Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates came under fire after describing India as “a kind of laboratory to try things out” in a podcast with LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman. His remarks were aimed at highlighting India’s progress and collaboration with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, but he also revived a controversial 2009 clinical trial funded by Gates’ foundation. Seven tribal girls died in the trial, and many others became seriously ill.
“India is an example of a country that has a lot going on,” Gates said in a recent podcast, “because health, nutrition, education is improving, it’s stable enough, it’s generating enough government revenue. “India is very likely to find itself in a difficult situation.” Twenty years from now, people’s lives will be dramatically better. It’s a kind of laboratory where once you try something and prove it in India, you can take it elsewhere. ”
“This is a kind of laboratory to try things out. Once it’s proven in India, we can take it elsewhere.”
— Bill Gates, on India.In 2009, the American NGO PATH (Program for Appropriate Technology in Health), in collaboration with ICMR, conducted a clinical trial on cervical… pic.twitter.com/66aFVrxCiM
— THE SKIN DOCTOR (@theskindoctor13) December 2, 2024
His choice of words struck a nerve with the Indian audience. Among the critics is a Scottish-based doctor known as the “skin doctor” in I brought up the exam.
In 2009, PATH, in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), conducted clinical trials of a cervical cancer vaccine among 14,000 tribal girls in Khammam district of Telangana state and Vadodara city of Gujarat state. A few months into the trial, several participants reported serious side effects and seven deaths were recorded, but the deaths were later determined to be from unrelated causes.
An investigation into the trial revealed serious ethical flaws, a dermatologist has revealed. The trial was presented as a public health initiative and its experimental nature was hidden. The consent form was signed by the hostel manager, not the girls’ parents, leaving the families unaware of the potential risks.
The trial specifically targeted tribal communities where access to and awareness of healthcare is limited. Reports of serious side effects fueled suspicions that the trial exploited vulnerable people under the guise of aid.
PATH denied any wrongdoing and said the deaths were due to infection and suicide.
Critics say the 2009 vaccine trial is just one example of how India and other developing countries have been used as testing grounds by foreign-funded organizations.
“Who knows how many Gates-funded NGOs are conducting similar trials in India and Africa? It is alarming that people have access to this,” the dermatologist concluded.
