Healthy Skepticism Library item: 18399

Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.

Publication type: Journal Article

Jefferson T, Doshi P
WHO and pandemic flu: Time for change, WHO
BMJ 2010 Jun 29; 340:
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/extract/340/jun29_4/c3461

Abstract:

The World Health Organization has long term relationships with the pharmaceutical industry1 2 and even conceives of industry as a “partner.“3 Now Cohen and Carter show that WHO chose not to disclose financial conflicts of interest among industry sponsored experts guiding its influenza policy.4 In her reply Margaret Chan, WHO’s director-general, writes: “At no time, not for one second, did commercial interests enter my decision making.“5 This self evaluation is irrelevant and misses the point: that transparent declarations of interest are crucial to allow others to decide for themselves.

Chan’s dismissal of concerns over the scientific integrity of policymaking at WHO is a familiar theme. Our 2009 Cochrane review of influenza antivirals,6 alongside a BMJ-Channel 4 investigation,7 8 showed substantial publication bias, inconsistencies across different versions of the same dataset, and the presence of ghost and guest authors of a key study. But WHO dismissed our review as inapplicable to pandemic . . .