In The News

World Momentum Builds for Universal Health Coverage

Yanzhong Huang March 9, 2012
The US may resist universal health care coverage, but less wealthy emerging economies are investing in providing health care to all. Despite the economic recession, nearly 100 countries are studying how to institute government-funded programs, aiming to offer affordable basic care for all citizens and control costs, reports Yanzhong Huang, senior fellow for global health at the Council on...

Childless by Choice

Joseph Chamie and Barry Mirkin March 2, 2012
Around the globe, more women and men are delaying childbirth, with many deciding against having children altogether. Economic recession, high unemployment rates, education and career ambitions contribute to the phenomenon. Among most developed nations, one in 10 women in their late 40s have no children, and in Italy and Switzerland, the childlessness rate approaches one in four women. The...

The New Future of Old Age

Peter W. Gallagher December 29, 2011
The average human’s life expectancy has stretched to seven decades. But seven decades of life was not so unusual for some pre-modern groups as well. “It turns out that settlement, especially urban living, was toxic,” writes Peter Gallagher for Policy Magazine. “The rapid recovery in life expectancy after the mid-nineteenth century may be the greatest humanitarian achievement of the industrial era...

Indian Firms Jolted by China's Social Security Plan

Saibal Dasgupta November 10, 2011
The cost for foreign firms doing business in China will climb as the country extends social-security obligations to cover foreign companies and their employees, reports Saibal Dasgupta in the Times of India. The move may lead many firms to reconsider expansion plans in China. Employers will contribute 37 percent of salary and employees 11 percent for benefits including pensions, and health...

The UN’s Battle with NCDs

Sheri Fink and Rebecca Rabinowitz October 19, 2011
Sheri Fink and Rebecca Rabinowitz of the New America Foundation call attention to rising danger of non-communicable diseases, or NCDs. Such diseases, including heart and lung disease, cancer and diabetes, now account for two out of every three deaths worldwide. A UN meeting signals new priority on the challenges of such diseases. Non-communicable diseases, many preventable, have become prevalent...

How Global Trade Can Rein in Health Costs

Dean Baker, Jagdish Bhagwati September 21, 2011
Rising healthcare costs contribute to the ballooning US budget deficits, and the US has thus far resisted public health plans mandating universal coverage. Opening the US market to international competition could offer a means to disciplining the industry and reducing costs, explains economists Jagdish Bhagwati and Dean Baker for CNN Money, adding that “medical care of comparable quality is...

Portable Microscope Detects Bacteria Using Holograms

September 19, 2011
Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, recently developed a portable microscope that detects bacteria using holograms, an invention that promises to have far-reaching effects in the developing world and telemedicine. The handheld device costs less than $100 to build. Rather than optics, the device relies on a digital photo sensor, common in iPhones, to magnify images of...