In The News

Ebola Vaccine Will Soon Be Tested In West Africa

Richard Harris January 14, 2015
Vaccines for Ebola will be tested in West Africa as early as February, the World Health Organization has announced. Two vaccines have passed preliminary safety trials but human testing is required to determine that the treatment will provide protection against the infectious disease. “Testing has been a delicate subject, because the most effective tests involve a comparison group that will not...

Great Apes Facing “Direct Threat” From Palm Oil Farming

December 8, 2014
The booming palm oil industry is destroying habitats for orangutans as well as other endangered species like Asian rhinos and tigers, reports the news syndicate AFP. Palm oil’s expanded use in cosmetics and food products has encouraged deforestation and expansion of plantations in Southeast Asia and Africa. Activists suggest that the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, an industry organization...

77 Chinese Accused in Cyber Bust

Samwel Born Maina and Maureen Kakah December 5, 2014
Kenyan police arrested 77 Chinese nationals on charges cyber-surveillance. About 70 people lived in the home and traveled to the country on tourist visas. “The Chinese ambassador to Kenya has been summoned to the Foreign Affairs ministry to explain how his nationals were running such a huge centre,” reports the Daily Nation in Kenya. “The Chinese were discovered after a fire broke out in the...

Somalia's Troubles Come South

December 4, 2014
Kenya and Somalia share a border, but not economic goals. Kenya has a population of 45 million, 87 percent of whom are literate. GDP is $1800 per capita and 43 percent live below the poverty line. Somalia has 10 million people, 38 percent of whom are literate. GDP is $600 per capita and statistics on poverty are not available. Somalia militants find it easy to move across the border to attack...

Cuba’s Health Diplomacy in the Age of Ebola

Eduardo J. Gomez December 3, 2014
Cuba has provided the largest number of healthcare workers of any country in the global response to West Africa’s Ebola outbreak – more than 250. The country of 11 million has sent medical aid to foreign countries experiencing public health crises since the 1960s, including recent aid to Sri Lanka after the 2004 tsunami, Pakistan after the 2005 earthquake, and Haiti after the 2010 earthquake. The...

Afro-Optimism: Has the Pendulum Swung Too Far?

Raila Odinga December 2, 2014
Development and economic growth in Africa offer great potential, yet poverty, conflict, preventable infectious disease and other challenges remain. Leaders cannot rest easy, warns Raila Odinga, former prime minister of Kenya in an article based on his remarks during the Annual Coca-Cola World Fund Lecture at Yale University, October 9, 2014. Odinga reviews Africa’s many accomplishments over the...

Ebola: The Dark Side of Globalization

Trond Undheim October 21, 2014
People tend to notice the health and associated economic crises caused by a disease like Ebola only after the disease strikes close to home. But to protect all, every community must care for others far away, suggests Trond Undheim in an essay for Fortune. The chances of contracting Ebola are small, yet the precautions are costly, time-consuming, highly visible and alarming. “We may have...