(Image source from: Business-standard.com)

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has come under fire after describing India as “a kind of laboratory to test everything” in a podcast with LinkedIn founder Reed Hoffman. His remarks were intended to highlight India's progress and partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, but he also revived a controversial 2009 Gates Foundation clinical trial. In this clinical trial, seven tribal girls died and many others became seriously ill. “India is an example of a country where a lot is happening because health, nutrition and education are improving, it is sustainable enough and generates enough government revenue,” Gates said in a recent podcast. "He's in a difficult situation." In twenty years, people's lives will be dramatically better. It's like a laboratory where once you try something and prove it in India, you can take it to other places. His choice of words struck a chord with the Indian audience. Among the critics is a Scottish doctor called “Dermatologist,” who appeared in my test. In 2009, PATH, in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), conducted clinical trials of a cervical cancer vaccine in 14,000 tribal girls in Khammam district of Telangana and Vadodara city of Gujarat. A few months after the start of the study, several participants reported serious side effects and seven deaths were recorded. However, it was later determined that the deaths were due to other causes.

An investigation into the study found serious ethical flaws, a dermatologist has revealed. The trial was presented as a public health initiative and its experimental nature was concealed. The consent form was signed by the hostel manager, not the girls' parents, and the families are unaware of the possible dangers. The effort specifically targeted tribal communities where access to and awareness of health care is limited. Reports of serious side effects fueled suspicions that the process was exploiting vulnerable people under the guise of aid. PATH denied any wrongdoing and said the deaths were due to infections and suicide. Critics say the 2009 vaccine trial is just one example of how India and other developing countries were used as testing grounds by foreign authorities. Comment: “Who knows how many Gates-funded NGOs are conducting similar experiments in India and Africa”.