WHO Experts linked to Drug-Makers

Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe agree to launch enquiry amid revelations of gross conflicts of interest among experts advising the World Health Organisation to declare the swine flu pandemic Dr. Mae-Wan Ho.

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 65000 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). 

Read the rest of this report here. Or read other articles about flu.