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  • 2019-10-24 (xsd:date)
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  • Was the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Kicked Out of India? (en)
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  • A rumor holding that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation had been kicked out of India has been circulating online since at least May 2017, when an article pushing this claim was published on the website Steemit: This simply wasn't true. The Gates Foundation was not kicked out of India in 2017 when the Steemit article was published, and as of this writing in 2019, the Gates Foundation continues to work in that country. The foundation is one of the largest private foundations, with offices all over the world. In India, the organization is primarily focused on the Uttar Pradesh and Bihar regions, where they are working to reduce poverty and improve access to healthcare: When rumors started to circulate that the Foundation had been kicked out of India in 2017, the country's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare released a statement disputing those reports which stated that Some media reports have suggested that all health related collaboration with the Gates Foundation with National Health Mission (NHM) has been stopped. This is inaccurate and misleading. BMGF continues to collaborate and support the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's website has several pages dedicated to the group's work in India. The government of India has also dispelled the rumor that the foundation was kicked out. So, was this claim simply made up out of the blue? The rumor can be traced back to a study by the global health organization PATH (Program for Appropriate Technology in Health) to see if it could reduce the number human papillomavirus (HPV) infections by providing cost-effective vaccines to impoverished communities. This trial was conducted in Uganda, Peru, and Vietnam, but it was the group's efforts in India that caused controversy. Beginning in 2009, PATH worked with the Indian government's Council of Medical Research as well as local governments to provide more than 20,000 girls between the ages of 10-14 with HPV vaccines donated by Merck & Co. (Gardasil®) and GlaxoSmithKline (Cervarix®). India's government halted the effort in April 2010, however, when local news reports claimed seven of the girls involved in the trial had died after receiving their vaccines. The government of India also opened an investigation into the matter. While the government accused PATH of a few ethical lapses (such as improperly filed consent forms), investigators concluded that the deaths were not related to the vaccines. For instance, one of the deaths related to a girl who drowned in a quarry, and another was linked to a snake bite. Science Magazine reported: So, what does the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation have to do with this? The Gates Foundation is one of PATH's global partners and reportedly provided funding for this HPV study. The Parliament of India released a report in 2013 that chastised PATH for irregularities with the studies. While the report recommend the government take action against PATH, this global health organization was never banned from India. In fact, as of this writing, both PATH and the Gates Foundation continue to work in the country. (en)
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