In The News

Christopher Bowe March 13, 2003
The flood of drug sales from Canadian pharmacies to US consumers raises many ethical, political, and trade questions. In response, American and Canadian health authorities have begun discussions on the flow of price-controlled drugs into the US. This growing cross-border business illuminates many loopholes in US health care policies and the problem of insufficient drug coverage for many elderly...
Derrick Z. Jackson March 10, 2003
Hippocrates vs. hypocrites? Bush’s government ignores “the Hippocratic Oath: Do No Harm”, says columnist Derrick Z. Jackson. The US has already signaled objections to the ‘Framework Convention on Tobacco Control,’ a recent U.N endorsed global treaty that is hoped will stop tobacco from killing 10 million people a year by 2030. Almost everything in the treaty – from state funded anti-tobacco...
David M. Halbfinger March 4, 2003
For some it is simple economics - cheap labor and fewer restrictions on pesticide use can easily lure US cigarette manufacturers to Brazil, Argentina, or Zimbabwe. But US tobacco farmers see it as a betrayal at the hands of the same people they stood by during the tobacco wars. Now their surprise switch to the anti-smoking lobby camp could mean major victories for health issues in the very heart...
Lael Brainard February 24, 2003
The Bush Administration’s announcement of new funding for global poverty and HIV/AIDS has led to much rejoicing in many parts of the world, but it has also met with skepticism in some quarters. The Washington-based Brookings Institution offers an in-depth quantitative analysis of the offer and the establishment of the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA). The report summary presented here says...
Keith Bradsher February 22, 2003
Improvements in transportation have resulted in a physically interconnected world, but it is also now a world more susceptible to the spread of disease. The discovery of a new bird flu causing two human deaths in Hong Kong, although posing "no risk at the moment" has prompted the World Health Organization to alert health officials worldwide. – YaleGlobal
Marc Lacey February 2, 2003
In the United States and Canada, restrictions on smoking and tobacco advertisements have been commonplace for years, but not so in Africa. In Uganda, British American Tobacco, a multinational corporation, provides thousands of jobs and is an important source of revenue in a struggling economy. Smoking is popular among Africans, but a few anti-smoking activists and lawyers are trying to change...
Lawrence K. Altman January 27, 2003
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is creating a new program to combat health problems in developing nations, including tuberculosis, malnutrition, and diarrhea. In an effort to divert funds from “rich-world” diseases and to invest in solutions to the problems that affect two-thirds of the world, the Gates Foundation is offering $200 million in competitive grants to scientists and health...