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| World Health Organization Calling For Billions in Internet and Other Taxes |
| 2010-05-11 |
| The World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations' public health arm, is moving full speed ahead with a controversial plan to impose global consumer taxes on such things as Internet activity and everyday financial transactions like paying bills online — while its spending soars and its own financial house is in disarray. The aim of its taxing plans is to raise "tens of billions" of dollars for WHO that would be used to radically reorganize the research, development, production and distribution of medicines around the world, with greater emphasis on drugs for communicable diseases in poor countries. The irony is that the WHO push to take a huge bite out of global consumers comes as the organization is having a management crisis of its own, juggling finances, failing to use its current resources efficiently, or keep its costs under control — and it doesn't expect to show positive results in managing those challenges until a year from now, at the earliest. Fox News initially reported last January on the "suite of proposals" for "new and innovative sources of funding," prepared by a 25-member panel of medical experts, academics and health care bureaucrats, when it was presented of a meeting of WHO's 34-member Executive Board in Geneva. Now the proposals are headed for the four-day annual meeting of the 193-member World Health Assembly, WHO's chief legislative organ, which begins in Geneva on May 17. The Health Assembly, a medical version of the United Nations General Assembly, will be invited to "take note" of the experts' report. It will then head back with that passive endorsement to another Executive Board meeting, which begins May 22, for further action. It is the Executive Board that will "give effect" to the Assembly's decisions. What it all means is that a major lobbying effort could soon be underway to convince rich governments in particular to begin taxing citizens or industries to finance a drastic restructuring of medical research and development on behalf of poorer ones. The scheme would leave WHO in the middle, helping to manage a "global health research and innovation coordination and funding mechanism," as the experts' report calls it. In effect, the plan amounts to a pharmaceutical version of the U.N.-sponsored climate-change deal that failed to win global approval at Copenhagen last December. If implemented as the experts suggest, it could easily involve the same kind of wealth transfers as the failed Copenhagen summit, which will send $30 billion a year to poor nations, starting this year. The WHO strategy involves a wide variety of actions to transfer "pharmaceutical-related technology," and its production, along with intellectual property rights, to developing countries, according to a condensed "global strategy and plan of action" also being presented to the World Health Assembly. Regional "networks for innovation" would be cultivated across the developing world, and some regions, such as Africa, would be encouraged to develop technology to exploit "traditional medicines." According to the condensed plan of action being presented to the Assembly, a number of those initiatives are already well under way. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose |
| #21 How about Americans stop subsidizing world pharmaceutical prices to the tune of $100 billion/year and demand to pay lower international prices? |
| Posted by: ed 2010-05-11 19:36 |
| #20 Let me see - how can I put this politely? FUCK YOU, WHO |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2010-05-11 19:16 |
| #19 So now non-US entities can impose taxes on Americans? Hmmm, can't seem to find that in my copy of the Constitution. |
| Posted by: DMFD 2010-05-11 18:38 |
| #18 They can call all they want. Each national government would have to vote to tax themselves for that purpose, and even before Greece got interesting that was not likely. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2010-05-11 18:09 |
| #17 "they just want FTFY, CF. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2010-05-11 13:35 |
| #16 Look at the bright side. Bootleg steroids and valium from Africa will get a lot cheaper. If you give them pharma equip and training, that's what it would end up being used for. |
| Posted by: bigjim-CA 2010-05-11 13:12 |
| #15 I guess we can look forward to another summit where our leadership bashes the US and assumes ultimate responsibility for all global health issues while begging other, smarter, world leaders to follow suit. China and India didn't go for emission controls; let's see if they go for this. |
| Posted by: Keeney 2010-05-11 13:00 |
| #14 WHO cried wolf? |
| Posted by: 746 2010-05-11 11:10 |
| #13 Μολὼν λαβέ |
| Posted by: No I am the other Beldar 2010-05-11 10:38 |
| #12 ...I believe the old mobster (or political*) term is 'piece of the action'. *Chicago has blended the two as to be inseparable. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2010-05-11 09:12 |
| #11 Hey - they just want their slice of the pie. |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2010-05-11 08:31 |
| #10 Yea! The UN to radically reorganize the research, development, production and distribution of medicines around the world! What could go wrong? |
| Posted by: Spot 2010-05-11 08:14 |
| #9 Regional "networks for innovation" would be cultivated across the developing world, and some regions, such as Africa, would be encouraged to develop technology to exploit "traditional medicines." Will a tax placed on the "Tokoloshe" sent by our Sangomas (traditional healers) be levied on us as well, or will this come in a later version? |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2010-05-11 06:23 |
| #8 No. More. Money. Public sector elites haven't gotten it yet. If the producers are making less, we can't give more. Try all your tricks and schemes if you will. You only delay the inevitable. |
| Posted by: no mo uro 2010-05-11 05:50 |
| #7 BTW, WHO doesn't actually do anything, except 'co-ordinate', which is UNspeak for extracting bribes and commisions while generally impeding the useful work of others. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2010-05-11 05:31 |
| #6 Hehe, nice one Bright Pebbles , my sentiments exactly |
| Posted by: Oscar 2010-05-11 05:04 |
| #5 Now that carbon trading is rapidly 'going up in smoke', the UN is looking for new global taxes to line the pockets and stuff the bank accounts of the third world kleptocrats who run it. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2010-05-11 05:01 |
| #4 So destroying the economy and retarding communications so a bunch of unproductive bureaucrats can extort their way to a life of luxury is a bad thing? |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2010-05-11 04:53 |
| #3 WHO Can - FOAD! |
| Posted by: 3dc 2010-05-11 03:09 |
| #2 BILYUHNS AND SILYUHNS AND FILYUHNS AND....Before CARL SAGAN, there was 1960's-1970's GUAM. * ION NEWS KERALA > [Bammer Admin] US TO AMEND/REVISE "MIRANDA" RIGHTS FOR EFFECTIVE INTERROGATION [Terror suspects]. Besides JOE LIEBERMAN repor introducing Congressional Legislation to take away the US CITIZENSHIP OF THOSE ENGAGED IN TERROR AGZ US, as repor SUPPORTED NU NANCY PELOSI. * BHARAT RAKSHAK > LeT MADE THREE ATTEMPTS TO KILL/ASSASSINATE KASAB [26/11 Mumbai attack], to include collusion wid INDIAN MUJAHIDEEN Cadres + activ SLEEPER CELLS to carry out anti-KASAB KILL-OP??? |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2010-05-11 01:34 |
| #1 This is bad ...real bad. And of course 0bama will totally go for it. |
| Posted by: Mike Hunt 2010-05-11 01:03 |