Public Health Foundation of India

The Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) is a not for profit public private initiative working towards a healthier India. A national consultation, convened by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in September 2004, recommended a foundation which could rapidly advance public health education, training, research and advocacy. Quotes about Similar controversies on proximity with pharma companies and conflict of interest have been raised about PHFI. While PHFI is engaged in public health and is also partnering the government in UIP, it has accepted grants from a number of pharma companies, including vaccine manufacturers. In all, PHFI has accepted grants worth around `57.65 crore from pharma companies, including Merck Sharp and Dohme, Pfizer and Sanofi, which manufacture vaccines. Sanofi is one of the many manufacturers of the controversial Pentavalent vaccine around the world. PHFI head K Srinath Reddy asserts that the grants “that the PHFI has received from pharmaceutical companies are meant for broader educational activities, and are not intended to benefit PHFI, a pharma company or any other specific organization.” Controversial vaccine studies: Why is Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation under fire from critics in India? “PHFI is a private society cleverly disguised as a public-private partnership since some of the people in the governing body are or have been senior civil servants or public servants,” adds Supreme Court lawyer and activist Prashant Bhushan. Bhushan points out that PHFI appears to have several connections with the big pharma companies and their consultants. “The PHFI appears to have a conflict of interest in advising the government of India and directing the immunization programme.” Prashant Bhushan, in Controversial vaccine studies: Why is Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation under fire from critics in India? PHFI is India’s largest public health nonprofit organization. Although the Indian government set up PHFI, the Gates Foundation largely funds it. The HPV Vaccine On Trial Seeking Justice for a Generation Betrayed (Mary Holland, J.D. Kim Mack Rosenberg) External links Category:Health in India Category:Organisations based in India