In The News

Fake Medicine Lurks on Consumer Shelves

Rambabu Garikipati June 29, 2004
If you get sick in South Korea, make sure the medication you buy is the real thing. In a recent raid on 123 pharmacies in Seoul, police seized millions of won in counterfeit pharmaceuticals. Local authorities and global drug companies say that fake drugs are easily available in Korea, but questions remain as to whether most are locally produced or smuggled in from China. Although customs...

U.S. Is Accused of Trying to Isolate U.N. Agency

Christopher Marquis June 21, 2004
In advance of a July 15 deadline on funding for international health programs, it appears that US President George W. Bush will continue to withhold monies from the United Nations agency responsible for population control issues. The UN Population Fund has been a target of US conservative religious groups for its supposed support of coerced abortions in China. The Bush administration cut...

Arab Presence at G-8 Summit

Mohammed A. R. Galadari May 25, 2004
This year’s G8 summit, held in The United States, may be punctuated, for the first time, by the conspicuous presence of leaders of Arab states. This is a departure from the last meeting of world powers, held in France in 2003, which featured discussions that did not directly involve the Middle East and included little input from the Arab community – only Egyptian and Saudi Arabian delegations...

Burma: Feel-Good US Sanctions Wrongheaded

David I. Steinberg May 19, 2004
President Bush's recent decision to extend sanctions against Burma for another year is emotionally satisfying but ineffective as a means of promoting democracy in the military-ruled state, argues David I. Steinberg, Director of Asian Studies at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service. Although US allies like India or Southeast Asian nations share its concern about the junta...

A Change in the Climate

Vanessa Houlder May 19, 2004
The efficacy of the 1997 Kyoto environmental treaty, designed to limit greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, hangs on Russia’s actions in the coming months. The protocol requires the participation of 55 percent of industrialized nations, and without Russian support, it lacks a deciding vote. Internal debate in Russia has focused the potential economic impacts on its struggling economy; those in...

Biotech Crops Could Help Poor Farmers, U.N. Says

Justin Gillis May 17, 2004
The debates over biotechnology have centered on the environmental, health, and global equality issues implicit in any major agricultural technology change. Some charge that genetically modified food crops are detrimental to environment, biodiversity, long-term health, and benefit rich nations at the expense of poor. The other side – which now seems to be joined by the Food and Agricultural...

U.S. Speeding Up Approval Steps for AIDS Drugs

Lawrence K. Altman May 17, 2004
In its efforts to distribute cheap and easy-to-use drugs,the global fight against AIDS has encountered serious roadblocks in the past. Local governments and pharmaceutical companies have often fought against generic AIDS drug distribution. Now, the US – which has been accused of slowing the process more than any other country – is willing to give in a bit to quell global criticism. At the...