Today’s post is going to be short, but two major events transpired that will change the world for the better.
- Bill and Melinda gates have devoted $10 billion for the development and deployment of vaccines world wide.
- The doctor, Andrew Wakefield, who intentionally started spreading lies that the MMR vaccine caused Autism has had his medical license revoked. There was overwhelming evidence of misconduct, data falsification, lying, and improper treatment of patients (all of which related to his claims that autism was caused by the MMR vaccine)
THIS IS FANTASTIC NEWS!!!!!!!
I applaud Bill and Melinda for using their wealth to help the world. Think about it, instead of the wealthy getting their names on buildings they’ll get their names on diseases. Instead of people saying “Thats the Bill & Melinda Gates Auditorium” they’ll be able to say things like “Bill and Melinda Gates payed to eradicate (insert disease name here)“. Ask anybody over the age of 40 who Jonas Salk is and they’ll tell you he is the man who invented the first polio vaccine (I’ve talked about Dr Salk and vaccines before in case you missed it). Bill and Melinda Gates have once again secured their place in history in a very good and laudable way.
Secondly now that Ex-Dr. Wakefield has officially been censured for starting a myth that has lead to the deaths of hundreds of children, hopefully people will begin to disbelieve the terrible lie he started, and we can devote precious resources to trying to uncover the true cause of autism.
UPDATE Feb 3, 2010: The Lancet has officially retracted the article by Ex-Dr. Wakefield, with the statement that the paper never should have been published in the first place, its a wonderful move but they should have done this years ago.
slayton
/ January 30, 2010To put things into perspective, most labs run on RO1 grants which supply up to $250,000 a year. This $10,000,000,000 fund is enough to fund a single lab for 4000 years. As they’ve commited to spending all $10,000,000,000 in 10 years, this is enough money to fun 400 labs. WOW!
Liz Ditz
/ January 30, 2010devote precious resources to trying to uncover the true cause of autism.
Even more than that:
Here is what I object to about Wakefield (and Thoughtful House, Age of Autism, Generation Rescue, and even Autism Speaks). Their focus on “a cure for autism” sucks up the time and money that should be going to
* Increasing support for families who have one or more members with autism
* Increasing educational opportunities for people with autism — safe, welcoming, and effective educational opportunities
* Increasing opportunities for dignified, meaningful employment for people with autism
* Increasing safe and dignified living arrangements for adults with autism who cannot manage independent living.
emily
/ February 3, 2010Hey I love your intellect. Thanks for the update. I have a friend whose son started showing signs of autism right when he was vaccinated around age 2. She is a nurse and knows the power of vaccines and knows that it was not the cause… however it has given her a lot of concern… I hope this puts her mind to rest more.