(Extract and comment from me below)
The Treatment Action Group (TAG) is 'an independent, activist and community-based research and policy think tank fighting for better treatment, prevention, a vaccine, and a cure for HIV, tuberculosis, and hepatitis C virus'.
Yesterday they released a statement: TAG Opposes the Nomination of Dr. Jay Bhattacharya for Director of the U.S. National Institutes of Health. You can read it in full here:
Read in full: https://www.treatmentactiongroup.org/statement/treatment-action-group-op...
(Dr Bhattacharya was nominated by President Trump on 6 March.)
The statement concludes:
'If Bhattacharya is appointed it will mean that the two most important positions overseeing scientific research in the U.S. [the other being Robert F. Kennedy Jr] will be occupied by people with a demonstrated inability to distinguish scientific dissent from science denialism. Yet worse, both appear willing to champion science denialism if it accords with their political views and those of the current administration.'
COMMENT (NPW): On HIFA we have emphasised that the realisation of universal access to reliable healthcare information - a world where every person has access to the information they need to protect their own health and the health of others - is dependent on the integrity of the global evidence ecosystem [ https://www.hifa.org/about-hifa/hifa-vision-mission-strategy ] and, specifically, the ability of the general public, health workers and policymakers to differentiate reliable information from misinformation. Are we witnessing the deliberate unraveling of the system in the US? How can the integrity of the system be maintained if policymakers are unable, or unwilling, to differentiate reliable information from misinformation?
Best wishes, Neil
HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil@hifa.org