{"id":75230,"date":"2021-07-23T17:12:50","date_gmt":"2021-07-23T21:12:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=75230"},"modified":"2021-07-23T17:16:43","modified_gmt":"2021-07-23T21:16:43","slug":"75230","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=75230","title":{"rendered":"Here’s the well-hidden back story to Bill Gates’ Global Health Empire!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Why the Bill Gates global health empire promises more empire and less public health<\/h1>\n

<\/p>\n

\"\"

Billionaire oligarch Bill Gates and his Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has effectively privatized global public health infrastructure, and is poised to profit handsomely after the Covid-19 pandemic (Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)<\/p><\/div>\n

MICHELE GREENSTEIN AND JEREMY LOFFREDO
\nThe Gray Zone<\/p>\n

Behind a veil of corporate media PR, the Gates Foundation has served as a vehicle for Western capital while exploiting the Global South as a human laboratory. The coronavirus pandemic is likely to intensify this disturbing agenda.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

President Donald Trump\u2019s announcement this July of a U.S. withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO) set into motion a process that will have a dramatic impact on the future of global public health policy \u2013 and on the fortunes of one of the world\u2019s richest people.<\/p>\n

The US abandonment of the WHO means that the organization\u2019s second-largest financial contributor, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is soon to become its top donor, giving the non-governmental international empire unparalleled influence over one the world\u2019s most important multilateral organizations.<\/p>\n

Bill Gates has achieved a hero-like status during the pandemic. The Washington Post has\u00a0called<\/a>\u00a0him a \u201cchampion of science-backed solutions,\u201d while the New York Times recently hailed him as \u201cthe most interesting man in the world.\u201d\u00a0Gates is also the star of a hit Netflix docu-series, \u201cPandemic: How to Prevent an Outbreak<\/a>,\u201d which was released just weeks before coronavirus hit the U.S., and was produced by a New York Times correspondent, Sheri Fink, who previously worked at three Gates-funded organizations (Pro Publica<\/a>, the\u00a0New America Foundation<\/a>, and the\u00a0International Medical Corps<\/a>).<\/p>\n

The tidal wave of mainstream media praise for Gates during the Covid-19 era has meant that scrutiny of the billionaire and his machinations is increasingly prevalent on the\u00a0far<\/a>\u2013right<\/a>\u00a0of the\u00a0political<\/a>\u00a0spectrum<\/a>, where it can be dismissed by progressives as the conspiratorial ravings of Trumpists and Q-Anon quacks.<\/p>\n

But beyond the public relations bonanza about Gates lies a disturbing history that should raise concerns about whether his foundation\u2019s plans for resolving the pandemic will benefit the global public as much as it expands and entrenches its power over international institutions.<\/p>\n

The Gates Foundation has already effectively privatized the international body charged with creating health policy, transforming it into a vehicle for corporate dominance. It has facilitated the dumping of toxic products onto the people of the Global South, and even used the world\u2019s poor as guinea pigs for drug experiments.<\/p>\n

The Gates Foundation\u2019s influence over public health policy is practically contingent on ensuring that safety regulations and other government functions are weak enough to be circumvented. It therefore operates against the independence of nation states and as a vehicle for Western capital.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause of the Gates Foundation, I have watched government after government fall in its sovereignty,\u201d Dr. Vandana Shiva, a scholar and founder of the India-based Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology, told The Grayzone.<\/p>\n

Saving the world?<\/h3>\n

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is the largest private foundation on Earth, reporting over\u00a0$51 billion in assets<\/a>\u00a0at the end of 2019. Bill Gates says his foundation spends a majority of its resources \u201creducing deaths<\/a>\u00a0from infectious diseases,\u201d and through this philanthropy, he seems to have bought a name for himself as an infectious disease\u00a0expert<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Corporate media networks rolled out the red carpet for Gates as he advised the world on how to handle the Covid-19 outbreak. In just the month of April, while the virus was severely impacting the U.S., he was hosted by\u00a0CNN<\/a>,\u00a0CNBC<\/a>,\u00a0Fox<\/a>,\u00a0PBS<\/a>,\u00a0BBC<\/a>,\u00a0CBS<\/a>,\u00a0MSNBC,<\/a>\u00a0The Daily Show<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0The Ellen Show<\/a>. On the\u00a0BBC<\/a>, Gates described himself as a \u201chealth expert,\u201d despite his lack of a college degree in medicine or any other field.<\/p>\n

The billionaire\u2019s media appearances are shot through with a\u00a0single<\/a>, undeniable theme: If global leaders listened to\u00a0Gates<\/a>, the world would be better equipped to fight the pandemic. As the fashion magazine\u00a0Vogue<\/a>\u00a0asked, \u201cWhy Isn\u2019t Bill Gates Running the Coronavirus Task Force?\u201d<\/p>\n

So what does a Gates-led COVID response look like?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The ultimate solution<\/h3>\n

According\u00a0to Bill Gates, creating and distributing a Covid-19 vaccine to everyone on Earth is \u201cthe\u00a0ultimate solution<\/a>\u201d to the outbreak. Gates Foundation CEO\u00a0Mark Suzman\u00a0<\/a>echoed\u00a0these sentiments, proclaiming that \u201ca successful vaccine has to be made available for 7 billion people.\u201d<\/p>\n

On\u00a0CNN<\/a>\u00a0in April, the wife of Bill Gates the co-director of his foundation, Melinda Gates, lamented that she was \u201ckept up at night\u201d worrying about vulnerable populations in Africa and how unprepared they were for this virus. In June, she told\u00a0Time<\/a>\u00a0Magazine that, in the U.S., black people should get the vaccine first.<\/p>\n

Bringing a life-saving vaccine to vulnerable black populations in Africa and the U.S., and then to everyone around the world, seems noble, and Bill Gates is certainly putting his money where his mouth is. In\u00a0March, he\u00a0stepped down<\/a>\u00a0from his position on the\u00a0board of directors<\/a>\u00a0at Microsoft and is\u00a0apparently\u00a0\u201cnow spending the predominant amount of his time\u00a0on the pandemic<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Gates Foundation, the \u201cbiggest funder of vaccines in the world,\u201d has already directly\u00a0donated<\/a>\u00a0more than $300 million toward the global response to the coronavirus. This includes\u00a0backing<\/a>\u00a0vaccine trials by companies like Inovio Pharmaceuticals, AstraZeneca, and Moderna Inc., all of which are\u00a0being<\/a>\u00a0described<\/a>\u00a0as\u00a0frontrunners<\/a>\u00a0in the race to develop a Covid-19 vaccine.<\/p>\n

The foundation also\u00a0co-founded<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0funds<\/a>\u00a0the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness\u00a0(CEPI)<\/a>, which\u00a0is investing<\/a>\u00a0up to $480 million in \u201ca wide range of vaccine candidates and platform technologies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even so, there might be cause for skepticism when examining the reality of a Gates-led global vaccination effort.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Conflicts of interest<\/h3>\n

As the second-richest person on Earth, Bill Gates has no reason to crave money. This is a\u00a0common<\/a>\u00a0response to claims that Gates\u2019 philanthropy isn\u2019t motivated solely by the kindness of his heart. But despite these frequent characterizations of Gates \u201cgiving away\u201d his fortune, his net worth has actually\u00a0doubled<\/a>\u00a0in the last two decades.<\/p>\n

At the same time, strong evidence suggests that the Gates Foundation functions as a trojan horse for Western corporations, which of course have no goal greater than an increased bottom line.<\/p>\n

Consider the revolving door between the Gates Foundation and Big Pharma.<\/p>\n

Former director of vaccine development at the foundation and current CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute,\u00a0Penny Heaton<\/a>, hails from drug kingpins Merck and Novartis.<\/p>\n

The foundation\u2019s president of global health,\u00a0Trevor Mundel<\/a>, served in leadership positions at both Novartis and Pfizer. His predecessor,\u00a0Tachi Yamada<\/a>, was previously a top executive at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK).<\/p>\n

Kate James, worked at GSK for almost 10 years, then\u00a0became<\/a>\u00a0the foundation\u2019s chief communications officer. The examples are almost endless.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

LEft: former Gates President of Global Health Tachi Yamada. Right:\u00a0Gates Foundation President of Global Health Trevor Mundel. Both previously worked as pharmaceutical industry executives.<\/p>\n

Moreover, the Gates Foundation invests in these corporations directly.<\/p>\n

Since\u00a0<\/a>shortly after its founding, the foundation has owned stakes in several drug companies. A recent investigation by The Nation revealed that the Gates Foundation currently\u00a0holds\u00a0corporate stocks and\u00a0bonds in drug companies<\/a>\u00a0like Merck, GSK, Eli Lilly, Pfizer, Novartis, and Sanofi.<\/p>\n

The foundation\u2019s website even candidly\u00a0declares<\/a>\u00a0a mission to pursue \u201cmutually beneficial opportunities\u201d with vaccine manufacturers.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Gates buys the World Health Organization<\/h3>\n

The WHO relies on two streams of revenue. One comes in the form of assessed contributions, or obligatory funding from UN member states which is assessed through population and income. The second is voluntary contributions, which can be earmarked for specific causes.<\/p>\n

Voluntary earmarked contributions account for more than 80 percent of the current WHO budget. In other words, most of the WHO\u2019s money comes with strings attached.<\/p>\n

As Dr. David Legge, public health scholar emeritus at the School of Public Health at La Trobe University in Melbourne, told The Grayzone, \u201cObligatory contributions by nation states really only cover the cost of administration. It doesn\u2019t cover any of the project costs, which means that all project funding is dependent on donors. [And] virtually all donor money is totally earmarked to highly specific projects that the donors want to fund.\u201d<\/p>\n

Through these voluntary contributions, the WHO\u00a0took\u00a0in over\u00a0$70 million from the pharmaceutical industry<\/a>\u00a0in 2018 (the last year for which complete data is available). Meanwhile, the Gates Foundation has provided Big Pharma with the perfect vehicle for influencing the WHO.<\/p>\n

In 2018 alone, the foundation\u00a0gave\u00a0$237.8 million<\/a>\u00a0to the WHO, making it the second-largest contributor after the U.S.<\/p>\n

The foundation also funds the WHO indirectly through Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunizations (GAVI), a \u201cpublic-private partnership\u201d that facilitates bulk sales of vaccines to poor countries. GAVI is the second-largest non-state funder of the WHO (after the Gates Foundation), and gave\u00a0$158.5 million<\/a>\u00a0to the WHO in\u00a02018.<\/p>\n

In the late 1990s, Bill Gates sponsored the meetings that led to the creation of GAVI, establishing it up with $750 million in seed money. To date, the Gates Foundation has\u00a0given GAVI more than $4.1 billion<\/a>, accounting for close to 20 percent of GAVI funds. It also occupies a permanent seat on the GAVI\u00a0board<\/a>.<\/p>\n

GAVI itself discloses that the Gates Foundation \u201cplays both a technical and financial role in [its] efforts to shape vaccine markets.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Citing GAVI as an example, the activist group\u00a0Global Health Watch<\/a>\u00a0explained\u00a0that \u201cother global health actors are accountable to the Gates Foundation, but not the other way round.\u201d<\/p>\n

If the foundation\u2019s and GAVI\u2019s WHO contributions are combined, they\u00a0outweigh<\/a>\u00a0the U.S. government\u2019s contributions, making the Gates Foundation the unofficial top sponsor of the WHO, even before the Trump administration\u2019s recent move to withdraw from the organization.<\/p>\n

To sociologist Allison Katz, who worked for 18 years in the WHO headquarters, the WHO \u201chas become a victim of neoliberal globalization.\u201d Katz\u00a0wrote\u00a0an\u00a0open letter to then-WHO Director<\/a>\u00a0General Margaret Chan in 2007, criticizing public bodies that \u201cgo begging to the private sector [and] to the foundations of celebrity \u2018philanthropists\u2019 with diverse agendas, from industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

To be sure, the WHO\u2019s close financial relationship with a private organization is only a problem to the extent that it relies on quid pro quo donations. And that seems to be exactly what is taking place.<\/p>\n

Because most of both the Gates Foundation\u2019s contributions to the WHO are earmarked, the WHO doesn\u2019t decide how these funds are spent \u2013 the foundation does. For example, the WHO program that receives the\u00a0most\u00a0money is its\u00a0polio eradication program<\/a>, because the Gates Foundation earmarks most of its contributions for polio.<\/p>\n

Additionally, the sheer magnitude of the foundation\u2019s financial contributions have made Bill Gates an unofficial\u00a0 \u2013 albeit unelected \u2013 leader at the organization. That\u2019s why the World Health Assembly that sets the WHO agenda adopted a \u201cGlobal Vaccine Plan\u201d in 2012 that was co-authored by none other than the Gates Foundation.<\/p>\n

According to Dr. David Legge, scholar emeritus at the School of Public Health at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Gates\u2019 financial \u201cdonations\u201d are actually a mechanism for agenda setting. Legge told The Grayzone that \u201chis massive contributions totally distort the kind of budget priorities that the World Health Assembly would wish to see.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to\u00a0Foreign Affairs<\/a>, \u201cfew policy initiatives or normative standards set by the WHO are announced before they have been casually, unofficially vetted by Gates Foundation staff.\u201d Or, as other sources told\u00a0Politico<\/a>\u00a0in 2017, \u201cGates\u2019 priorities have become the WHO\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an interview with Global Health Watch, one senior health policy officer from a large NGO put it this way: \u201cThe people at WHO seem to have gone crazy. It\u2019s \u2018yes sir\u2019, \u2018yes sir\u2019, to Gates on everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2007, the chief of the WHO malaria program, Dr. Arata Kochi,\u00a0warned\u00a0of the\u00a0Gates Foundation\u2019s financial dominance<\/a>, arguing that its money could have \u201cfar reaching, largely unintended consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seven years later, the organization\u2019s then-Director General Margaret Chan\u00a0noted\u00a0that because the WHO\u2019s budget is highly earmarked, it is \u201cdriven by what [she calls]\u00a0donor interests<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Former WHO Director General Margaret Chan and Bill Gates<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus became WHO Director General in 2017, Gates\u2019 influence came under fire again.<\/p>\n

Tedros was previously on the board of two organizations Gates founded, provided seed money for, and continues to fund to this day: GAVI and the\u00a0Global Fund<\/a>, where Tedros was chair of the board.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Today, Tedros, the first WHO director general who is not a medical doctor, can be found\u00a0tweeting<\/a>\u00a0praise for Bill Gates\u2019 op-eds.<\/p>\n