From: Andrew Johnson
Date: 2009-12-02 09:09:21
From: Kathleen Roberts [mailto:weerkhr@pacbell.net] Sent: 01 December 2009 22:46To: Undisclosed-Recipient: ;@smtp125.sbc.mail.sp1.yahoo.comSubject: Committee Advising on the Pandemic is Secret Translated from Swedish newspaper by Google… translate.google.com… Experts working with industry Published: 30 November 2009, 01.00. Last update: 30 November 2009, 08.05 PANDEMIC. Rows of experts will help WHO to deal with the threat of swine flu. But several advisers have links to the pharmaceutical industry, shows SvD’s review. Committee to advise on the pandemic is secret. GENEVA / STOCKHOLM. A core group since svininfluensans outbreak this spring is the WHO’s “Emergency Commit”. Based on information from this kriskommittée WHO Director General Margaret Chan decided on various pandemic levels. Following the Committee’s fourth session of elfte juni 2009 drew Margaret Chan concluded that the criteria for a pandemic met. “Following advice from the Crisis Committee decides WHO Director-General Margaret Chan to go from stage five to six,” the WHO said in a statement. “WHO is now close dialogue with manufacturers of influenza vaccine, and full capacity will soon be reached to ensure the widest possible access to pandemic vaccines in the coming months,” it said further. What is this crisis committee whose conclusions underlying the pandemic decision also triggered large-scale vaccine production? Committee convened by WHO Director-General, if necessary, to advise on international outbreaks. They first met 25 April this year. The Committee consists of 18 members and is only advisory, said Gregory Hartl, spokesman for the flu at the WHO. He stressed that the WHO Director may advise from the world’s foremost health experts by the committee, but that the decision to declare a pandemic “is entirely her own.” Who are the members of the committee? The names of the members of the Committee are confidential. You do not want them to be subjected to external pressure. They are selected based on their expertise on influenza virus spread and disease control, “says Hartl. Why are the names secret? What kind of pressure might members? “I can not go into it. But what is important is that members of the Committee need not take account of someone or something outside the Committee in its advice to WHO Director-General, said Gregory Hartl. Has any member of the Committee relating to or collaboration with the pharmaceutical industry? “I do not know who the members are. I think that checks are made if they have links with the pharmaceutical industry. WHO should not be transparent about how decisions are made on diseases that affect millions of people? In the fight against this epidemic, we must cooperate with many partners. This includes governments, NGOs and the pharmaceutical industry. We need to find the best solutions to protect people’s lives. Saving lives is most important for us, “said Gregory Hartl. He added, “we ask about conflicts of interest and receive information about this”. He also says that there are several committees that provide advice on various aspects of flu and how to combat it. These committees avoid conflicts of interest, “he says. But a look at these committees shows that it is not always true. In the case of influenza vaccine, the WHO include Sage-Committee and Ad Hoc Policy Advisary Working Group on Influenza A (H1N1) to help. Three Sages of the fifteen members have contacts with the pharmaceutical industry. Among others, they received money and support of the leading vaccine companies. Two independent external experts on Sages meetings in Geneva has the Danish newspaper Information revealed to have been rådgivarpengar from pharmaceutical companies (see graphic in the article). The Ad Hoc Committee, also sits as an independent expert, a professor and world-leading virus researcher who received criticism in the journal Science that he owns two biotech companies based on influenza vaccine. Regarding the decision to declare a pandemic, however, neither Ad Hoc Committee or the Sage “played no role whatsoever,” said Gregory Hartl. Margaret Chan can only take advice from the Crisis Committee and the member countries. But the decision whether a pandemic is only her, “he says. More about the mass vaccination Links to companies in the pharmaceutical industry A decision on mass vaccination No virus found in this incoming message.Checked by AVG – www.avg.comVersion: 9.0.709 / Virus Database: 270.14.83/2529 – Release Date: 12/01/09 19:32:00
