'Donations to four major nonprofits that fueled misinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic topped $118 million between 2020 and 2022; the funds have allowed the groups to flex political power nationwide.'
Extract below and a comment from me. Full text here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/02/21/covid-misinformation-ea...
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Four major nonprofits that rose to prominence during the coronavirus pandemic by capitalizing on the spread of medical misinformation collectively gained more than $118 million between 2020 and 2022, enabling the organizations to deepen their influence in statehouses, courtrooms and communities across the country, a Washington Post analysis of tax records shows.
Children’s Health Defense, an anti-vaccine group founded by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., received $23.5 million in contributions, grants and other revenue in 2022 alone... Another influential anti-vaccine group, Informed Consent Action Network, nearly quadrupled its revenue during that time to about $13.4 million in 2022, giving it the resources to finance lawsuits seeking to roll back vaccine requirements as Americans’ faith in vaccines drops.
Two other groups, Front Line Covid-19 Critical Care Alliance and America’s Frontline Doctors, went from receiving $1 million combined when they formed in 2020 to collecting more than $21 million combined in 2022, according to the latest tax filings available for the groups.
The four groups routinely buck scientific consensus. Children’s Health Defense and Informed Consent Action Network raise doubts about the safety of vaccines despite assurances from federal regulators. “Vaccines have never been safer than they are today,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on its webpage outlining vaccine safety...
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COMMENT (NPW): This is in stark contrast to support for reliable healthcare information. HIFA is the only organisation campaigning for universal access to reliable healthcare information. We urgently need funds to continue our work in 2024. We are talking about (in total) a few *thousand* dollars. If you care about the right to health (and access to reliable healthcare inforamtion is officially recognised by the UN as a determinant of the right to health) then please show your support today. Please donate via our dedicated fundraising page: https://hifa.online-donation.co.uk/general/~my-donation
All donations are recognised on our website, or you can remain anonymous if you prefer.
Thank you
HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil@hifa.org
