In The News

Concern over GM Papayas Raised by Jao

Chiu Yu-Tzu September 16, 2003
Genetically modified foods are not only causing a stink in the US, Europe, and Africa. In Taiwan, legislators and environmentalists are crying foul over the discovery of two GM papaya plants found growing outside of an experimental field. One environmental activist argues that "the government should immediately launch a safety assessment regarding GM papayas," citing a US case in...

SARS: Down but Still a Threat

August 31, 2003
In a recently released report on Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) the Central Intelligence Agency says that although the Sars wave has been overcome it has not been eradicated. Despite the announcement by the World Health Organization that on 5 July the disease was contained, the agency says that many health experts fear it could return again in the fall when cooler temperatures return...

Coping With the Newest Threat to Global Health - Fat

Derek Yach August 26, 2003
Obesity is as great a threat to global health as malnutrition, says Derek Yach, the Representative of the Director-General of the WHO. One billion people -or one out of six --are overweight worldwide - the same number as are malnourished - and some 300 million of those are clinically obese, leading to a global rise in chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes....

India Tries to Contain Tempest Over Soft Drink Safety

Amy Waldman August 23, 2003
Coca-Cola and Pepsi are teaming up in India to restore consumer confidence. New Delhi's busy INA market place – which sells everything from Oreos cookie made in China to "Hot Eats" of North India – had posters proclaiming the safety of Cola products. The campaign comes after a respected NGO issued a report stating that 12 leading soft drink brands – all owned by Coca-Cola or...

It's a Fat World, After All

Alison Langley July 20, 2003
Americans are not the only overweight people anymore. Thanks to food companies such as McDonald's and Kellogg, Americans are exporting their corpulence to the outside world. But the rising incidence of chronic, diet-related health problems such as diabetes and heart disease are leading to greater scrutiny of companies that manufacture processed foods. As with other goods, American food...

A Miserly Response to a Global Emergency

Jeffrey Sachs July 17, 2003
Yesterday, 15,000 Africans died of AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria as rich countries praised themselves for their 'generous' contributions to the UN fund set up to fight these diseases. Writing in the Financial Times, Jeffrey Sachs says that rich countries like the US, Britain, France, and Japan all agree that these three health crises are out of control. And yet their governments...

Can the Third World Spend the AIDS Money Well?

Alan Beattie July 13, 2003
At the upcoming international conference on AIDS, much of the discussion will focus on ways to improve how the developing world utilizes funds for AIDS education, prevention, and treatment. In the past, similar concerns over the use of anti-AIDS funds led to the creation of the Global Fund, which allows aid to bypass weak and often corrupt governments in developing countries. This centralized...