The Council of Europe is set to investigate the World Health Organization’s swine flu campaign this month over allegations of improper influence from pharmaceutical companies in declaring the H1N1 “pandemic” and the promotion of “inefficient” and potentially dangerous vaccination strategies.

The resolution to launch the emergency inquiry was approved by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and passed through the health committee unanimously. It states in part that “in order to promote their patented drugs and vaccines against flu, pharmaceutical companies influenced scientists and official agencies responsible for public health standards to alarm governments worldwide and make them squander tight health resources for inefficient vaccine strategies, and needlessly expose millions of healthy people to the risk of an unknown amount of side-effects of insufficiently tested vaccines.” 

“The ‘birds-flu’-campaign (2005/06) combined with the 'swine-flu'-campaign seem to have caused a great deal of damage not only to some vaccinated patients and to public health-budgets, but to the credibility and accountability of important international health-agencies,” noted the resolution. “The Council of Europe and its member-states should ask for immediate investigations and consequences on their national levels as well as on the international level. The definition of an alarming pandemic must not be under the influence of drug-sellers.”

Leading the charge for the probe is German epidemiologist Dr. Wolfgang Wodarg, the chairman of the PACE health committee and a medical doctor specializing in lung disease. “The victims among millions of needlessly vaccinated people must be protected by their states and independent scientific clarification should provide evidence and transparency for national and — if necessary — European courts,” Wodarg said in a statement.

Wodarg called the “false pandemic” one of the greatest medical scandals of the last century and said that pharmaceutical companies influenced the whole process and needed to be held accountable. They were willing to "inflict bodily harm in their pursuit of profits," he said. Articles in the European press, starting in Denmark and spreading, have repeatedly called into question the myriad ties between vaccine manufacturers and decision makers in the United Nations' global health body.

Earlier this year the WHO redefined the term pandemic, lowering the threshold for an emergency declaration by removing the requirement of an “enormous” number of deaths. The WHO estimated that by the end of 2009, around 10,000 people had died from swine flu-linked complications. Seasonal influenza kills between 250,000 and 500,000 per year on average, according to the organization.

News reports earlier this year, citing the UN, warned of millions of deaths around the world unless nations promptly proceeded with the controversial vaccination schemes being promoted by the WHO — along with forking over billions of dollars. Since then, the disease has proved relatively mild despite the wild fearmongering campaigns waged by governments, such as the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology that warned that 90,000 Americans could die from the H1N1 virus.

The incident has reminded people of the avian flu scare. In September of 2005, the chief of the UN’s bird flu preparations estimated that the epidemic could cause up to 150 million human deaths. So far, the WHO has confirmed slightly more than 250. The bird flu propaganda campaign will also be investigated by the “urgent” inquiry.

National governments should be ashamed of themselves for squandering billions of taxpayer dollars on an untested, unpopular vaccine for a virus that so far has been extremely mild compared to even the seasonal influenza. Governments are currently trying to get rid of the vaccine supplies. Global health authorities must be held accountable, though it’s unfortunate that the charge is being led by a European supranational body instead of national legislatures.

The United States should get involved as well — starting with a complete withdrawal from the UN and its subsidiary bodies. Obama’s declaration of a national emergency over swine flu is looking increasingly preposterous. Of course, Congress should also be held accountable for allowing this all to happen in America in the first place, despite the lack of constitutional authority to purchase or promote vaccines. But on the bright side of this whole scandal, citizens may start realizing that government is not a reliable resource for honest and accurate information. The New American has been reporting about these issues for months.  

Photo of Michael Ryan, WHO Director of Global Alert and Response: AP Images

Correction: This article as originally published inaccurately linked the Council of Europe to the European Union. It has now been corrected. Our apologies for any confusion this may have caused.

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Buddy Newman said:

	Swine Flu Good story. I'd like to see the results of the European investigation.
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January 06, 2010
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Aaron said:

Second verse, same as the first... I'm not sure how many noticed, but during the "pandemic" the theme was: people need to be protected by the state, nothing is wrong with forced vaccinations. Then when the pandemic is revealed as a scam, what does Dr. Wolfgang Wodarg say? "The victims among millions of needlessly vaccinated people must be protected by their states..." Power grab during pandemic, power grab during revelation that it was all a scam.

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January 06, 2010
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Some Died in Canada, Lowly rated comment [Show]

Xilantro said:

Winston Churchill had it right when he said "The United States invariably does the right thing, after having exhausted every other alternative." The US does not recognize: -The International Ban on Land-mines -The Geneva Conventions -The Universal Declaration of the Rights of the Child -UN Resolution 141 etc., etc., etc. When Mad Cow Disease threatened the world, the US Dept. of Agriculture hid American cases from the public and did not take containment action. Expecting the US to act in a way that represents the interests of anyone other than big business with political lobbyists is about as irrational as expecting France to make American English its official language...

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January 07, 2010 | url
Votes: +6

Allison Gardner said:

... It is possible that without the global response to contain these flu strains they would have caused an enormous number of deaths. The fact that so few deaths occurred could be the RESULT of the actions taken. This could be a case of loudly proclaiming that the horse would never have bolted in the first place and we didn't need to lock the stable door. I have no opinion either way but this gentleman cannot prove a negative.

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January 07, 2010 | url
Votes: -5

Ville Kallonen said:

Blah, get the basics right, plz. Not questioning the importance of this issue, I think the provenance of this article suffers a lot due to a couple of gaping mistakes. May be they seem of no importance to an American, but I'd like to highlight that NOTHING in this issue refers to the EU, as in European UNION. This Parliamentary Assembly of the COUNCIL of Europe is a gathering of people appointed by the 47 members of this Council. CoE has among its members countries like Georgia and Russia, that have nothing to do with the European Union. Council of Europe is international organisation founded in 1949, before there was a trace of EU. It spans most of the European continent and beyond and is by nature more of an advisory body and a meeting forum between EU members and European countries outside the EU. So this piece of news has nothing to do with the EU, or with the European parliament. At the end of the day, no matter how important the investigation, Council of Europe is a total talk shop. I wouldn't hold my breath. Also would'nt put my money for the credibility of this site either. Sorry people.

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January 08, 2010
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qawswqa said:

	.. kallonen Sorry but you really missed whole point
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January 09, 2010
Votes: +3

Justin said:

Dr. Wolfgang Wodarg This is like hiring a kleptomaniac to be a store-detective! http://www.prisonplanet.com/to...eich.html Józef Retinger (who wheeled and dealed w/ Nazi's and (at the risk of being redundant) Prescott Bush) was also a founding member of the Bilderberg Group, you know them, they're the bastards behind the bailout scandal, and this vaccine bulls**t. They've had over 60 years to perfect the work of Kurt Blome (high-ranking Nazi scientist, Blome told U.S. military interrogators in 1945 that he had been ordered 1943 to experiment with plague vaccines on concentration camp prisoners. He was tried at Nuremberg in 1947 on charges of practicing euthanasia (extermination of sick prisoners), and conducting experiments on humans. Although acquitted, his earlier admissions were well known, and it was generally accepted that he had indeed participated in the gruesome experiments. Two months after his Nuremberg acquittal, Blome was interviewed at Camp David, Maryland, about biological warfare. In 1951, he was hired by the U.S. Army Chemical Corps to work on chemical warfare. His file neglected to mention Nuremberg.) Here's hoping Dr. Wodarg can keep blowing that whistle until someone without 30 pieces of silver in his pocket hears what he has to say!

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January 12, 2010
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Justin said:

	. http://www.scribd.com/doc/1523...pean-Union
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January 12, 2010
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Joe Smith said:

	Excellent job, New American This is a good summary the the ridiculous hysteria whipped up by the pharma industry in its relentless pursuit of profit. Let's hope the press and the people don't let up on the parasite control freaks who carry out this sort of terrorism-for-profit against the people.
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January 14, 2010 | url
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rez said:

	a @Ville "though it’s unfortunate that the charge is being led by a European supranational body instead of national legislatures. "
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January 26, 2010
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