Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has drawn fire over his labeling of India as “a kind of laboratory to try things” in a recent podcast with the co-founder of LinkedIn, Reid Hoffman. Though intended to highlight the progress within India and the collaboration with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, such comments have sparked renewed debates over one disturbing 2009 clinical trial linked with the foundation that saw seven tribal schoolgirls die and left many others seriously ill.
In the podcast, he said, “India is an example of a country where there are many challenges, but health and nutrition and education are improving, and the government’s pulling in enough revenue that in 20 years, the people will be dramatically better off. It’s kind of a laboratory to try things that, once proven in India, can be implemented elsewhere.
His comments elicited sharp criticism, notably from a Scotland-based doctor popularly referred to as “The Skin Doctor” on X, referencing the notorious 2009 clinical trial involving PATH (Program for Appropriate Technology in Health), a Gates Foundation-funded NGO.
The trial involved administering a cervical cancer vaccine to 14,000 tribal schoolgirls in Khammam, Telangana, and Vadodara, Gujarat. Following the trials, several participants reported severe side effects, and seven deaths occurred, though these were later attributed to unrelated causes.
Investigations into the trials revealed serious ethical violations. Trials presented as a public health initiative had camouflaged their experimental nature. There were allegations that consent forms were signed by hostel wardens and not the girls’ parents, who would have remained unaware of the potential risks.
Critics say that the trials targeted tribal communities, which had very limited access to healthcare, and thus such vulnerable groups are being exploited in the name of humanitarian work. While PATH denied any wrongdoing, claiming the deaths occurred due to infections and suicides, this controversy has kept the debate on the ethics of clinical trials in developing countries alive.
The 2009 vaccine trials epitomize how India and other developing countries can be perceived as testing grounds for organizations with foreign funding,” said Skin Doctor. “It’s really shocking to see how easily these entities manipulate our governance and policies, using us as guinea pigs.
