Social Issues
Moving Beyond Borders
IPN Opinion article
(Article based on a lecture given by Ms. Jacoby in Spain)
A turbulent political spring in Europe has driven immigration to the top of the agenda for today\'s European Union summit. Tony Blair and JosÈ Mara Aznar, the UK and Spanish leaders, hope to steal the issue from the far right by co-ordinating national policies on illegal immigration. This is not a bad idea but it is far from enough.
The long experience of the US with immigration suggests that gaining control of borders is only a first step toward a successful policy. At least as significant in the long run as the number of immigrants are the terms under which they come and what happens to them once they arrive. Most critically, are they allowed and encouraged to assimilate?
Addressing Healthcare Crises in the Developing World: How transferable is the Brazilian model?
IPN Opinion article
PDF transcript of Richard Tren's speech from June 2002 event in Geneva, Switzerland - "Implementing the Doha Declaration on TRIPs and Public Health".
Doctors Without Principles
IPN Opinion article
AIDS activists have a new and very curious choice for their new poster boy - President Mugabe of Zimbabwe. The President has become their darling because of his decision to break drug patents and import generic anti-retrovirals for his country's HIV/AIDS programme. That MÈdecins Sans Frontiers (MSF) or "Doctors Without Borders" has aligned itself with the government of Zimbabwe is surely one of their most shameful moves.
The Lords of Eco-Poverty
IPN Opinion article
The air temperature rose in Johannesburg for the past fortnight. Many first-timers here said this winter weather was unusually warm, and attributed it to human impact on the climate. But locals say it isn\'t the weather that was unusual; but the amount of hot air that rose from the Sandton Convention Centre and surroundings.
Particularly worrying were the activities of a group called the \"ECO-equity coalition,\" which claims that the developed world doesn\'t care about the poor. Yet it is the ECO-equity coalition and their friends in the EU that cared not for the poor.
When Activists Win
IPN Opinion article
Today data are released from PhRMA, the pharmaceutical lobby group, which show that AIDS drugs in development are in shocking decline, down by 33% over the past 5 years. What the industry is unwilling to admit is that drug activists have been successful in their campaign of demanding lower prices for AIDS drugs. The result is that in some drug company boardrooms, investment is obviously switching from AIDS research into areas where profits can still be made.
Nigeria AIDS drug deal soured
IPN Opinion article
Eighteen months ago, President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria announced a deal with Indian drug company Cipla to provide reduced price anti-AIDS drugs to 15,000 Nigerians. To improve drug delivery and health infrastructure, the World Bank, the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Gates Foundation, among others, donated over $150 million. But despite Obasanjo\'s assurances of success, only about 800 people have since been treated, and the drug stockpile will expire in less than six months.
With a population of over 120 million people, Nigeria provides the leadership in the north of Africa much like South Africa does in the south. And like its southern African neighbor, it is failing to address the AIDS pandemic.
AID and AIDS in Africa
IPN Opinion article
[Andrew Natsios, the head of the U.S. Agency for International Aid (USAID),] thinks that USAID should not be spending U.S. taxpayers' money on the drugs, since monitoring of drug delivery by African physicians and by the patients themselves is failing.
Feeding People, Generating Income, Protecting the Environment: The Role of Agricultural Technologies
IPN Opinion article
Investment in agricultural research and development in the past few decades has helped to improve the lives of most Indians through enhanced and affordable food supply, boosted incomes for millions of our farmers, and reduced the incidence of famine and starvation despite massive population increases in the past few decades. Nevertheless, food insecurity and malnutrition still persists in India. The causes for poverty and hunger are varied and complex, but experts concur that sustainable agricultural development will be critical in meeting future food needs, reducing poverty and protecting the environment.
Drug firms are allies in AIDS fight
IPN Opinion article
A year ago the drug companies and the SA Pharmaceutical Manufacturers' Association withdrew their lawsuit against government. The activists were jubilant the supposed major barrier to treatment was removed that the drug companies would no longer be in a position to profiteer.
It has taken government a full year, after much legal pressure from the activists, to make a positive statement on the provision of drugs. The activist pressure against government at least addressed the real problem. But we should question the validity of the activist claims that it is the drug companies' high prices and patents that block access.
A challenge for compassionate conservatism
IPN Opinion article
Shlaes argues that George W. Bush should follow his free market instincts and resist pressure to protect America's steel industry
