The Council of Europe member states are to launch an inquiry in January 2010 on the influence of the pharmaceutical companies on the global swine flu campaign, focussing especially on the extent of the pharma industry's in fluence on WHO, according to reports in the German media.
Wolfgang Wodarg, a former SPD member of parliament and chairman of the European parliament's health committee, initiated the inquiry. The motion was passed unanimously by his colleagues in the European parliament's health committee.
Wodarg has criticised the measures taken against the swine flu as "one of the biggest medical scandals of the century."
He said the influence of the pharamaceutical industry on scientists and government officials has resulted in "millions of healthy people being exposed unnecessarily to the risks of an inadequately tested vaccine."
That even though, the swine flu virus is "much less harmful" than last year's seasonal flu causing "not even a tenth of the usual deaths associated with flu."
Wodarg has also criticised the way pharmaceutical companies have made gigantic profits at the expense of taxpayers. He accused vaccine manufacturers of being willing even to inflict bodily harm "in their pursuit of profits, noting that the adjuvants in the swine flu jab have hardly been tested."
Wodarg has said that the role of the WHO and its pandemic emergency declaration in June needs to be the especial focus of a European parliamentary inquiry. For the first time the criteria for a pandemic was made not the actual risk of a disease but the number of cases of the disease.
By classifying the swine flu as pandemic, nations were compelled to implement pandemic plans and also the purchase of swine flu vaccines. Because WHO is not subject to any parliamentary control, Wodarg argued it is necessary for governments to insist on accountability.
What is a pandemic should not be allowed to be defined by an organisation that is clearly under the influence of the pharmaceutical companies that profit from the sales of vaccines accompanying such a pandemic. Many of the decision makers in WHO have worked for the pharma industry and go back to work there.
Well done Herr Wodarg!
Update: One of my readers has sent this as an example of Big Pharma.
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24 comments:
SR,
The WHO are not new to stupid and biased decision making.
They were convinced by just one junk science study more than 30 years ago to ban DDT.
DDT was then (and still is) the most effective deterrent against malaria. Three decades ago they banned DDT because they said it was killing 100,000 African per year. As a direct result of that ban, over 2 MILLION Africans die each year of....malaria.
The WHO is directly responsible for more than 60 million deaths. I do not know if Big Pharma were involved in the decision to ban DDT but I would not be surprised.
I welcome any investigation into this organisation which is badly disguised as the Sales Division of Big Pharma.
CR.
Give 'em hell, Wodarg. Though I expect it'll all be swept under the carpet.
"the influence of the pharamaceutical industry on scientists and government officials" is a worldwide scandal.
It'd be nice, too, if someone could enforce some accountability on the unelected WHO who dictate so many aspects of our lives via their 'frameworks' by which governments have to act.
The WHO are as big a threat as the EU but not many recognise it.
Awesome, good find.
As Dick P suggests, the WHO are the world's worst bansturbators, they've got it in for smokers and drinkers as well.
Ranty, I think this is the first time the WHO will ever be investigated at this level. Maybe something will come out of it. Herr Wodarg seems to have the bit between his teeth, the full backing of his committee and the parliament.
It's up to the likes of us to keep the investigation in the public eye. Now we know the words to search in google at least. :)
Dick as I said to CR I think this may be a big enough investigation for it to be productive. Let's hope so.
Mark, I wonder if the Westminster government will give any comment about this? Now that they've spent millions on vaccine etc.
Will these investigations extend to the nonsensical drivel that WHO come out with about 'passivrauchen', sorry, 'passive smoking'?
I suppose it's a relief that they are not being investigated by the EU, it would be hard to tell who were the most corrupt if such were to happen.
I wonder if we are ever going to find a body that is not corrupt, QM.
Well, I hope they get to the bottom of this. it seems to me that the WHO will need careful scrutiny in the future.
Can we trust no one?
Ich denke nicht cfjc but it could happen on another occasion.
Yes indeed QM, although I have a feeling Herr Wodarg has played a bit of a blinder here to ensure the COE do it.
I know you're asking QM tris, but of course we can't trust any of them. The problem is so many are unaccountable. That must change.
This is excellent news - well done, SR!
I expect governments will be keen to recover monies spent on organising vaccinations. Which they'll keep, of course - not return it to us.
Surely parliamentarians around the world are waking up to the dangers of globalisation and global treaties after the swine flu and COP15 hype?
Another global treaty's ill-effects become active at the end of this year - Codex Alimentarius.
I'm sure parliamentarians are wide awake to these Fausty. Unfortunately not all are like Herr Wodarg and his colleagues. Many will be keeping their heads in the sand because they won't like to expose their friends in the pharma industry.
Rosie, I think you are going over the score here. He may be a good architect and an excellent blogger but what does Wardog know about Swine Flu?
He he DL, if he is daft enough to consider having the vaccination then he'll know about it in the next x years. :)
That will explain why our own dear chief Medical Officer Liam Donaldson was so furiously backpeddling from his doom-mongering about swine flu just last week.
A quick Google shows that Wolfgang Wodarg has had it in for Swine flu for a while, saying it causes cancer.
He's a lung specialist so he'll know a bit about medicine banned. Also he's German and the Germans take a lot more interest in health matters in general.
He's not saying it causes cancer, what I've read is that it may increase the risk of it. That's because no or few tests have been done.
So the vaccine isn't the cause of cancer but it may increase the risk of it.
Don't know if you remember the recent scandal in Germany when politicians were offered a different vaccine (no adjuvants) from the wider population. Says it all, really.
Indeed I do Vronsky. I wrote a brief post about it if I remember correctly.
Some argued it didn't matter but I thought it did.
Rosie, I just found out that my In-laws got it last week without my knowing. They are pretty old a frail and they just do what the doctor tells them. I'm not happy about the situation but it's too late.
Don't say anything to them DL, it's too late. I was at a wee party last week in a residential home and they'd all had it.
Wasn't worth questioning because it was too late.
I've had a letter from the doc too about it but it went in the bin. I'll take my chance.
I had to visit the nurse for routine checks a few days ago - declined both seasonal flu and swine flu jabs (so if I stop commenting, you know what happened).
Good for you Vronsky. Auch you'll be around for years yet, but if you do start coughing let us know!
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