[Ip-health] Taxpayer Waste Group Criticizes World Health Organization

[Jordan]

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Congress Must Scrutinize World Health Organization
Wednesday, May 3, 2006
By: Tom Schatz
  http://www.cagw.org/site/News2?page=3DNewsArticle&id=3D9830
  Letter to Congress

  The Honorable Richard G. Lugar
Senate Foreign Relations Committee
306 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510

The Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee
201 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510

  The Honorable Henry J. Hyde
House International Relations Committee
2110 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C.  20515

  The Honorable Tom Lantos
House International Relations Committee
2413 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515

  Dear Senators Lugar and Biden and Representatives Hyde and Lantos:

  On behalf of the more than 1.2 million members and supporters of Citizens=
 Against Government Waste (CAGW), I urge the U.S. Congress to confront a pa=
ttern of poor medical and public health policies being implemented by the W=
orld Health Organization (WHO), the health agency of the United Nations.

  On April 6, a Washington Post column, "How AIDS in Africa Was Overstated,=
" exposed that for many years the United Nations inflated the number of peo=
ple living with HIV/AIDS to justify its demands for more donor money.  For =
example, the percentage of infected individuals in Rwanda is actually 3 per=
cent, versus claims by the U.N. of 13 percent in 1998.  The Post reported t=
hat years of HIV overestimates are from an erroneous long-held assumption t=
hat infected pregnant women, who attended urban prenatal clinics, provided =
an approximate substitute of the HIV rate among all working adults in the c=
ountry.

  In CAGW's recent report, WHO: Taxpayers Won't Get Fooled Again, we showed=
 how the agency has failed in several health campaigns, such as treating ma=
laria and HIV/AIDS, and often supports activities based on political correc=
tness and achieving publicity rather than commonsense health policies.  The=
se failures should be of concern to Congress and taxpayers, since the Unite=
d States is WHO's largest contributor, currently providing 22 percent of th=
e agency's regular budget.  In 2006-2007, that amount will be approximately=
 $201 million.

  The report identified two major areas of concern: Malaria and HIV/AIDS.  =
In 1998, the WHO launched the "Roll Back Malaria" campaign with a goal of h=
alving Malaria deaths by 2010.  But by 2004, halfway through the project, t=
he WHO's statistics revealed malaria deaths had increased.

  In late 2003, WHO launched the "3 by 5 Initiative" to treat 3 million HIV=
/AIDS patients with life-prolonging antiretroviral drugs by December 2005. =
 This campaign ended with only 1.3 million patients in treatment; one milli=
on of those were being cared for by the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS=
 Relief and through an initiative of America's pharmaceutical companies, th=
e Accelerating Access Initiative.

  One reason why the WHO failed in its "3 by 5 Initiative" was its reliance=
 on cheap knock-off drugs made in India that were determined safe and effec=
tive by the WHO's Essential Medicines Prequalification Project but later wi=
thdrawn from the market after questions arose regarding their bio-equivalen=
cy to the patented product.  Since then, the WHO has steadily backtracked f=
rom its claim that its prequalified drugs were perfectly safe, effective, a=
nd could be used with confidence by health care providers.

  In April 2006, the WHO issued a report, "Innovation and Intellectual Prop=
erty Rights," that provided the same tired arguments that patent laws and d=
eveloped countries, like the United States, don't do enough to solve the wo=
rld's health problems, and are to be blamed for failures to deliver treatme=
nts to the developing world.  The report offered the usual stale solutions:=
 developed countries should spend more, give more, control their drug prici=
ng, and allow others to steal patents.  Instead, the WHO should do more to =
educate nations about free markets and respect for property rights, which c=
reate wealth and encourage rese arch and development.

  The WHO has been successful in the past in improving public health, such =
as fighting smallpox and polio, but now seems to be following in the footpa=
th of its parent, the U.N., and involving itself in questionable activities=
.  Later this month, the WHO will convene the 59th World Health Assembly to=
 discuss these critical issues; Health and Human Services Secretary Michael=
 Leavitt will lead the U.S. delegation.  This meeting comes at a pivotal ti=
me in the fight against diseases like HIV/AIDS and avian influenza.  We enc=
ourage Congress to aggressively scrutinize the WHO's mission and object ive=
s to ensure taxpayer money is not being squandered on unsound policy.

  Sincerely,

  President, Citizens Against Government Waste

  CC:
  Representative Frank Wolf, Chairman, House Appropriations Subcommittee on=
 Science, State, Justice and Commerce
  Representative Chris Smith, House International Relations Subcommittee on=
 Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations
  Representative Tom Davis, Chairman, House Government Reform Committee
  Representative Henry Waxman, Ranking Member, House Government Reform Comm=
ittee
  Ambassador John R. Bolton, Permanent U.S. Representative to the United Na=
tions
  Michael Leavitt, Secretary, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
  Alex M. Azar II, Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of Health and Human Se=
rvices
  Victoria A. Espinel, Acting Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Intel=
lectual Property
  Kevin M. De Cock, MD, Director, WHO Department of HIV/AIDS


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