In The News

India Tries Using Cash Bonuses to Slow Birthrates

Jim Yardley August 23, 2010
India is the second most populous nation in the world, expected to overtake China in the next decade. Analysts study the two neighbor nations for how political systems and population policies contribute to growth or economic wealth: Nations with low fertility rates are generally wealthier, while younger populations are described as more productive. Fertility rates, varying throughout India, are...

What Big Eyes You Have, Dear, But Are Those Contacts Risky?

Catherine Saint Louis July 7, 2010
With the help of popular comics in Japan and a global star like Lady Gaga, a fashion for giant eyes has sped around the globe – catching some eye doctors and health regulators off guard. In the US, teens forgo prescriptions and go online to purchase contact lenses, imported from Asia, that extend beyond the human iris. The lenses have become standard for Japanese, Korean and Singapore women who...

India's Medical Tourism Industry

Neeta Lal June 2, 2010
Producers of necessary goods anticipate sustained profits, but that does not preclude competition in the areas of quality or affordability. As costs for health care climb in developed nations, India’s hospitals and physicians step up efforts to become a destination for tourists seeking a range of treatments. Travel companies organize trips, sometimes combining treatment with sightseeing tours;...

Globalization Helps Spread 'Exotic' Diseases

Muiris Houston May 5, 2010
Globalization means increased travel and tourism for many people in the developed world. But when travelers return home, they can bring more than photographs and memories. Often unbeknownst to them, pathogens travel on their bodies and with belongings. In recent years, Europe has seen the outbreak of a handful of diseases traditionally associated with the tropical world. Northern Italy saw...

Tuareg Activist Takes on French Nuclear Company

Cordula Meyer April 28, 2010
Areva, a largely state-owned French power giant, has extensive uranium mining operations in northern Niger. That uranium generates the majority of France's electricity, along with thousands of jobs in France and across Europe. Yet, left in northern Niger are millions of tons of radioactive waste that have contaminated groundwater and killed crops, destroying the nomadic lifestyle of the...

For India, US Health Care a Sea of Opportunity

Taylor Barnes April 26, 2010
India’s outsourcers are preparing to develop their next business sector from the United State’s health care reform by covering its administrative and technological needs. A demand for lower administrative expenses and treatment of more patients for every dollar requires low cost labor that comes from outsourcing. Since there are no regulations limiting personal medical data from leaving the US,...

For Somalis Caught Between Islamists and Weak Government, Fleeing is Only Option

Sudarsan Raghavan April 21, 2010
Al-Shabab, the Islamist group that controls increasingly large swathes of Somalia, has instituted a repressive and violent regime that is forcing Somalis to flee to neighboring countries. Al-Shabab has gained strength despite an Ethiopian invasion, supported by the Americans, in 2006 designed to remove Islamists from power. Now, however, the internationally-supported government is paralyzingly...