| ICDDR,B's procurement of the Independence Day Award - an insult to the martyrs in the War of Liberation of Bangladesh |
by Mahmood Ali |  |
| | While there are myths on ICDDR,B that it has the leading diarrhoeal experts of the world or it has discovered the oral dehydration therapy that saves millions of lives, or myths like ICDDR,B is the only medical help provider to combat diarrhea in Bangladesh etc. Mahmood Ali once again writes on unveiling the real activities of the organization. | | | | A. INTRODUCTION Independence Day Award is the highest state award introduced by the government of Bangladesh in 1977 in memory of the martyrs in the War of Liberation of Bangladesh. The American-directed International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B) has been one of the recipients of this year's Independence Day Award for its "valuable contribution in health services for the people of this country" (1). ICDDR,B is the continuation of the Cholera Research Laboratory (CRL), originally established in 1960 as a result of the military alliance between Pakistan and USA under the umbrella of the South Asian Treaty Organization (SEATO, 2). Historically, diarrhoea is one of the most common medical conditions afflicting deployed military personnel that greatly reduces their combat efficiency (3). It is with this objective to providing better health care for the American soldiers that the Centre was established 45 years ago. A well-documented report critical of the activities of ICDDR,B was published on this website , 4). To recapitulate in brief, ICDDR,B collects millions and millions of dollars from various international donors in the name of the poor of Bangladesh. But it is engaged in activities which have little to do with the diarrhoeal problem of the people of Bangladesh. The Centre is currently conducting the trial of a cholera vaccine entitled "Peru-15" in which American military personnel and an American pharmaceutical company (Avant Immunotherapeutics, Inc.) linked to the U.S. Department of Defence are deeply involved (5-7). The Centre deliberately violates the national sovereignty of Bangladesh by carrying out research in which the military of foreign governments are deeply involved. Scientists associated with the military of countries such as Israel, Peru, Sweden, Thailand and USA have been working at ICDDR,B for decades (8-12). The Centre had shown very little respect for ethics in biomedical research. It had used Bangladeshis as experimental guinea-pigs in testing on them a highly expensive oral cholera vaccine of short term protective efficacy for eventual use by the soldiers and tourists of rich nations (13-24). The Swedish developers of this vaccine, Jan Holmgren and his wife Ann-Mari Svennerholm, have cheated 90,000 poor women and children of Bangladesh in order to pocket millions of dollars by marketing this vaccine (25, 26). With total disregard for the foreign policy of the government of Bangladesh, ICDDR,B had collaborated in 1980s with the apartheid regime of South Africa (27). Further, ICDDR,B maintains close link with the Israel Defence Force through the above-mentioned Swedish scientists despite the fact the government of Bangladesh does not recognise the state of Israel and expresses solidarity with the people of Palestine (8, 9). Diarrhoeal diseases have not been eradicated from the country. On the contrary these are on the rise as deaths due to diarrhoea are reported frequently in the newspapers (28, 29). One wonders what made the government of Bangladesh to turn a blind eye to these facts and offer the Independence Day Award to an organisation which is basically a white elephant mocking at the national sovereignty and independence of the people of Bangladesh. It is worthwhile to point out that a few million Bangladeshis had sacrificed their lives and several million more had suffered in order to keep Bangladesh free from foreign clutches. B. Myths surrounding ICDDR,B: 1. ICDDR,B has the leading diarrhoeal experts of the world: ICDDR,B operates through careful manipulations in diverse ways. Taking advantage of paucity in research-oriented medical experts in the country, it has propagated a number of myths that have been well publicised in Bangladesh. Since this Centre is basically USA controlled, one tends to believe that the best American scientists are running the Centre. Unfortunately that is not true. As mentioned in the previous report (4), the American scientists inside ICDDR,B do not represent the mainstream of bright and talented scientists of USA who are making scientific breakthroughs. Instead, the American scientists, currently associated with ICDDR,B including its director Dr. David Sack, have hardly made any significant scientific contributions. As a matter of fact Dr. Sack acts more like a manager with little scientific expertise as he has the habit of publishing false and misleading information in scientific books and periodicals. As documented in a book entitled Vaccines, he revealed his ignorance on the composition of the oral cholera vaccine despite his claims to be associated with the vaccine trial (30, 31). Similarly, he also made false claims regarding the exclusion of pregnant Bangladeshi women from the cholera vaccine trial without conducting any scientific tests to determine pregnancy (18, 31). These despicable acts of lies have become the hallmark of the Centre that is thriving on deception and propaganda. 2. ICDDR,B has discovered the oral rehydration therapy that saves millions of lives: ICDDR, B boasts itself of having developed "the oral rehydration therapy (ORT)". But it was just a "rediscovery" made in 1968 (32). The original publication of ORT was made by a Bengali scientist Dr. Chatterjee of India fifteen years ago in 1953 (33). The American scientists had deliberately concealed the pioneering work of Dr. Chatterjee while publishing their results which corresponded very closely to that of Dr. Chatterjee. But suppression of truth in order to promote oneself is very much an American value as the Americans did not hesitate to attack Iraq based on lies. Incidentally, Dr. David Nalin, the scientist who lead the ORT research at this Centre, was alleged to have smuggled out antique sculptures from the Bangladeshi museums (34). Therefore, it was not unusual for him to work on the stolen ideas of Dr. Chatterjee and later on to claim those to be his own. 3. ICDDR,B is the only medical help provider to combat diarrhoea in Bangladesh: ICDDR,B through its well-organised public relations department gives the impression in the Bangladeshi media that it is the sole provider of help against diarrhoeal diseases in Bangladesh. This is a convenient way of extracting millions of dollars from external donors while in reality "..(it) is only involved in a hospital in the capital city of Dhaka and in two or three project sites. But the great service for diarrhea for more than 120 millions of people have been almost solely planned and delivered by Control of Diarrhoeal Disease, Directorate of Health, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of Bangladesh in collaboration with mainly UNICEF (35)". Thus whenever there is an outbreak of diarrhoeal diseases in capital Dhaka, the Centre invites reporters of a few selected newspapers to its hospital to propagate its activities while it only attends a handful of patients treated by its highly paid staff. The majority of the people of Bangladesh receive help from non-ICDDR,B physicians who in most cases receive national wages which are many times lower than those received by their ICDDR,B counter parts. How ICDDR,B is providing medical aid to Bangladesh has been very eloquently illustrated in a news item published in a Bangladeshi newspaper in 2003 (36). During the months of August-November, 2003 diarrhoeal diseases broke out in northern Bangladesh that led to many deaths. ICDDR,B responded without showing any urgency and sent an investigative team almost two months after the onset of the outbreak. The team collected faecal specimens and returned to Dhaka. Even one month after collecting specimens, it did not bother to supply any test results to the local authorities despite the Centre's claim to have state of the art technology (37). The utter neglect that ICDDR,B displayed to the diarrhoea suffering people of northern Bangladesh can be traced to its colonial policy towards Bangladesh as it likes to serve the external donors first rather than serving the people who hosts the Centre. In the words of a leading scientist of the Centre, "When a donor or an aid agency provides fund for a project it naturally wants the project to be done their way. Sometimes, donor's choices make ICDDR,B take up projects which might not have been in their priority list" (37). This statement of ICDDR,B's leading scientist has deep implications regarding the motivation of external donors in the development of Bangladesh. ICDDR,B's expatriate director did not find any urgency to pay heed to the sufferings of the people of northern Bangladesh as these less fortunate people did not meet the criterion of falling into the Centre's "priority list". The Centre is bound by the charter to provide hospital facilities (38). Yet it offers marginal service at its Dhaka hospital primarily because of alleged "lack of fund" (37), while its expatriate staff and a few local members revel in fabulous amount of salary and luxurious lifestyle. Last year the Centre's director appealed in the national newspapers for donation to run its Dhaka hospital (39). Even, the Centre's employees had to donate their one-day's salary to run the hospital. "Donors are interested in research, not in the hospital" (37). They want to exploit the vast human resources of Bangladesh in order to test drugs, vaccines and different pharmaceuticals benefiting their industries and even some times military. Thus often patients are treated at the Centre's Dhaka hospital in primitive conditions by housing them in open places outside the hospital premises with sheets of tarpaulin to protect them from the rain and the sun (39).This problem is nothing new as it had prevailed even two decades ago (15). This is the kind of "valuable contribution in health services for the people of this country" that the Centre is rendering. Yet that has not prevented the Centre to bag the prestigious Independence Day Award ! How did it happen? One wonders! C. Behind ICDDR,B's instruction to "learn to co-exist" with diarrhoea: As disclosed in a recently held seminar in Dhaka to mark the World Water Day, about 125,000 children of Bangladesh under the age of five die every year because of waterborne diseases including diarrhoea primarily caused by the lack of safe water supply and sanitation (40-42). The government of Bangladesh spends about Tk 50 billion (appx. 850 million USD) per year for health care services of which 85% goes to treat such diseases. Only 40% people of Bangladesh have sanitation facilities and 65-70% have access to safe drinking water. As the current population of Bangladesh is approximately 140 million, about 40-50 million people live without safe drinking water. It is no wonder that there are so many cases of diarrhoea related deaths in Bangladesh. The government of Bangladesh is spending money without seriously attacking the root cause of the problem (i.e., sanitation, safe drinking water and food safety). Thus Bangladeshis would have to live with continued diarrhoeal diseases as situation with water supply in the country is deteriorating very fast (40-42). How to treat patients suffering from diarrhoeal diseases is now well established. Eradication of diarrhoeal diseases requires political will and it can be done. Many developing countries committed to provide better health care to their population have made rapid progress in a short period of time by adopting sanitary measures and have occupied high places in WHO's recent analysis of the world's health systems (43). Practice of some simple measures related to food handling, water storage and treatment can substantially reduce diarrhoea (44). "Intelligent epidemiological control measures can help, but the best solution resides in providing safe drinking water and sewage disposal. This can be an expensive investment, but it is one that will also reduce the burden of other diarrheal diseases, which, in some heavily afflicted areas, kill half the children before they reach the age of five" (45). ICDDR,B has done very little work in areas of safe water supply to tackle diarrhoeal diseases. Instead its recent instruction to "learn to co-exist " with diarrhoeal diseases, as outlined by its director David Sack (46), has been criticised in the British medical journal "The Lancet" (47). There is no need to maintain peaceful co-existence with diarrhoeal diseases if health authorities in Bangladesh give safe water supply and sanitation a high priority and educate the population accordingly. But that would make ICDDR,B's existence in Bangladesh redundant and the real force operating behind this Centre would have a difficult time to carry out its covert military oriented activities that undermine the national sovereignty of Bangladesh. Therefore ICDDR,B for the sake of its own existence can not sign its own death warrant by taking concrete steps to eradicate diarrhoeal diseases from Bangladesh. D. ICDDR,B - a Banyan tree under which nothing grows properly: Although ICDDR,B has failed miserably to tackle diarrhoeal diseases in Bangladesh, it has expanded like a Banyan tree to cover all kinds of non-diarrhoeal health problems ranging from syphilis, gonorrhoea, HIV/AIDS, dengue, malaria, kala-azar, nipah virus infection and arsenic poisoning (48). Because of its cosy relation with external donors, it gobbles down most of the resources which otherwise could have been allocated to the Bangladeshi controlled universities and institutions. Yet ICDDR,B does not have adequate expertise in all these areas. Its principal scientist in the area of HIV infection has not made any major contributions in the fundamentals of this infection. When people in Bangladesh were infected with nipah virus, ICDDR,B plunged itself into the problem only to work as a messenger to send the supply to the USA for its identification (49). ICDDR,B is getting into too many areas without adequate expertise and thereby stunting the development of indigenous research in areas outside diarrhoeal diseases. In 1978 a few leading Bangladeshi medical scientists had advised the government of Bangladesh to see to it that ICDDR,B concentrated on diarrhoeal diseases only rather than expanding like a Banyan tree (50). After all, a Bengali proverb says: " Under the Banyan tree, nothing grows". E. An external donor of ICDDR,B laughs at Bangladesh's national sovereignty : The government of Sweden is one of the major financial donors of ICDDR,B. It regards ICDDR,B as its military base where the Swedish Department of Defence had been deeply involved in diarrhoeal research supplying both money and man-power (10, 51). Besides Sweden's defence affiliated scientists Jan Holmgren and his wife Ann-Mari Svennerholm who are associated with ICDDR,B for almost three decades maintain close link with the Israel Defence Force and had been carrying out simultaneous research with the same product both in Israel and Bangladesh (8, 9). These matters have been discussed in detail with adequate citations in the previous report (4). When the military-oriented covert and unethical activities of the Swedish scientists were exposed in the Bangladeshi press in 1985-87, the Swedish government took note of the accusations. As revealed from a declassified document of 28 January 1987, the Swedish ministry of foreign affairs had arranged an internal meeting to discuss the matter. Instead of apologising to the people of Bangladesh, the Swedish government had laughed at these accusations and even went ahead to slander the people of Bangladesh in a racist manner as evident from a hand written note on the minutes of the meeting (52). That the people of a poor country like Bangladesh should have national sovereignty is inconceivable in the eyes of the Swedish government that had colluded with the Nazi government of Adolf Hitler thereby prolonging human sufferings globally (53). Besides, the collusion had been financially profitable to Sweden as it had helped Sweden to come out of the chronic miseries of poverty that had plagued this nation in the pre second world war era. Dukoral, the highly expensive oral cholera vaccine of short term protective efficacy suitable for soldiers and rich tourists, came out of the government of Sweden's collaboration with ICDDR,B using poor women and children as experimental guinea pigs (4). It has brought jobs as well as millions and millions of dollars of profit to Sweden while exploiting Bangladesh hypocritically under the slogan of "aid, democracy and development". The exploitation still continues as the government of Sweden is pumping money into the Centre for research on cholera and related diarrhoea through its foreign aid agency SIDA/SAREC where its Israel Defence Force linked scientists (Jan Holmgren and Ann-Mari Svennerholm) are deeply involved (48). F. ICDDR,B's arrogance to confront any criticisms: Although the majority of the employees of ICDDR,B consist of Bangladeshis, the real power lies in the hands of a select group of expatriates including its American director David Sack who feel insulted when criticisms arise from Bangladeshis. Thus when in mid 1980s criticisms surfaced in the Bangladeshi media regarding ICDDR,B's unethical cholera vaccine research and collaboration with the apartheid regime of South Africa, the ruling clique of the Centre hit back by firing all most all senior Bangladeshi members without giving any adequate reasons (15). The firing of some of the most senior members of the Centre was indeed tragic as they had served Pakistan SEATO CRL (PSCRL, predecessor of ICDDR,B) with utmost obedience and sincerity during the difficult times of the liberation struggles of 1971 when the Americans had chosen safety and gone home (54). The removal of these senior Bangladeshi scientists was a rude reminder to any Bangladeshis not to deviate from the path of obedience as set by the Centre's ruling elite. Most Bangladeshis work on a contractual basis and perform their tasks as asked to do. Hardly any original scientific studies performed independently by Bangladeshi investigators have come out of ICDDR,B. The Centre counteracted criticisms of the mid 1980s in the Bangladeshi press by putting pressure upon journalists who had been reporting on this Centre. One such editor received instructions from the representative of an extremely powerful nation not to publish any further on the Centre. The hapless journalist was incapacitated by this pressure despite the fact he had materials to write further. Another newspaper lost its advertisement revenues as it fell into the Centre's black list. These are acts of intimidation to journalists and newspapers carried out by the same people from the developed world who brag about the practice of "democracy and free press" in their own countries. G. Bangladesh government's indifference towards criticisms against ICDDR,B: Although criticisms towards ICDDR,B and its predecessor CRL are well known in Bangladesh, successive Bangladeshi governments, with the exception of that of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, had been indifferent towards such accusations. After the liberation of Bangladesh, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the country's first Prime Minister, wanted "CRL to be a Bengali laboratory, directed, operated by Bengalis and responsive to the Ministry of Health" (54). But the U.S. government had put tremendous pressure upon Sheikh Mujib not to take the Centre out of the American clutch as that might lead to the suspension of all U.S. aid to Bangladesh (15, 54). Thus on 15 May 1974 a bilateral agreement between the two governments was reached, thus enabling the U.S. government to continue its activities at CRL for a period of three more years (54). Sheikh Mujib compromised but did not totally surrender. A little more than one year later he was assassinated in a plot that had forever altered the political landscape of Bangladesh. In April 1976, only a few months after Sheikh Mujib's assassination , a campaign to convert CRL to an international organisation was launched and subsequently a charter was obtained in 1978 whereby CRL's name was changed to ICDDR,B (38, 54). Member of the Johns Hopkins University of USA deeply associated with CRL had tried to name the Centre as "the International Institute for Health and Population Research" thereby willing to carry out all kinds of research under its umbrella (54). However, a number of leading Bangladeshi medical scientists had opposed such a broad range proposal (50). The government of the late President Zia had issued ICDDR,B a charter for a period of 25 years limiting the Centre's activities to "conduct research in diarrhoeal diseases and directly related subjects of nutrition and fertility with special relevance to developing countries" (38). ICDDR,B faced a major public outcry during 1985-88 when its unethical activities related to the oral cholera vaccine trial and collaboration with the apartheid regime of South Africa had surfaced in the Bangladeshi and Swedish media (13-23). The Ershad government knew all about these accusations, but did little to rein on ICDDR,B. Even when the government wanted to voice criticisms, it did so outside the official protocol (18, 55). This happened on 25 March 1987 when Mr. Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury, the then health minister, attended a donors meeting in Bangladesh where a Swedish female journalist Helene Bergman was also present. According to her, "The international guests lauded ICDDR,B. Even health minister Mr. Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury praised its activities. Then he paused, put down the manuscript and said, 'I want to say something outside the protocol. Strong accusations of discrimination have been directed against the Centre. There are also strong accusations that the Centre has not followed ethical guidelines." (18) Later at a private meeting with the health minister, the question on ICDDR,B's unethical activities related to the cholera vaccine was raised by Helene Bergman. "I tried to talk about the cholera vaccine project. But I noticed that the minister avoided my direct question, as he evidently did not want to give any direct replies. But he started to talk, 'Bangladesh is like a beautiful woman. She has everything, but she is poor. Because of this she is dependent on her rich husband, who exploits her for his own needs. We can not do any thing. We depend on the West.' He sighed and sighed." (55). The Swedish journalist Ms. Helene Bergman's visit to Bangladesh in 1987 had revealed the Bangladesh government's attitude towards ICDDR,B very well. She was sent by the Swedish National Radio to investigate the unethical activities of the Swedish oral cholera vaccine trial that had used Bangladeshis as experimental guinea pigs. The Swedish government was deeply upset by her visit as it did not want her to expose the dirty tactics that it was performing on the poor Bangladeshi women and children under the slogan of "aid, democracy and development". The Swedish ambassador Eva Heckscher refused to meet her almost treating her as a "persona non grata" (55). Ms. Bergman's movement was constantly monitored by the Swedish embassy as she could see a "white Mercedes car" following her wherever she went. On the contrary the Bangladesh government was very co-operative with her. She felt very safe in the hands of the Bangladeshi authorities at a time when her own embassy had deserted her. She was received by Mrs. Rowshan Ershad, the First Lady of Bangladesh, at her residence. Mrs. Ershad gave her a few gift items which she still proudly displays at her home in Sweden. Mrs. Ershad perfectly knew her purpose of visit in Bangladesh. While the government of Bangladesh did not have the courage to reprimand ICDDR,B and the government of Sweden, it indirectly encouraged the Swedish journalist to report the matter so that such unethical activities carried out by ICDDR,B and the government of Sweden could be stopped by outside pressures. During that time Helene Bergman had also met the present Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and had recorded an interview which was later broadcast by the Swedish National Radio. Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, who was an opposition leader at that time, was also aware of Helene Bergman's purpose of visit. In 1998 ICDDR,B got from the Sheikh Hasina government what it did not obtain previously from the late President Zia. ICDDR,B's contract was not only renewed five years before its expiry but the Centre also became known as the Centre for Health & Population Research. This permitted ICCDR,B to jump into a wide range of health problems other than diarrhoea. How critically did the Sheikh Hasina government examine ICDDR,B's records? One wonders! In 2000 during the rule of Sheikh Hasina, two leading western scientific journals depicted the close connection of ICCDR,B with the Israel Defence Force via the Swedish governmental scientists Drs. Ann-Mari Svennerholm and Jan Holmgren (8, 9). The government of Bangladesh maintained icy silence of the tomb in this matter despite the fact that these Swedish scientists were carrying out their simultaneous activities both at ICDDR,B and Israel for several years. The perennial fear of the successive governments of Bangladesh not to antagonise the big powerful western governments forming the backbone of the Centre has given ICDDR,B free rein to their activities, a great part of which are unethical and detrimental to the national interest and sovereignty of Bangladesh. In the light of this background it is understandable that ICDDR,B, with the support of the powerful western nations, did not have any difficulty in procuring the Independence Award of 2005. It probably wanted such a shield before the people of Bangladesh with a view to cover some of its controversial activities which must not see the light of day. It is doubtful whether ICDDR,B had ever received any official reprimand for its activities not permitted by the charter. ICDDR,B's ruling elite just laughs at any criticisms, continues its business as usual and gets from the government whatever it likes to have! H. National security of Bangladesh in an age of germ warfare: We are living at a time with constant threats of biological warfare. Various pathogenic micro-organisms including Vibrio cholerae can become tools in biological warfare (56-58). This should be of great concern for the people of Bangladesh when foreign military scientists are carrying out research with pathogenic micro-organisms at ICDDR,B. Apart from being directed by an American, ICDDR,B's research division on infectious diseases and vaccine sciences is controlled by another American national maintaining direct links to the U.S. government (48). Because of ICDDR,B's long-term collaboration with the Swedish scientists (Drs. Jan Holmgren and Ann-Mari Svennerholm) linked to Israel, it is possible that highly pathogenic micro-organisms collected from Bangladesh have ended up in Israel via Sweden. These two Swedish scientists, not trained in medical genetics, were also carrying out "genetic research" on Bangladeshis under the guise of cholera vaccine research (59). Israeli scientists had been working to develop an "ethnically targeted" biological weapon that would kill or harm Arabs nut not the Jews (60, 61). It is possible that an external power might develop ethnic weapons against the Bangladeshis as foreign military scientists do possess genetic materials of Bangladeshis. How much control do Bangladeshi authorities have over the activities and intentions of the expatriate scientists working with highly pathogenic micro-organisms at ICDDR,B? One wonders! I. Concluding remarks: "The mass killings in Bangladesh (then East Pakistan) in 1971 vie with the annihilation of the Soviet POWs, the holocaust against the Jews, and the genocide in Rwanda as the most concentrated act of genocide in the twentieth century" (62). The Pakistani military regime with the blessings from the U.S. government had unleashed a systematic campaign of mass murder whereby millions of Bengalis were slaughtered. The then U.S. President Nixon in his own handwriting had stated , "To all hands: DON'T squeeze Yahya at this time" (63). Thus he blessed General Yahya Khan of Pakistan to continue the killings of Bengalis and to push 20 million more into India as refugees. It is indeed ironical that 34 years later a U.S.-controlled research Centre that flouts with the national sovereignty of Bangladesh has procured the prestigious Independence Day Award, thereby mocking at the millions of martyrs who gave their lives in order to keep our motherland free from foreign clutches. This well-documented article and the previous report (4) have unequivocally demonstrated that ICDDR,B's procurement of the award due to its "valuable contribution in health services for the people of this country " is not corroborated with facts. There is an urgent need to examine carefully the activities of a research centre that thrives on falsehood and propaganda. ICDDR,B is a failed institution so far as diarrhoeal problem in Bangladesh is concerned. It offers marginal medical service as most of the country's diarrhoeal patients are treated by national physicians. ICDDR,B has not yet succeeded to produce an effective cholera vaccine that would give long term protection for the people in endemic countries. Instead it has developed a highly expensive vaccine of short term protective efficacy for the soldiers and tourists of rich nations and has made its Swedish associates multimillionaire. With its newly acquired charter to conduct research on several diseases other than diarrhoea, it has opened up limitless opportunities for its rich external donors to exploit the poor Bangladeshis to test different drugs, vaccines and pharmaceuticals. About two decades ago a few strong comments about the activities of ICDDR,B had appeared in Bangladeshi and Swedish media. It was stated in the Dhaka Courier, "...Foreign governments will look after their own interests and whatever objectives they have will be pursued by them. This is only natural. What isn't natural is the neglect or ignorance on the part of our authorities of the activities of an institution which deals with such a sensitive subject. The public has a right to know what is going on and the onus of the burden to find and furnish the answers now lie squarely with the government of Bangladesh. There is not much sense in having an ordinance if expatriates feel free to flout it whenever they wish........One can understand that excellent laboratory facilities are being provided by foreign quarters and this will perhaps be of use when the time comes. But how can one justify the veil silence and our apathy towards acts which defy all norms of ethical research and allows Bangladesh as germ procurers? And when they have to play guinea pigs for vaccines which can never be used for the benefit of those people who are risking their life to find its efficacy?" (13). Helene Bergman of the Swedish National Radio had stated, "No one (the authorities in Sweden) wants to listen to any criticisms (about the vaccine research in Bangladesh). They will surely continue to deny it. This certainly points to the fact that this is a collision between cultures. We do not look at the people of the Third World as equals. They are supposed to accept graciously our motives and benevolence"(18). The weekly Sandwip wrote, "The real thing is that majority of the people of this country are very poor and illiterate. Open minded villagers take things into their heart very easily. 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- Chatterjee HN. 1953. Control of vomiting in cholera and oral replacement of fluid. Lancet. 265(6795):1063.
- The Bichitra, (Dhaka, Bangladesh) 1980.
- Shamim ul Moula SM. 2001. Fighting Diarrheal Diseases/Cholera in Bangladesh
(http://www.afronets.org/archive/200105/msg00035.php). - Haque A. 2003. 26 persons die of diarrhoea in 2 months in Nilphamari. The Daily Jugantor 1 November 2003.
- Khan SA. ICDDR,B Discovering New Ways to Save Lives The Daily Star Magazine
24 October 2003. - International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh Ordinance, 1978.
Ordinance N. LI of 1978. - The Bangladesh Observer. ICDDR,B seeks support. 31 July 2004
- The Daily Star (Dhaka). 1.25 lakh children die of diarrhoea a year. 21 March 2005
- The New Age (Dhaka). 1.25 lakh children die every year . 21 March 2005
- The Daily Star (Dhaka). Dhaka observes water day today amid crisis of safe water. 22 March 2005.
- WHO (2000) World health organization assesses the world's health systems, press release WHO/44, p1-6.
- Barakamfitiye D, Barua D, Buriot D. (1986). Cholera control. The World Health, 21-22.
- Finkelstein RA. 1992. Combating epidemic cholera. Science 257(5072):862.
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- Durrheim , D. 2004. Prevention of cholera. Lancet. 363(9412):897-898.
- Annual report 2003: ICDDR,B
- Hsu VP, Hossain MJ, Parashar UD, Ali MM, Ksiazek TG, Kuzmin I, Niezgoda M, Rupprecht C, Bresee J, Breiman RF. (2004) Nipah virus encephalitis reemergence, Bangladesh. Emerg Infect Dis. 10:2082-2087.
- Islam N, Mehtab H, Muttalib MA, Chowdhury Z. (1978) Cholera research in Bangladesh. The Lancet ii, 1208-1209.
- Svennerholm AM, Sack DA, Holmgren J, Bardhan PK. (1982) Intestinal antibody responses after immunisation with cholera B subunit. Lancet. 6;1(8267):305-308.
- Melin L. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Government of Sweden (declassified document) 28 January 1987.
- Hedin SF, Elgemyr G. (2001) Quiet Collusion In: Plunder of Jewish Property during the Holocaust (Beker A ed) Palgrave
- W. E. van Heyningen and J. R. seal, Cholera: The American Scientific Experience 1947-1980. Westview Press, Boulder, Colorado, USA, 1983, p 285-301.
- Bergman H. 2000. Too Expensive for the Third World - not needed in the West. (Foreign aid financed cholera vaccine made Swedes multimillionaires) Sweden.
- Barnaby, W. (1997) The Plague Makers, 106-107 pp. Vision Paperbacks, London.
- Mangold T and Goldberg J. 2000. Plague Wars. pp251-252.Macmillan. London.
- Kortepeter, M.G., and Parker, G.W. (1999) Potential biological weapons threats. Emerg Infect Dis. 5, 523-527.
- Glass RI, Holmgren J, Haley CE, Khan MR, Svennerholm AM, Stoll BJ, Belayet Hossain KM, Black RE, Yunus M, Barua D. (1985) Predisposition for cholera of individuals with O blood group. Possible evolutionary significance. Am J Epidemiol. 121:791-796.
- The Jersualem Post. "Bio-weapon would target Arabs" 29 October , 1998
- Uzi Mahnaimi and Marie Colvin. "Israel Planning 'Ethnic' Bomb as Saddam Caves In" The Sunday Times (London) 15 November , 1998
- www.gendercide.org/case_bangladesh.html
- www.military.com/Opinions/0,,Galloway_110304,00.html
| | | |
--- On Sun, 12/27/09, Isha Khan <bd_mailer@yahoo.com> wrote:
From: Isha Khan <bd_mailer@yahoo.com>
Subject: What is for the ICDDR,B ?
To: "Dhaka Mails" <dhakamails@yahoogroups.com>
Date: Sunday, December 27, 2009, 10:35 PM
What is for the ICDDR,B ?
Mahmood Ali
In Bangladesh there are plenty of organizations which are receiving
foreign funds under the pretext of helping the poor of Bangladesh. The
International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh
(ICDDR,B), is such a big one. It is essential to examine their works
and demystify their role. Mahmood Ali attempts an exposure of the
specific case with documetary arguments. He insists that the ICDDR,B
spends money, collected in the name of poor, for purposes which have
little to do with the diarrhoeal problem of the people of Bangladesh.
We encourage our readers to write more on similar cases.
Deaths due to diarrhoea are reported frequently in the newspapers of
Bangladesh. An editorial on this problem published in a leading daily
at the beginning of the new millennium is worth noting. It stated,
"Although we have stepped into a new century as well as a new
millennium, the scourge of diarrhoea is continuing to stalk us. This
underlines the grim fact that even now all parts of the country are
yet to be in a position where safe drinking water is easily accessible
to the people. Moreover, severe financial constraints still hold back
development in many pockets of the community making a sad mockery of
health, hygiene and sanitation in this 21st century" (1).
On February 11, 2001 the same newspaper had printed a news item on the
utilisation of foreign aid in Bangladesh. The title of the news item
is self-explanatory. "Where does all foreign aid go? Seventy-five
percent of donor's money looted by local, foreign elite". According to
this report, foreign aid has created long-term dependency and
criminalised the politics and economy of the country. In the light of
these developments it is important to take a critical look at those
institutions which are receiving foreign funds under the pretext of
helping the poor of Bangladesh.
While the Government of Bangladesh may not have adequate funding, the
International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh
(ICDDR,B), using the name of the poor of Bangladesh, collects millions
and millions of dollars from several countries and organisations. But
the ICDDR,B spends money for purposes, which have little to do with
the diarrhoeal problem of the people of Bangladesh. The situation is
analogous to the owner of a crippled person lying in a small box with
wheels underneath. The owner uses the crippled person to collect
money. But how much does it really go to the welfare of the crippled
person? The owner's livelihood would disappear in the absence of the
crippled person. The ICDDR,B is like the owner of the crippled person.
Tragically Bangladesh is being treated like the crippled person in the
box!
The ICDDR,B's background leading to its foundation:
The ICDDR,B is the continuation of the Cholera Research Laboratory
(CRL), originally established in 1960 as a result of the military
alliance between Pakistan and USA under the umbrella of the South
Asian Treaty Organization (SEATO, 2). After the independence of
Bangladesh, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the Founding Prime Minister and
later President of Bangladesh, did not grant any long-term charter as
he wanted CRL to be under national control responsive to the Ministry
of Health (3). He was assassinated in August 1975. The idea of
converting CRL to an international organisation was launched in April
1976, only a few months after his assassination (4). Dr. David Sack,
the ICDDR,B´s present director, came to Bangladesh soon after the
assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Since then he has been
associated with the "activities" of this research Centre. In 1978 the
ICDDR,B obtained a 25-year charter from the Government of Bangladesh
to operate as a research centre to work on diarrhoeal diseases "with
special relevance to developing countries" (Ordinance No LI of 1978
Government of Bangladesh; 6th Dec 1978). The charter was renewed
further for 25 years in 1998 and was extended up to 2029.
The ICCDR,B - a club of like-minded friends from USA and Sweden :
A "club" comprising a few scientists from USA and their friends from
Sweden basically controls the ICDDR, B. Most of the directors of the
Centre including the present one have come from this "club". Under
severe criticisms in the 1980´s, the Centre once had an Ethiopian as
the director. But he was just window dressing. He was hand picked as
he had been long associated with this "club". The ICDDR,B operates
through very careful manipulations indeed! The American scientists
inside the ICDDR,B do not represent the mainstream of bright and
talented scientists of USA who are making scientific breakthroughs.
Instead, the American scientists, currently associated with the
ICDDR,B including its director Dr. David Sack, have hardly made any
significant scientific contributions. Their purpose of staying in
Bangladesh may be for something else !
In the late 1970´s Dr. David Sack, the ICDDR,B´s present director, was
a junior member of the club controlling the ICDDR,B. He joined in
hands with a group of Swedish scientists. Dr. Jan Holmgren, with an
experience of only 6 years after the doctoral degree, was made a
member of the Board of Trustee of the ICDDR,B. Because of his
membership on the Board of Trustee of the ICDDR,B, Dr. Holmgren found
his way into the Board of SAREC, an organ of the Swedish government's
foreign aid agency. These assignments gave Dr. Holmgren a complete
insight and control over development, financing and marketing of the
products which he, wife Ann-Mari Svennerholm and Dr. David Sack had
been trying to develop at the ICDDR,B. They planned how to get rich
quick and found that one of the ways would be to develop vaccines for
soldiers and tourists from rich countries, who may require protection
for a short period of time whatever may be the cost. They would set up
companies to market products and eventually become millionaires. The
easiest way to obtain funds for the development of such products would
be to use the name of the diarrhoea suffering poor people of
Bangladesh. Money would be collected from various international donors
such as the World Health Organization (WHO), The United Nations
Children's Fund (UNICEF) and foreign aid agencies of various
governments such as USA, UK, Japan, Canada and the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia.
Plenty of information has surfaced in the 1990´s. A profit making
business venture in Sweden called SBL-Vaccin AB has evolved out of the
ICDDR,B's active collaboration with the Swedish scientists. The
Swedish government owned SBL-Vaccin AB until 1997 when it was
purchased by a private Swedish company Active Biotech. SBL-Vaccin AB
has changed hands, its owner since 2003 being Chiron Corporation of
USA. SBL-Vaccin AB with Dr. Holmgren as a member of its scientific
council has targeted soldiers and tourists from rich countries, who
may require protection for a short period of time whatever may be the
cost. The company has made several of its key players such as Drs.
Holmgren, Svennerholm and their associates multi-millionaires. But the
money for the development of all these products were collected from
various international donors using the name of the diarrhoea suffering
"poor people" of Bangladesh. As documents reveal, the ICDDR,B's
director Dr. David Sack has been working for SBL-Vaccin AB (5).
The ICDDR,B´s activities in brief:
The ICDDR,B's ongoing research on "Peru-15": a project to develop a cholera
vaccine for the US Army:
The ICDDR,B is currently testing on Bangladeshis a Vibrio cholerae
strain entitled Peru-15, which has been developed by scientists of the
U.S. Army using techniques of genetic engineering (6). AVANT
Immunotherapeutics Inc., a vaccine company from Massachusetts (USA),
has been awarded the license to market Peru-15 for commercial purposes
such as the development of a cholera vaccine entitled CholeraGrade TM
(7). The company has undergone an agreement with the International
Vaccine Institute (IVI) of South Korea and the ICDDR,B to conduct a
field trial in Bangladesh.
AVANT Immunotherapeutics Inc. maintains very close contact with the
U.S. Department of Defence as it has been working on several U.S.
defence department's projects aimed to provide better health care to
the U.S. Army personnel. To develop CholeraGradeTM as a traveller's
vaccine to be used predominantly by soldiers, has been one of the
goals of AVANT Immunotherapeutics Inc. This has been mentioned by the
company President Dr. Una Ryan, in her report to the U.S. House of
Representative's Biological Warfare Programs on October 23, 2001 (8).
Thus the ICDDR,B's research on Peru-15 demonstrates the use of
Bangladeshis as experimental guinea pigs for a product to be used by
the soldiers of the US Army. Has this information been disclosed by
the ICDDR,B to the people of Bangladesh? One wonders.
A research carried out covertly on Bangladeshis on behalf of a foreign
military constitutes violation of the national sovereignty of
Bangladesh. Bangladeshis have a right to demand full accountability
and transparency from the ICDDR,B regarding the ongoing vaccine
project Peru-15. Thus a detailed information on the parties involved
in this vaccine such as AVANT Immunotherapeitics Inc and its relation
to the U.S. Department of Defence, the role of the American directed
IVI of South Korea, objectives of the trial and rights of the vaccine
participants in the trial and future marketing of the vaccine.
Incidentally, Dr. John Clemens, Director of the IVI had previously
worked as an epidemiologist at the ICDDR,B and is a close associate of
the ICDDR,B's director Dr. David Sack. Both were deeply involved in
the unethical research related to the Swedish cholera vaccines
performed on the Bangladeshis. This would be discussed in detail in
section 3.
The ICDDR,B's collaboration with the Israel Defence Force
Collaborative activities among a group of scientists employed by the
Government of Sweden, the Swedish company SBL-Vaccin AB, members of
the Israel Defence Force and a number of the scientists from the
ICDDR,B have been going on for several years with a view to develop a
vaccine against diarrhoea caused by enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli
(ETEC) which Israel requires for its soldiers. This has been
documented in two scientific publications from USA and UK (9, 10). Dr.
Ann-Mari Svennerholm, a female scientist from Sweden's state-run
Gothenburg University, had been working for several years with the
Israel Defence Force. They had been testing the same ETEC-vaccine,
which Dr. Ann-Mari Svennerholm and her colleagues at the ICDDR,B had
been developing. Dr. Ann-Mari Svennerholm and her principal
Bangladeshi co-worker Dr. Firdausi Qadri had also tested the same lot
of the highly expensive ETEC vaccine (supplied by Sweden's SBL-Vaccin
AB) on the Bangladeshi citizens using them as human guinea pigs. These
activities unequivocally establish the close scientific collaboration
that is prevailing between the ICDDR,B and Israel via Sweden. The
Swedish scientists Dr. Ann-Mari Svennerholm, her husband Dr. Jan
Holmgren and a number of their subordinate employees from the
University of Gothenburg have been working at the ICDDR,B since 1979.
Their principal contact persons during all these years at the ICDDR,B
had been its present director Dr. David Sack, Dr. Firdausi Qadri, a
Bangladeshi citizen and Dr. John Albert, an Australian expatriate of
Indian origin who worked for ten years (1989-1999). The Swedish
scientists Drs. Holmgren and Svennerholm are deeply associated with
SBL-Vaccin AB. In the share holder's meeting on April 14, 2000,
SBL-Vaccin AB's President Mr. S. Andreasson disclosed that the company
had been trying the ETEC-vaccine on a large number of Israeli soldiers
(11). The ICDDR,B's director Dr. David Sack also works for this
company (5). How much activities are these Swedish scientists and
their ICDDR,B associates carrying out inside Bangladesh on behalf of
Israel is any body's guess.
The ICDDR,B collaborates with Sweden's Karolinska Institute, whose
vice-chancellor was also the chairman of SBL-Vaccin AB supplying
vaccines to the Israel Defence Force (9). Also, Karolinska Institute
has been maliciously engaged in slandering the Muslims (12). Israel
has extensive programmes in biological warfare and has reported to
have developed "ethnic" bullets selectively killing the Arabs (13). In
the 1980's the ICDDR,B violated the foreign policy of the Government
of Bangladesh and collaborated with the apartheid regime of South
Africa, which in turn had an extensive collaboration with Israel in
areas of biological warfare (14).
One wonders whether the ICDDR,B and the scientists of the Government
of Sweden working at the ICDDR,B have revealed their Israeli
connection to the Government of Bangladesh and have obtained official
permission from the Government of Bangladesh to carry out such
collaborative research ventures.
Developing vaccines for rich tourists and soldiers violating the human
rights of the poor
In 1985 the ICDDR,B had tried oral cholera vaccines on 90000 women and
children of Matlab, Bangladesh (15). The Government of Bangladesh had
permitted this trial, as it needed a cholera vaccine providing long
term immunity to the people of Bangladesh who suffer from cholera
(16). Two Swedish governmental scientists from Gothenburg University
(Dr. Jan Holmgren and his wife Ann-Mari Svennerholm) and two
expatriate scientists at the ICDDR,B (Drs. David Sack and John
Clemens) were primarily associated with the trial. The Swedish
Department of Defence had been intimately associated with the
diarrhoeal research of the Swedish scientists at the ICDDR,B by
providing money, materials and manpower (17, 18 ). The trial had
violated the Declaration of Helsinki concerning ethics in biomedical
research involving human subjects on a number of counts (19). Firstly,
no protocol to record side effects was maintained, even though the
trial participants had suffered and complained. Secondly, no proper
informed consent was taken from the trial participants. Thirdly, in
many cases coercive tactics were applied. Fourthly, pregnant women
were immunised and no pregnancy test was carried out. The vaccine,
administered by the neutralisation of gastric acid, had produced side
effects and even a death had been reported in the Bangladeshi press
(20). Finally, the vaccine consisting of a large number of killed
cholera cells and the B subunit of cholera toxin (BS-WC) cost several
dollars. It was extremely expensive and beyond the reach of the
Bangladeshis.
The protective efficacy of the oral cholera vaccine (WC-BS) was short
lived, only observed during the initial period of lean cholera
incidences and rapidly declined afterwards (21). It was practically
ineffective in children, the targeted population in heavily endemic
areas like Bangladesh. After monitoring for one year, it was found
that more children (3-6 years) in the WC-BS group got cholera than
those in other groups including the placebo (21).
The real objective of the trial was to develop a vaccine for soldiers
and tourists from rich countries who may require short-term protection
at any cost. Since 1990, the Government of Sweden had been making huge
profit by marketing this vaccine to soldiers and rich tourists through
its vaccine producing laboratory SBL-Vaccin AB. It is sold under the
trade names of "Dukoral" and "SBL cholera vaccine" at an enormous cost
of Swedish crowns 450 (app. USD 65-75, depending on the exchange
rate). The vaccine had been sold to the US Army for its soldiers in
its war against Iraq (22). Ironically the vaccine was tested in
Bangladesh for use by the poor! To market the vaccine, SBL-Vaccin AB
had stated in an information sheet in 1996 that the vaccine could be
used upon pregnant women, thus supporting the original unethical
intention of using Bangladeshi pregnant women for medical research. If
pregnant women were excluded from the trial, as written by Drs.
Holmgren, Svennerholm and their ICDDR,B associates in 1986 (15), then
how can it be stated in 1996 that the vaccine is safe for pregnant
women! In addition, the trial did not have any provisions for
recording side effects (23). The reality of the matter is that the
whole vaccine research was an exercise in fraud !
Exploitation of Bangladeshi women as experimental guinea pigs
Although cholera can affect both men and women, the trial had
predominantly selected females as vaccine recipients (15). All male
individuals above 15 years of age were excluded. No scientific
explanation of this sex bias has been provided by the Swedish
scientists and their ICDDR,B associates. However, Dr. Holmgren on a
programme on the Swedish National Radio justified the exclusive use of
the Bangladeshi women by stating that men were not available as they
work outside their homes (24). The Bangladeshi women are mostly
Muslims. They work at home and are easily accessible. So they can be
used to test vaccines. This is an excuse to exploit women when it is
convenient to do so because of their social and religious status. It
is worthwhile to point out that in the 1970's the Indian scientists
had carried out a cholera vaccine trial on a large number of
participants involving 101,030 volunteers of neighbouring West Bengal
(25). The Indian study did not display any sex bias as almost equal
number of men and women had participated. If the Indian scientists can
carry out an effective vaccine trial without exerting any sex bias,
why had the Swedish scientists and their American associates of the
ICDDR,B failed to do so? The answer lies in the racist attitude of the
Swedish scientists and their American associates of the ICDDR,B
towards the coloured women of Bangladesh. It has to be emphasised that
the poor women of Bangladesh are not born for testing highly expensive
western drugs and vaccines! Their dignity as human beings should be
recognised and respected as defined in the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights.
The trial and the protest
Protests against the trial had been launched in the press and on the
radio both in Sweden and in Bangladesh in the 1980's (20, 23, 24,
26-41). In January 1987, hundreds of leading academicians, politicians
and social activists of Bangladesh (including Mr. Mohammed Nasim, Home
Minister, The Government of Bangladesh, 1999-2000) had sent a protest
letter to the Swedish Prime Minister Mr. Ingvar Carlsson concerning
the use of Bangladeshis as experimental animals by Dr. Holmgren,
Ann-Mari Svennerholm and their ICDDR,B associates (Postal registration
no: 56179, Stockholm, Sweden; January 7, 1987).
Dr. Holmgren's accumulation of massive wealth through the cholera vaccine trial
Drs. Jan Holmgren and his wife Ann-Mari Svennerholm claim to be the
inventor of this vaccine Dukoral (42). Dr. Holmgren has illegally
obtained a patent on cholera toxin B subunit (CTB) of the vaccine
Dukoral, in a number of countries including Sweden and USA (The US
Patent # 5268276 dated Dec 7, 1993). He had concealed in his patent
application information on the financial support from WHO that he had
received for his work on CTB (43) . Besides he had applied as a
private person concealing his place of employment. He draws large sum
of money as royalty from the sale of the vaccine Dukoral that includes
CTB. On 29 June 1998 Dr. Holmgren had obtained for his CTB a cash of
Swedish crowns 25.6 million (appx. 3-4 million US dollars) and
agreement on a large number of future shares from the owner of the
Swedish company SBL Vaccin AB (44). But the vaccine Dukoral was
possible only because of the trial that was performed on 90,000 women
and children of Bangladesh. WHO and a number of governments such as
USA, Japan, Canada and Bangladesh had funded this vaccine trial. But
the Swedish vaccine producers (SBL-Vaccin and Active Biotech) had
denied this fact and instead had stated falsely that SBL "has financed
development and clinical testing without external assistance" (44).
Thus, the marketing of the vaccine Dukoral is illegal as it involves
cheating the financial donors such as WHO and several governments
(USA, Canada, Japan and Bangladesh) and 90 000 trial participants of
Bangladesh. Dr. Holmgren has been working as an "expert" in WHO's
programmes on diarrhoea and vaccines for several years. Dr. David Sack
of the ICDDR,B works for the Swedish company SBL Vaccin AB (5). Thus a
racketeering is going on in which the Swedish governmental and private
organisations (SBL-Vaccin AB), two Swedish governmental scientists
(Dr. Holmgren and wife Ann-Mari Svennerholm) and their ICDDR,B
associates (Drs. David Sack and John Clemens) had violated the human
rights of the poor people of Bangladesh. They had used them as
substitutes for laboratory animals to test highly expensive biological
materials with a view to make profits. Dr. Holmgren, Dr. Ann-Mari
Svennerholm and SBL-Vaccin AB must return all the ill-gotten money
they have made not only to the donors (WHO and several governments),
but also to 90 000 poor women and children of Bangladesh.
The ICDDR,B hijacks funds from donors to develop vaccines for soldiers
and rich tourists
The ICDDR,B had "hijacked" millions and millions of dollars from
donors such as WHO, the governments of Japan, Canada and USA (15) for
the development of a cholera vaccine for soldiers and rich tourists.
The tax payers of these countries had given money to the ICDDR,B so
that the poor people of Bangladesh do not suffer from the scourge of
diarrhoea. But the ICDDR,B had utilised that fund to satisfy the greed
of a few interested persons, who want to make money by exploiting the
poor under the slogan of "combating diarrhoea".
The ICDDR,B's Collaboration with the apartheid regime of South Africa
The ICDDR,B had carried out collaborative research on Vibrio cholerae
in the 1980's with the minority white apartheid regime of South
Africa, grossly violating the foreign policy of the government of
Bangladesh (14). Numerous articles protesting this collaborative
research had appeared in the Bangladeshi newspapers and magazines in
the 1980s (27-33, 35, 36). In 1998 the Truth and Reconciliation
Commission of the Republic of South Africa has confirmed that the
apartheid regime of South Africa had used Vibrio cholerae as an agent
of biological warfare against the majority black population of the
country (45). In January 1999 the BBC-World TV had shown a dramatic
film called "The Plague Wars" where these facts have been documented.
Why was a foreign expert in areas of bacteriological warfare (Dr.
P.C.B. Turnbull) from a well known biological weapons research centre
of the West invited by the ICDDR,B to come to Bangladesh? The ICDDR,B
had not given any satisfactory explanations on this matter (46). Is
the ICDDR,B carrying out bacteriological warfare or testing agents of
bacteriological warfare upon the people of Bangladesh?
The ICDDR,B spreads communal hatred between the Hindus and the Muslims
The American scientists (John Clemens and Roger I. Glass) of the
ICDDR, B had been engaged in spreading communal hatred by reporting
that the Hindus get more cholera and gastric diseases than the Muslims
(47, 48). How rigorous were these studies performed to make a
generalisation about the Hindus? Are these American scientists
professionally competent to assess great religions like Islam and
Hinduism? This is scientifically erroneous as cholera can kill all
people irrespective of their religions. This disease was highly
prevalent in Europe and America in the nineteenth century killing
thousands of the Christians.
Publication of useless and repetitious materials to "please" uncritical donors
Often repetitious and useless "research" papers lacking both novelty
and practical values are published in certain western journals where
the ICDDR,B has influence. Such useless publications only help to
promote scientific careers of the core members of the ICDDR,B who may
brag about their long list of publications as signs of
accomplishments. Also, uncritical donors can be impressed by such long
list of publications. Many publications are nothing but
"rediscoveries" like old wine in a new bottle. Ironically, as reported
in Bangladesh's largest circulating daily the Ittefaq, most
Bangladeshis do not know the difference between "diarrhoea and
cholera" (49).
Behind the claims for the development of "the oral rehydration therapy"
The ICDDR, B boasts itself of having developed "the oral rehydration
therapy". But it was just a "rediscovery" made in 1968 (50). The
original publication of "the oral rehydration therapy" was made by a
Bengali scientist Dr. Chatterjee of India fifteen years ago in 1953
(51). In a similar way, cholera toxin, which causes cholera, was
discovered by a Bengali scientist Dr. S. N. De of Kolkata (52). The
western scientists are very good in "muscling aside" scientists from
the developing countries by all means and do not hesitate to rob their
ideas and inventions.
Sheltering antique smugglers
The ICDDR,B and its predecessor CRL offer shelter to antique smugglers
who do not hesitate to plunder vast amount of the cultural heritage of
Bangladesh. The case of the American scientist David Nalin who had
smuggled objects from the Bangladeshi museums is well known and had
been reported in the Bangladeshi press such as the Bichitra in 1980.
The ICDDR,B: a threat to regional security
Finally, a word of caution has to be put forward. Many people of
Bangladesh have their relatives in neighbouring India and vice versa.
These people are naturally concerned about the health and welfare of
their close-ones on the other side of the border. Infectious diseases
can easily spread across the border. Therefore, the activities of a
foreign-dominated centre such as the ICDDR,B dealing with highly
pathogenic micro-organisms need to be monitored with great caution so
that Bangladesh can avoid diplomatic problems with her immediate
neighbour.
Under-developing Bangladeshi institutions
It is tragic that while the ICDDR,B squanders away millions and
millions of dollars, the Bangladeshi research centres have little fund
to function adequately. The pathetic plight of the Bangladeshi
scientific community was described by a person no other than the
eminent scientist Dr. Wajed Miah, the husband of the former Prime
Minister Sheikh Hasina in the Bangladeshi press in 1998. Recently, a
professor from Rajshahi University has appealed for help over the
Internet for the University's research activities from the
University's old students and teachers living abroad.
On the most effective means to combat diarrhoea
In 1988 the Bangladeshi members of the Standing Committee of the
ICDDR,B, after realising the dismal performance of the Swedish oral
vaccine, had expressed strong reservations. According to an article
published in Bangladesh, internationally reputed scientists such as
Professors Nurul Islam, Kamaluddin Ahmed and Major General M.R.
Chowdhury had questioned whether cholera can be effectively controlled
by vaccination (53). They commented, "Instead of vaccination, emphasis
should be placed on health and sanitary measures along with the supply
of pure drinking water. In this way cholera was eradicated from
Sanghai, The Peoples Republic of China. People believe that by taking
vaccine cholera is being eradicated. But the reality is different".
In this respect the opinion of a pioneering American cholera scientist
Professor R.A. Finkelstein on the Swedish oral vaccine is worth
citing. "As these dead oral cholera vaccines are expensive, difficult
to administer, insufficiently protective, and potentially
non-reproducible (they were constructed arbitrarily and there are no
bioassays that reliably predict efficacy), the reader should not come
away with the impression that they offer a solution to the cholera
problem in the Americas or elsewhere......oral rehydration therapy is
effective and relatively cheap. Intelligent epidemiological control
measures can help, but the best solution resides in providing safe
drinking water and sewage disposal. This can be an expensive
investment, but it is one that will also reduce the burden of other
diarrheal diseases, which, in some heavily afflicted areas, kill half
the children before they reach the age of five" (54).
All what has been described above are scientifically documented and
valid. About twenty five years ago National Professor Nurul Islam had
written a letter in the British medical journal Lancet expressing his
critical viewpoints behind the establishment of such a centre (55).
Time has proven the correctness of Professor Nurul Islam, the founder
of the IPGMR (now known as Bangabandhu Medical University). Do the
people of Bangladesh need a centre like the ICDDR,B working for the
interest of rich nations while collecting money using the name of the
poor?
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