THE FLU SEASON CAMPAIGN BEGINS

Dr. Sherri Tenpenny, DO
August 31, 2005
NewsWithViews.com

As predictable as the return of yellow school buses and Monday Night Football, fear mongering about the approaching flu season has also begun. And with it, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has devised a portentous new blueprint to ensure economic success for this year’s flu vaccine suppliers.

The new plan is fully disclosed in a 51 slide communiqué called “Planning for the 2004-05 Influenza Vaccination Season: A Communication Situation Analysis,” prepared by Glen Nowak, Ph.D., the Associate Director for Communications National Immunization Program. The major media outlets are intended to become providers of millions of dollars of free advertising for the drug companies, in an attempt to secure economic success from the sale of this year’s flu stocks.

Concerned over data revealing that nearly 65% of people surveyed did not receive the flu shot in 2003—including nearly 47% with chronic illnesses and 78% of children aged 6-23 months of age—a new strategy has been devised. The program called “The Seven-Step Recipe for Generating Interest in, and Demand for, Flu (or any other) Vaccination,”[1] is designed to methodically manipulate the general public. Language within the presentation reveals the intent of the government and their drug company “partners” to use major media (newswires, TV) to send scheduled, fear-based messages to convince the unsuspecting public to not only accept the flu shot as necessary, but to motivate them to demand it.

Here is a synopsis of the CDC’s plan:

Step 1: Start discussing the flu at the beginning of the “immunization season.”

Posters, fliers and media campaign materials are generally mailed to the public health departments and healthcare provider offices in mid-August, “planting the seeds” to request the flu vaccine when it arrives.

Step 2: The media will begin to make pronouncements that the “new” influenza strains anticipated this year “will be associated with severe illness and serious outcomes.”

Right on cue, the government announced on August 25, that it is “preparing for world's next big flu outbreak. ” A report released to the Associated Press suggests that a bad flu season could kill up to 207,000 Americans. To fuel the hysteria, the CDC and the Department of Human Services announced that they are jointly issuing a “The Pandemic Influenza Response and Preparedness Plan” which will stress “ways to speed up vaccine production, limit the spread of a super-flu, and care for the ill.”[2]

Step 3: The build up will continue throughout the early fall, as local and national “medical experts and public health authorities publicly (e.g., via media) state concern and alarm (and predict dire outcomes)–and urge influenza vaccination.”[3]

Here’s one example:
"We know we're going to have a pandemic because, historically, we're overdue for one," said Neil Pascoe, epidemiologist in the infectious disease division of the Texas Department of Health. "When it happens, it's going to be huge. It will be global, and everyone is going to be affected…it could be terribly fatal. Imagine 4 million Texans are infected, and 20 percent of them die."[4]

Be prepared for many similar statements in major newspapers and on national TV stations as the weeks progress.

Step 4: Reports from medical expert will be used to “frame the flu season in terms intending to motivate behavior.” Language to be used includes, “very severe,” “more severe than last or past years,” “deadly”).”[5]

Last year, there were 1026 messages sent through the media between September 21-28. Phrases used included, “this could be the worst flu season ever,” “the flu kills 36,000 people per year” and “the flu shot is the best way to prevent the flu.”[6] Anticipate even a greater number of messages pushed through a wider network of media outlets this year.

Step 5: Continue to release reports from health officials through the media that influenza is causing severe illness and/or affecting lots of people–“helping to foster the perception that many people are susceptible to a bad case of influenza.” (emphasis added.)

Step 6: Give visible and tangible examples of the seriousness of influenza by showing pictures of ill children and affected families who are willing to come forward with their stories. Show pictures of people being vaccinated, “the first to motivate, the latter to reinforce.” (emphasis added.)

Step 7: List references to, and have discussions regarding, the influenza pandemic. “Make continued reference to the importance of vaccination.”

The language reported here for Steps 5, 6, and 7 is taken directly from Nowak’s presentation.[7] This should leave little doubt that the government intends to use the media to create hysteria that will increase the demand for a pharmaceutical product.

Vaccine manufacturers often cry the blues about the revenues that are lost through the manufacture of vaccines. However, last year, Chiron, one of the two largest vaccine manufacturers, made 38 million flu shots, accounting for nearly $230 million in revenue.[8]

AVENTIS REVENUES FROM FLU SHOTS:

Even though sales of FluMist were reported to have “failed miserably,’ the company still reported $33 million in revenues from sales of the vaccine.

Health officials are expecting that, through the publicity generated by last year’s flu hype, coupled with a carefully planned new strategy, a record number of people will seek vaccinations this year. Perhaps understanding the tactical maneuvers and the CDC-Big Pharma-Media partnership will result in another “bust” year for a the flu vaccines.

This article was originally published on RedFlagsDaily.com

Footnotes:

1, Planning for the 2004-05 influenza vaccination season:
2, "Government preparing for world's next big flu outbreak", August 25, 2004
3, Planning for the 2004-05 influenza vaccination season, slide 28.
4, The Dallas Morning News. "County to offer flu vaccinations early." Sherry Jacobson, August 26, 2004.
5, Planning for the 2004-05 influenza vaccination season, slide 28.
6, Planning for the 2004-05 influenza vaccination season, slide 16.
7, Planning for the 2004-05 influenza vaccination season, slide 29.
8, NY Times-Online….get reference….and date