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WHO’s Directing Global Health Policy?
The Australian Medical Professionals’ Society has published an exposé of the conflicts of interest and corruption within the World Health Organization.
The Australian Medical Professionals’ Society (AMPS) has done an independent investigation into the WHO, its funders and the beneficiaries of the WHO’s decisions in order to determine whether the WHO is acting as an independent and impartial agency that can be trusted to protect public health.
AMPS’ new report: “Follow the Money, WHO’s directing global health policy?” reveals how the World Health Organization (WHO) has allowed and encouraged commercial interests to corrupt global health policy.
https://jamesroguski.substack.com/p/whos-directing-global-health-policy?
Executive Summary:
The investigation by AMPS considered the potential for donors to the WHO to influence the Organization’s decisions on global health policy. To do this, it considered the funding mechanisms of the WHO and the affiliations of the WHO’s top-100 donors for specified purposes in 2022-2023 using data from the WHO’s website. Among the key points observed are the following.
The WHO invites investors, offering 3,400% returns, and allows donors to its specified purposes program to have a say in how their funds are spent.
The majority of the top-100 donors to the WHO’s specified donations program were pharmaceutical companies or aligned with pharmaceutical interests.
100% pharmaceutical companies donated a total of $28,722,232 directly to the WHO for specified purposes, contravening the WHO’s Guidelines, as well as donating to other top-100 donors.
58 organisations donated a total of $1,741,237,890 and 56 (96.5%) of these organisations were seen to be aligned with the interests of the pharmaceutical industry, receiving funds, cooperating on projects or promoting pharmaceutical products and expanding pharmaceutical markets.
100% UN agencies, which donated $494,683,067, were linked to the pharmaceutical industry or engaged in pharmaceutical projects.
100% banks, which donated $131,820,000, profited from pharmaceutical projects. • 100% research institutes, which donated $9,640,000, engaged in some way with the pharmaceutical industry.
100% regional administrations, which donated $13,380,978, had useful links with the pharmaceutical industry.
100% non-pharmaceutical businesses, which donated $9,418,000, had links with the pharmaceutical industry.
100% other bodies, which donated $369,427,000, were connected with the pharmaceutical industry.
There were connections between many of the top-100 donors that included crossfunding, collaboration, cross-staffing and links at governance levels.
Hierarchies were identified in the inter-organisational relationships, with the Gates and Rockefeller family groups in key positions.
The WHO’s funding arrangements contravene its own Guidelines and create a conflict of interest for the Organization.
Opportunities existed for donors to influence the WHO’s activities, giving pharmaceutical interests significant influence over global health.
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‘Many people think that the WHO is an independent body focused on improving global health,’ said Dr Duncan Syme, President of AMPS. ‘However, our investigation shows that the WHO is primarily acting for the pharmaceutical industry, exchanging money for favours’.
‘The fact that the WHO is promising such lucrative returns on investment and allowing donors to specify how their funds are to be used is a real conflict of interest for the Organization,’ said Professor Ian Brighthope from the Australasian College of Nutritional and Environmental Medicine. ‘It is clear that the pharmaceutical industry is having an untoward influence on global health policy and that the best interests of the public are not being served.’
AMPS is calling on Australian authorities to recognise the compromised nature of the WHO’s policies and to withdraw from two WHO “treaties”. The IHR amendments are due to come into effect on 19 September 2025 if our government fails to reject them by 19 July 2025. It further calls on the Federal Government to withdraw from the WHO until such time as the Organization cleans up its act.
‘Australians deserve the best possible approach to health,’ says Dr Syme, ‘not policies designed by pharmaceutical industries to profit their shareholders at taxpayers’ expense’.
https://amps.redunion.com.au/news/follow-the-money-commercial-interests-influence-global-health-policy
Download the report: https://amps.redunion.com.au/policy-advocacy