Did the World Health Organization (WHO) Experts Exaggerate the Swine Flu Scare?
Questions are being raised about whether the swine flu scare was exaggerated to benefit PHARMA companies. Evidence has surfaced that several members of the World Health Organization’ s (WHO) vaccine board which pushed countries to buy the H1N1 vaccine have had significant ties with PHARMA companies.
This fact was exposed by Danish news media last month. Attempts were made to get WHO’s response, but several emails sent to the office of the WHO director-general on January 9 met with no response. Documents revealed that Prof Juhani Eskola, a Finnish member of the WHO board on vaccines, “Strategic Advisory Group of Experts” (SAGE), received almost 6.3 million Euros in 2009 for his vaccine research program from the vaccine manufacturers, GSK, qualifying GSK as THL’s main source of income. A Danish newspaper pointed out that SAGE advises WHO Chief Margaret Chan and recommends which vaccines and how much of its member countries should purchase. The journalists reported on six other members of SAGE with financial ties to various pharmaceutical companies, including manufacturers of vaccines (including the H1N1 vaccine) like GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Novartis, Solvay, Baxter, MedImmune, and Sanofi-Aventis. Only one of the WHO members on the vaccine board declared any conflict of interest despite having extensive financial ties with the pharmaceutical companies in the form of research grants and consultancies.
http://pharmalive. com/news/ index.cfm? articleID= 678738&categoryid=9&newsletter=1
Serbia to Stop Import of Swine Flu Vaccines
Serbia’s health officials say they will stop the purchase of swine flu vaccines from a Swiss pharmaceutical company because of the lack of demand. Last year Serbia ordered 3 million doses of the vaccine from Novartis AG. The estimated worth of the order was estimated at (EURO) 24 million ($35 million US). Serbia has received and paid for about 850,000 doses, while only some 135,000 people — about 2 percent of the population — have been vaccinated.
http://pharmalive. com/news/ index.cfm? articleID= 678349&categoryid=9&newslette