Wuhan: US government finally cuts funding to controversial biological laboratory
The US government has finally withdrawn funding from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, breaking a financial flow initiated by the Obama administration, which had outsourced this strategic and dangerous research on viruses to foreign countries, only to then deny the possibility of laboratory leaks through Research Manager, Peter Daszak .
The stated reason for the termination of funding? The lab did not provide documents related to safety and security measures, according to a memo obtained by Bloomberg.
The Department of Health and Human Services on Monday notified the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) of the suspension of funding and announced the lab that it is seeking to permanently discontinue it following a review that began last September that concluded that the lab of Wuhan does not comply with federal regulations.
This means that the WIV will not receive additional funding from the federal government.
Penalizing the lab is the most drastic action the United States has taken so far for failing to share documentation on biosafety practices amid ongoing investigations into the origins of Covid-19. The institution has become a flashpoint in discussions of how the pandemic, which has killed an estimated 7 million people, began, with some, including FBI Director Christopher Wray, suspecting it may have originated at the facility. – Bloomberg
In 2014, the NIH awarded the EcoHealth Alliance and its chairman Peter Daszak a grant to "understand the emergency risk of the bat coronavirus." The WIV received a sub-allocation of that substantial funding.
The first installment of $666,442 of EcoHealth's $3.7 million NIH grant was paid in June 2014, with similar annual payments through May 2019 under the "Understanding the Emergency Risk of Bat Coronavirus" project.
Notably, the WIV "has been an open participant in gain-of-function research in partnership with U.S. universities and institutions" for years under the leadership of Dr. Shi "Batwoman" Zhengli, according to the Washington Post's Josh Rogin .
EcoHealth also channeled funds from the US Agency for International Development to the WIV.
Earlier this year, the HHS Inspector General's Office conducted an audit that determined that the NIH and the EcoHealth Alliance did not effectively monitor funding, failing to understand the consequences of their own research.
The laboratory will not be able to conduct business with the United States as an agent or representative of others, and its affiliation with any organization doing business with the federal government will also be scrutinized. – Bloomberg
In June, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a declassified report that identified several security issues at the WIV that could have contributed to a leak from the lab.
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The article Wuhan: US government finally cuts funding to controversial biological laboratory comes from Scenari Economics .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/wuhan-alla-fine-il-governo-usa-taglia-i-finanziamenti-al-controverso-laboratorio-biologico/ on Thu, 20 Jul 2023 07:30:44 +0000.