There may be conflict of interest in several initiatives undertaken by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, especially in its pursuit of malaria vaccine research, Roy Schestowitz writes in the Techrights blog.
Schestowitz argues that the pharmaceutical companies and research institutions the Gates Foundation is promoting are companies that the foundation also invests in. The Gates Foundation’s exploration for more drugs and vaccines involves patents and large pharmaceutical companies whose shareholders are set to benefit. The foundation’s chairman, Bill Gates, is a shareholder in some of these companies, Schestowitz says.
“This conflict of interests might not be as desired as it a coincidental one and in some cases it may also be innocent, but sometimes it’s just hard to ignore, given that medical professionals too are complaining,” Schestowitz argues. “Many of them do not like what the Gates Foundation is doing and few of them dare to speak out about it.”
The author laments that the Gates Foundation has “too much power” in its hands.
“The problem with the Gates Foundation and its affiliates is that they monopolize research (patents) and they also control data on health,” he says.
