More secret meetings. So the public is not invited to see Paul Farmer? Imagine restricting access to a talk by Mother Theresa. Isn't Paul Farmer a global public good?

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Davos of global health descends on Seattle
Sandi Doughton
The Business of Giving
12 June 2009

Four major health gatherings will be held in Seattle next week, all somewhat under the radar and closed to the public.

One little-known group, the H8 (Health 8), consists of the leaders of seven acronym-prone global bodies such as WHO, UNICEF, the World Bank and UNAIDS -- and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the only private philanthropy with a seat at the table.

The H8 rolls into Seattle the same week as the Pacific Health Summit, the Global Health Research Congress, and a meeting of a group called HIROS, made up of the leaders of government agencies and foundations that fund health research.

So who are all these elite decision makers and what are they planning to do?

WHO Director General Margaret Chan will be here. Also attending one or more of the meetings will be Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; UNCEF chief Ann Veneman; and seven-time Photographer of the Year James Nachtwey.

The Pacific Health Summit, in its fifth year, brings together global health leaders and private industry, particularly pharma. This year's topic is control of drug-resistant tuberculosis. The research summit, which is in its first year, aims to piggyback on the influx of experts and help complement the higher-level discussions with the nitty-gritty science needed to inform global policies. Many of the world's top TB researchers will attend.

Both the summit and research congress are invitation-only, and some local NGOs were angry to realize they couldn't even attend a session featuring Paul Farmer. (Farmer will give a public presentation during his Seattle visit -- see details)

Journalists can attend both events -- but are forbidden to quote anyone by name or affiliation. The reason given is that participants will able to speak more freely and candidly if they know their comments won't wind up in the newspaper or on Internet.

As for any public or press access to either the H8 or HIROS?

Forget about it.

Little has been published about the H8 and its proceedings. Its meetings are described as "informal" and a few Web entries say its goal is to help the organizations work together to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

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