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U.S. Charged With Silencing Scientists
WASHINGTON (Reuters) Jun 25 - The U.S. government is making it harder
for scientists to speak to their global colleagues and restricting who
can attend an upcoming major AIDS conference, a congressman charged on
Thursday.
Rep. Henry Waxman said he has a letter showing that the Health and
Human Services Department has imposed new limits on who may speak to
the World Health Organization.
Under the new policy, WHO must ask HHS for permission to speak to
scientists and must allow HHS to choose who will respond.
"This policy is unprecedented. For the first time political appointees
will routinely be able to keep the top experts in their field from
responding to WHO requests for guidance on international health
issues," the California Democrat wrote in a letter to HHS Secretary
Tommy Thompson.
"This is a raw attempt to exert political control over scientists and
scientific evidence in the area of international health," Waxman
wrote.
"Under the new policy the administration will be able to refuse to
provide any experts whenever it wishes to stall international progress
on controversial topics."
An HHS spokesman was not immediately available for comment.
Waxman also complained that HHS had cut back a list of scientists
planning to attend the International AIDS Society conference in
Bangkok, Thailand, next month. The conference is considered the
premier meeting for AIDS experts.
Waxman said that 40 presentations scheduled for the conference were
withdrawn after HHS decided that only 50 U.S. scientists could attend.
"The scientific community was outraged by this pullback," he wrote.
"I ask you to rescind this ill-advised policy until it can be
adequately reviewed and justified," Waxman wrote of the restrictions
on WHO requests.
He also urged Thompson to review his decision on the Bangkok conference.
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