Did MenAfriVac Paralyze 40 Children in Gouro, Chad?
There are reports (The Nigerian Voice) that 40 children have been paralyzed in Guro, Chad in Northern Africa following vaccination with a meninigitis vaccine funded by The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation called MenAfriVac. About MenAfriVac from the Bill Gates's newsletter article titled: The MenAfriVac An Amazing Success Story in Global Health:
In 2001, our foundation funded a 10-year partnership between the World Health Organization and Seattle-based PATH
to develop an affordable, new vaccine that experts hoped would last
longer and do a better job of interrupting transmission of the disease.
Over the next decade, a remarkable collaboration grew to include many
private sector and public sector partners.
In December 2010, the new MenAfriVac
vaccine was introduced in three countries: Burkina Faso, Mali, and
Niger. Mothers queued up early with their children, fearful that health
workers would run out of the vaccine. They need not have worried. In
four weeks, a remarkable 20 million people were vaccinated.
No mother wants to watch her child succumb to disease.
Likewise, no mother wants to put her trust into medicine only to see a
tragic result as bad or worse than the disease she was hoping to
prevent. The seal of The United States reads, "E Pluribus Unum." This translates to "Out of the many, one." Because the individual matters in America. We are not data points, statistics, or... a herd.
Read additional reports and background on the paralysis at Were 40 Children Paralyzed by MenAfriVac in Gouro, Chad? at SaneVax and at Video Footage Shows Prime Minister Visits Paralyzed Children, Powerful Groups Involved in Vaccine Campaign at VacTruth.
(PS) Hi, Dr. Kalichman!
That percentage is a small one when it's not your love one
Posted by: Concerned | March 01, 2013 at 06:53 PM
NB that the underlying technology for Menafrivac was licensed to PATH by the NIH Office of Technology Transfer. This means that the U.S. Government collects royalties from use of this vaccine. If the problem with the vaccine is found to be with the new, underlying FDA developed technology for protein conjugation (as opposed to a storage/usage/contamination issue), it would jeopardize the profits from further licensing of the dangerous technology. What's forty more bodies under the NIH's large, lumpy rug when there are profits at stake? 20 million doses in four weeks -- that's a pretty big rollout.
http://www.ott.nih.gov/nonprofitlicense/index.aspx
"The NIH Office of Technology Transfer (OTT) has been successful in licensing to non-profits technologies such as an FDA protein conjugation technology developed by PATH as MenAfriVac"
"TERMS: The model license has a $2,000 up front fee and modest royalties on sales of 1.5% for exclusive licenses and 0.75% for non-exclusive licenses, excluding sales to public sector institutions or institutions using public-sector funds (such as PEPFAR or Global Fund). If the licensee sublicenses the technology to another institution to bring it to market, the sublicense fee for exclusive licenses will be 15% of the value received if NIH or FDA has provided in vivo model data and 10% if such data have not been provided. For non-exclusive licenses, the sublicensing fees are half these amounts. If the licensee has to pay royalties to other parties for the same product, 50% of those costs can be deducted from the NIH royalties. See Term Sheet for full details of the offered agreement"
Posted by: Garbo | January 22, 2013 at 03:31 PM
In answer to the question in the headline .....
of course they did !
Well done Melinda And Bill . What kind of people are you ?
Posted by: Farmer Geddon | January 22, 2013 at 06:15 AM
Allie90 apparently the families of those affected were being offered money to quiet down. The orgs involved do not care even enough to manage the PR and go for a "we are doing all we can to help people .....strategy" around the incident but do have the power to control the media it would appear.
Posted by: SimpsonWood 2 | January 22, 2013 at 04:01 AM
Indeed it is very concerning that children's advocacy groups like PLAN International and major media have not spoken out. It reminds me of the treatment of the girls in Leroy.
Posted by: Jen | January 21, 2013 at 06:27 PM
Whtat is most concerning about the Guoro story is the news blackout. I contacted WHO for some further information on this situation and of course got an out of office and no other reply. The Gates foundation are really worthy of much greater scrutiny as I dont believe their actions are noble at all. BG father was a firm eugenicist and BG we all know had very dubious business practices for many years, with multiple antitrust issues so why on earth would we without question imagine him capable of such a Uturn ? he got rich and became a nice guy - I dont buy it for a minute.
Posted by: Simpson Wood 2 | January 21, 2013 at 05:40 PM
Oh the Gates Foundation was shooting for 15 %, even though this group it turns out to be
12.5 % of the children injuried, its still a victory for the foundation.
What recourse do these families have with the Gates Foundation and Vaccine maker?
Posted by: Allie90 | January 21, 2013 at 03:18 PM
Paralysis in CHAD another case of "The Constant Gardner" Pharma trials using poor Africans as human guinea pigs. then there's Nodding disease among children in Uganda. Didn't this disease follow vaccinations? Classic response from the WHO is to "monitor the situation"
The Constant Gardener Trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4iTjavIkbk
Posted by: Sarah | January 21, 2013 at 01:13 PM
And you know what the WHO is thinking.
What is forty kids compared to all the others we saved.
That is their bottom line.
They see only numbers not individuals. They never have - it is just the masses of humanity.
Posted by: Benedetta | January 21, 2013 at 12:50 PM