A Finnish member of the World Health Organization board, an advisor on vaccines, has received 6 million Euros (approx. 9 million dollars) for his research center from the vaccine manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline. Although WHO promises transparency, this conflict of interest is not available for the public to see at WHO’s homepage. Prof. Juhani Eskola is the director of the Finnish research vaccine program and a new member of the WHO group ‘Strategic Advisory Group of Experts’ (SAGE). SAGE recommends which vaccines -- and how many -- member countries should purchase for the pandemic.
According to documents acquired through the Danish Freedom of Information Act, Eskola’s Finnish institute, THL, received almost 6.3 million Euros from GlaxoSmithKline for research on vaccines during 2009. GlaxoSmithKline produces the H1N1-vaccine which the Finnish government -- following recommendations from THL and WHO -- purchased for a national pandemic reserve stockpile.
Several other WHO experts also have financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry--a double role that notably is not published by WHO.
As the Flu Case article states, this financial conflict of interest is not an isolated incident with one researcher—the following list of WHO researchers, reported to have financial ties to Big Pharma, suggests a more systemic corruption:
Dr. Peter Figueroa, Professor in the Department of Community Health and Psychiatry in Jamaica, has received money from Merck
Dr. Neil Ferguson has received funding from Baxter, GlaxoSmithKline, and Roche, as well as from some insurance companies
Professor Malik Peiris in Hong Kong has received money from Baxter GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi Pasteur
Dr. Arnold Monto, advisor to Chiron, GlaxoSmithKline, MedImmune, Roche, Novartis, Baxter and Sanofi Pasteur, has received funding from same
Dr. Friedrich Hayden, consultant to MedImmune and Sanofi Pasteur, received money from those companies, in addition to Roche, RW Johnson, and SmithKline Beecham
The World Health Organization (WHO) proclaims itself to be an agency that “is responsible for providing leadership on global health matters, shaping the health research agenda, setting norms and standards, articulating evidence-based policy options, providing technical support to countries and monitoring and assessing health trends.”
Source: Dr. Mercola, January 2010
If you have any questions, please contact Dr. Thibodeau at 920-954-1002 or at drdan1221@yahoo.com
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