The Australian government does not inform the public that the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations and Biomedical companies are influencing the design of the Australian government (and all World Health Organisation countries) vaccination programs through the GAVI Alliance – the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation.
Vaccines are not being added to national programs to address the specific public health needs of each country but on the recommendation of an alliance composed of many corporations and foundations, including the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.
Here is the interview I did with Sarah Westall from Business Game Changes – The Vaccination debate: Let’s get Serious. I hope that you will listen to this interview as she gets to the core of the political issues regarding the promotion of vaccines to governments and the public.
Corporations are framing the vaccination debate in the media and this is resulting in the violation of human rights – our right to choose what we inject into our own bodies.
On 15 September 2017 Australia changed its media ownership laws to allow an increase in the concentration of ownership of media in the cities. Currently Murdoch’s News Ltd corporation owns approximately 70% of Australia’s media but the new laws now allow him to expand this share to control all three media platforms – television, radio and newspapers – in a single area.
This has serious consequences for public interest journalism that involves government health policies with vested interests. Already the vaccination debate is not being covered in the Australian media and public behaviour is being manipulated with false information that is not supported by university research or many medical practitioners.
In Australia public interest journalism has already been curtailed by the lack of diversity in the mainstream media and now our politicians have ensured that it is possible for one media mogul to have even greater influence over public behaviour.
When government decisions are not transparent or accountable they can be framed to suit the corporate agenda and promoted to the public with false information – particularly when media diversity is reduced and powerful industry-backed lobby groups such as the theAustralian Skeptics Inc, SAVN and Friends of Science in Medicine can influence politicians through lobbying and donations.
Dr. Judy Wilyman
