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DAILY MAIL: The ‘false’ pandemic: Drug firms cashed in on scare over swine flu, claims Euro health chief
Vezi traducerea in limba romana la Apologeticum

By Fiona Macrae
Last updated at 8:38 AM on 11th January 2010

The swine flu outbreak was a ‘falsepandemic’ driven by drug companies that stood to make billions ofpounds from a worldwide scare, a leading health expert has claimed.

WolfgangWodarg, head of health at the Council of Europe, accused the makers offlu drugs and vaccines of influencing the World Health Organisation’sdecision to declare a pandemic.

Thisled to the pharmaceutical firms ensuring ‘enormous gains’, whilecountries, including the UK, ‘squandered’ their meagre health budgets,with millions being vaccinated against a relatively mild disease.
A resolution proposed by Dr Wodargcalling for an investigation into the role of drug firms has beenpassed by the Council of Europe, the Strasbourg-based ‘senate’responsible for the European Court of Human Rights.

An emergency debate on the issue will be held later this month.

DrWodarg’s claims come as it emerged the British government isdesperately trying to offload up to £1billion of swine flu vaccine,ordered at the height of the scare.

Chief Medical Officer Sir Liam Donaldson last year ordered the NHS to plan for up to 65,000 deaths

TheDepartment of Health warned of 65,000 deaths, set up a special adviceline and website, suspended normal rules so anti-flu drugs could begiven out without prescription and told health and local authorities toprepare for a major pandemic.

Plannerswere told to get morgues ready for the sheer scale of deaths and therewere warnings that the Army could be called in to prevent riots aspeople fought to obtain drugs.

Butwith fewer than 5,000 in England catching the disease last week andjust 251 deaths overall, Dr Wodarg has branded the H1N1 outbreak as’one of the greatest medical scandals of the century’.

He said: ‘We have had a mild flu – and a false pandemic.’

Headded the seeds of the scare were sown five years ago, when it wasfeared the much more lethal bird flu virus would mutate into a humanform.

The’atmosphere of panic’ led to governments stockpiling the anti-flu drugTamiflu and putting in place ‘sleeping contracts’ for millions of dosesof vaccine

Dr Wodargsaid: ‘The governments have sealed contracts with vaccine producerswhere they secure orders in advance and take upon themselves almost allthe responsibility.

‘In this way the producers of vaccines are sure of enormous gains without having any financial risks.

‘So they just wait, until WHO says “pandemic” and activate the contracts.’

Healso claims that to further push their interests, leading drugcompanies placed ‘their people’ in the ‘cogs’ of the WHO and otherinfluential organisations.

He added that their influence couldhave led the WHO to soften its definition of a pandemic  –  leading tothe declaration of a worldwide outbreak last June.

DrWodarg said: ‘In order to promote their patented drugs and vaccinesagainst flu, pharmaceutical companies have influenced scientists andofficial agencies, responsible for public health standards, to alarmgovernments worldwide.

‘Theyhave made them squander tight healthcare resources for inefficientvaccine strategies and needlessly exposed millions of healthy people tothe risk of unknown side-effects of insufficiently tested vaccines.’
He does not name any Britons with conflicts of interest.

Butlast year, the Daily Mail revealed that Sir Roy Anderson, a scientistwho advises the Government on swine flu, also holds a £116,000-a-yearpost on the board of GlaxoSmithKline.

GSK makes anti-flu drugs and vaccines and is predicted to be one of the biggest beneficiaries of the pandemic. 
He added that their influence couldhave led the WHO to soften its definition of a pandemic  –  leading tothe declaration of a worldwide outbreak last June.

DrWodarg said: ‘In order to promote their patented drugs and vaccinesagainst flu, pharmaceutical companies have influenced scientists andofficial agencies, responsible for public health standards, to alarmgovernments worldwide.

‘Theyhave made them squander tight healthcare resources for inefficientvaccine strategies and needlessly exposed millions of healthy people tothe risk of unknown side-effects of insufficiently tested vaccines.’
He does not name any Britons with conflicts of interest.

Butlast year, the Daily Mail revealed that Sir Roy Anderson, a scientistwho advises the Government on swine flu, also holds a £116,000-a-yearpost on the board of GlaxoSmithKline.

GSK makes anti-flu drugs and vaccines and is predicted to be one of the biggest beneficiaries of the pandemic.

The Department of Health says thatalthough the disease appears to be on the wane, it cannot rule out athird surge and urges all those entitled to the jab to have it.

ProfessorDavid Salisbury, the Government’s head of immunisation said there were’no grounds whatsoever’ for Dr Wodarg’s claims, saying people withconflicts of interest were kept out of the decision-making process.

AGSK spokesman said: ‘Allegations of undue influence are misguided andunfounded. The WHO declared that H1N1 swine flu met the criteria for apandemic.

‘As WHO have stated, legal regulations and numerous safeguards are in place to manage possible conflicts of interest.’

Thecompany, which still employs Sir Roy, said he had declared hiscommercial interests and had not attended any meetings related to thepurchase of drugs or vaccine for either the Government or GSK.

Read more: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1242147/The-false-pandemic-Drug-firms-cashed-scare-swine-flu-claims-Euro-health-chief.html#ixzz0cS2uw2Qx

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