkingDocs/Doc09/EDOC12110.pdf
10. “Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly to Invesigate “Pandemic” Scandal”, F. William Engdahl, Global Research . ca, 31 December 2009, http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=16667
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