In The News

Chinese Scientists Say SARS Efforts Stymied by Organizational Obstacles

May 26, 2003
This article summarizes in English a story concerning SARS that appeared in the China Youth Daily. The story reveals the non-scientific reasons why Chinese scientists at the Beijing Genomic Institute, part of the global network on the Human Genome Project, did not succeed in contributing more to the scientific research on the Sars virus. According to the summary, the biggest lesson is how...

HK Researchers say Civet Likely Source of Sars

May 23, 2003
After months on a heightened state of alert due to the global spread of Sars, Hong Kong University's claim to have found the source of this respiratory disease is considered a "significant breakthrough." According to findings from genetic information, the virus responsible for Sars, coronavirus, has been "jumping from the Civet cat to humans." Civet belongs to the same...

Nations Join the U.S. in Banning Canada's Beef

Clifford Krauss May 22, 2003
For the first time, mad cow disease appeared in a ranch in North America. While Canadian officials are trying to find out where this cow might have gotten infected and convince people that beef from Canada is still safe to be eaten, several countries have decided to put a temporary ban on beef imports from Canada. Farmers and people in related businesses in Alberta complain that their cattle...

Historic Tobacco Control Pact Adopted

Frances Williams May 21, 2003
After several years of negotiation, countries of the world finally reached an agreement to adopt the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. The US and Germany, which previously objected to some parts of the treaty, have decided to support the pact. This global convention will bring "a ban or tough controls on advertising, prominent health warnings on cigarette packets, and measures to...

WHO Shoots Down Assembly Entry Bid

Melody Chen May 20, 2003
China again succeeded in mobilizing its allies to block Taiwan's bid for observership at the World Health Assembly (WHA), the highest decision body of the World Health Organization (WHO). Taiwan's bid was rejected for the seventh time in a row. This year, however, because of the Sars outbreak, many countries decided to back Taiwan up "for humanitarian sake." Taiwan officials...

Taiwan Makes Progress at WHO

Melody Chen May 19, 2003
Sars has certainly brought enough troubles to East Asia, but for Taiwan, it also means an opportunity to legally present the health situation of Taiwan at the World Health Organization (WHO). The Taiwanese Department of Health Chief is scheduled to make a presentation at the World Health Assembly, a major WHO conference, on Sars in Taiwan. Taiwan is also trying to join the WHO as an observer at...

Diagnosing SARS in China

May 19, 2003
Highly critical of the Hu government's handling of the SARS epidemic in China, this New York Times editorial's charges are many. Mainly Hu is belittled for not disclosing accurate statistics and for taking punitive measures, thereby turning to "depressingly familiar Communist methods of exhortation and regimentation" instead of looking to modernize China's political...