CDC Foundation
The CDC Foundation is an American nonprofit organization based in Atlanta, Georgia. Its purpose is to “advance the mission” of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Affiliations
Directors
Bill Cosby is a former director for the foundation.1)
Donors
Donors to the CDC Foundation include:2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8) 9) 10) 11) 12) 13) 14) 15) 16) 17) 18)
- American Gastroenterological Association Institute (AGA Institute)
- Associated Regional and University Pathologists (ARUP Laboratories)
- Global Antibiotic Research & Development Partnership (GARDP Foundation)
- Hewlett-Packard (HP)
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- Yale University School of Public Health
Partners
Program parters of the CDC Foundation include:19)
- California Department of Health Services Genetic Services Branch
History
Congress authorized the CDC to accept “external gifts” from industry and private parties in 1983, and in 1992 passed legislation for the creation of a nonprofit foundation to encourage relationships between industry and the agency.
In fiscal year 2014, the CDC Foundation raised $52 million, $12 million of that from Big Pharma. Also in 2014, the CDC received $16 million in direct funding from corporations, individuals and foundations, including the CDC Foundation, which makes the foundation nothing more than a pass-through organization.
As reported in the British Medical Journal, much of the funding from Big Pharma was conditional and earmarked for specific projects that turned out to be the promotion of the contributing company’s products.20)
One example is a $600,000 donation from Genentech to the CDC Foundation in 2012, which required the CDC to promote expanded testing and treatment of viral hepatitis. Genentech’s parent corporation is Roche, which just happens to manufacture test kits and treatment drugs for hepatitis C.
That same year, the CDC issued guidelines to physicians recommending that everyone born from 1945 to 1965 be screened for hepatitis C virus.
In 2010, the CDC Foundation created the Viral Hepatitis Action Coalition. The coalition’s purpose is to support research and promote expanded testing and treatment of hepatitis C globally. Members of the coalition, which has received $26 million in contributions from Big Pharma, include Abbott Laboratories, AbbVie, Gilead Sciences, Janssen, Merck, OraSure Technologies, Quest Diagnostics and Siemens. All of those companies produce products and tests for the diagnosis and treatment of hepatitis C.21)