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First, a quick reminder: in early December 2019, doctors in Wuhan were aware the coronavirus could spread between humans, with patients falling ill despite having had no exposure to the wet market. The first confirmed case from inside Wuhan was logged on December 8; it was from a woman apparently not connected to the market. Many questions have been raised by the U.S. and others about what went on between the WHO and China during the following weeks. Nearly a month later, on January 14, the WHO announced there was “no evidence of human to human transmission.” When U.S. President Donald Trump sought to shut down flights coming into and out of China, the World Health Organization denounced the decision. By February 3, several weeks after scores of countries – including the United States – had confirmed cases of the new illness, WHO’s Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus proclaimed that “the spread to other countries is minimal and slow,” and that the virus could be “contained easily.” There are numerous, and quite frankly suspicious, ties between the WHO and the Chinese government, but you can read about them elsewhere.

Covid is far from the first time the WHO has been engaged in a potential cover-up. The organization has numerous ties to the pharmaceutical industry, which profits from policies such as smoking bans. When bans are enacted, people flock to buy pharmaceutical smoking cessation products such as nicotine gum, even though these products have been shown to be less effective than placebo. In short, pharma pays the WHO, the WHO conjures up reasons why countries should enact strict smoking bans, and everybody wins (except smokers and people who, you know, like freedom).

A history of fraud