The Make Poverty History campaign, which has recently announced its collaboration with Sir Bob Geldof, is a coalition of NGOs and other organisations planning organised dissent around the G8 summit.

The campaign is generating widespread publicity for the G8 protests and this has to be most welcome. However, amongst the members of the Make Poverty History coalition, there are some rather dubious names.

For one, there is The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council . This is a public body that describes itself thus:
“BBSRC was established by Royal Charter in 1994 by incorporation of the former Agricultural and Food Research Council with the biotechnology and biological sciences programmes of the former Science and Engineering Research Council.
BBSRC funds research in some of the most exciting areas of contemporary science, including:
· Genomics, stem cell biology, and bionanotechnology, that provide a basis for new technologies in healthcare, food safety, plant and livestock breeding, and bioprocessing
· Whole organism biology relevant to our understanding of diet and health, ageing, animal health and welfare, infectious diseases and immunity, and crop productivity
· Biological populations and systems that underpin agricultural sustainability, biodiversity and novel bio-based and renewable processes for energy and manufacturing“

BBSRC describes its “mission” as:

“To advance knowledge and technology (including the promotion and support of the exploitation of research outcomes), and provide trained scientists and engineers, which meet the needs of users and beneficiaries (including the agriculture, bioprocessing, chemical, food, healthcare, pharmaceutical and other biotechnological related industries), thereby contributing to the economic competitiveness of the United Kingdom and the quality of life.”

The council is chaired by Dr. P. S. Ringrose who is also a non-executive director of no less than three private drug companies, and deputy chaired by Professor J. M. Goodfellow – the wife of Professor P.N. Goodfellow who is the Senior Vice President of Glaxo Smithkline.

Furthermore this organisation has, on its council, representatives of two major pharmaceutical companies (Glaxo Smithkline and Inpharmatica), with the majority of the council in the pay of large, and multinational drug companies through shareholdings or funding.

BBSRC are representing the interests of the very corporations who have withheld AIDS drugs from the poor of Africa for a decade. The likes of Glaxo Smithkline are corporations serving the interests of shareholders. Shareholders are interested in one thing: profit, and African children aren’t remotely profitable. BBSRC also freely admit in their mission that their reason-to-be is to “contribute to the economic competitiveness of the United Kingdom”. Indeed, why is this organisation so interested in “Making Poverty History”?

Are BBSRC hoping that the UK and European taxpayers are going to subsidise biotechnology programmes that help feed the world’s poor through the increasing of “crop productivity”, while the Biotech companies reap all the profits?

Whatever their motives, they seem very keen to be part of “Make Poverty History”. For an organisation of this kind to join a campaign of this sort, there must and will be a profit agenda.

Please read the following links:

Firstly, the agenda of BBSRC. Don’t trust me. See for yourself:  http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk/about/Welcome.html

Secondly, the conflicts of interest of each board member:
 http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk/about/gov/council/conflicts.pdf

And thirdly, some of the corporations represented on BBSRC’s council:
 http://www.inpharmatica.co.uk/discoverypartnering.htm
 http://www.gsk.com/index.htm


I suggest we keep tabs on which organisations are backing the MPH campaign. Follow up comments, perhaps….

See the link below for a list of MPH’s members:
 http://www.makepovertyhistory.org/whoweare/members-a.shtml