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Business and Human Rights: a resource website |
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Health issues: Sep.-Nov. 2001 |
See also other materials on "Health issues"
Sep.-Nov. 2001:
Halting Aids requires world-wide Workplace Action (International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, 30 November 2001)
High Commissioner for Human Rights calls HIV/AIDS one of greatest human rights challenges world faces [refers to the need to ensure equal access to medication and effective health services] (United Nations, 30 Nov. 2001)
Workers walk off job at Alcoa alumina plant [Australia]: The walkout follows union claims that emissions from Alcoa's production process is causing health problems in the workforce and in nearby residential areas...Alcoa, which operates three alumina refineries in the state, denies the claims. (Reuters, 30 Nov. 2001)
Mexico City's foul air damages young lungs - study (Reuters, 30 Nov. 2001)
Candidates would benefit from EU environment laws [Czech Republic & Poland among the chief beneficiaries]: Candidates for European Union membership will benefit financially from adopting the bloc's strict environmental protection rules despite the high costs involved, an EU study showed yesterday..."Between 15,000 and 34,000 cases of premature death across the candidate countries will be avoided through the implementation of EU air directives in 2010," the report said. It said there would be up to 180,000 fewer cases of chronic bronchitis in the region. (Marcin Grajewski, Reuters, 28 Nov. 2001)
press release: Computer Report Card released, Shows U.S. Companies Lagging Far Behind [behind their overseas counterparts in clean production, protecting workers' health and producing environmentally superior products] - National Computer TakeBack Campaign Launched!..."E-waste (electronic waste) is one of the fastest growing and most toxic waste streams -- threatening human health and the environment" (Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, 27 Nov. 2001)
Gem Unions Want Industry Dialogue: World's diamond, gem, jewellery and ornament unions call for global agreements with companies - Talks should cover the full range of issues affecting workers in the industry, the unions said, including health, safety and environment, child labour and employment standards. (ICEM - the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions, 27 Nov. 2001)
Union Fears Inquiry Into Mass Poisoning Will Be a Mockery [South Africa]: The US$25 million mine owned by Swiss company Xstrata is accused of overexposing miners to vanadium pentoxide and other dangerous chemicals that have caused asthma, cancer and chemical bronchitis. (Sizwe Samayende, African Eye News Service [South Africa], 26 Nov. 2001)
Ancient mines cause modern pollution: Toxins produced by mines and smelters thousands of years ago may be taking their toll on the health of people living today in the Middle East, according to researchers. (Alan Mozes, Reuters, 26 Nov. 2001)
TOBACCO: Disagreement Reigns At Treaty Talks (UN Wire, 26 Nov. 2001)
Vaal residents claim Iscor poisoned them [South Africa]: Residents of two tiny agricultural plots in Vanderbijlpark, an industrial town in the Vaal Triangle, will square up to iron and steel giant Iscor in the Johannesburg High Court early next week. (Khadija Magardie, Mail & Guardian [South Africa], 16 Nov. 2001)
Globalisation and Corporate Social Responsibility: Growing challenges for the healthcare sector - In rich and poor countries affordable access to health and medicines is a high profile challenge placing unfamiliar demands on businesses...Changing public and institutional investor expectations of healthcare business behaviour are now a 'business risk' (Robert Davies, Chief Executive, Prince of Wales International Business Leaders Forum, 16 Nov. 2001)
EU Parliament calls for widespread chemicals tests: The European Parliament endorsed yesterday a report calling for widespread testing of chemicals to assess their health and environmental impact despite strong opposition from industry. (Lisa Jucca, Reuters, 16 Nov. 2001)
Court says Italy failed to assess pollution risks: The European Court of Justice found Italy failed to fully identify and monitor bodies of water subject to nitrate pollution from livestock farming. (Reuters, 16 Nov. 2001)
Unions unite over BHP: A Wollongong trade union leader said yesterday he fully supported a proposed international union campaign against BHP Billiton over its workplace practices, which unions claim are in breach of core labour standards. The International Metalworkers Federation (IMF) congress meeting in Sydney yesterday resolved to embark on the union campaign against BHP Billiton...Yesterday, the congress was briefed on reports that police and dogs were used against workers when BHP Billiton recently sacked 40 trade union activists in Mozambique for starting strike action over better pay. The congress also heard claims that BHP Billiton was disregarding the health of workers employed in Peru who were working 12-hour days in a mine in a mountain more than 4000m above sea level. (Illawarra Mercury [Australia], 15 Nov. 2001)
Shell called negligent in Brazil toxic waste case: The Public Ministry of the Brazilian state of Sao Paulo says a subsidiary of Anglo-Dutch group Royal Dutch/Shell was negligent in the exposure of at least 156 people to toxic pesticides...Shell officials reached by Reuters last week dismissed the report as baseless. (Sharon Cohen, Reuters, 12 Nov. 2001)
World's worst diseases face new foe - biotechnology: Genetic engineering, often slammed by environmental and consumer groups for its role in altering staple foods, may have found a niche where it can help save the lives of millions from the world's most endemic diseases. (Jeremy Smith, Reuters, 12 Nov. 2001)
50 injured as blast sparks 'chemical rain' [Shanghai, China]: More than 50 people were injured when a "rain of chemical liquid" fell on them on Tuesday evening following a furnace blast in a chemical factory on Huajin Road in the city's southwest Xuhui District. (Shanghai Daily, 11 Nov. 2001)
Report cites dangerous air on US - Mexico border: Pollution from assembly plants on the U.S.-Mexico border, coupled with desert dust, has millions of people on both sides of the Rio Grande breathing particles linked to heart and lung disease, a study soon to be released by U.S. and Mexican environmental agencies shows. (Deborah Tedford, Reuters, 8 Nov. 2001)
Cape plc Opens Talks With South African Asbestos Victims: First breakthrough in compensation campaign? - Cape mined asbestos in South Africa for almost a century. "Children were employed, unprotected, in the most hazardous tasks of sorting asbestos with their bare hands and trampling it with their bare feet," recalled ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs in letters last month to Montpellier and other major shareholders. "Due to the atrocious conditions at the mines and mills, thousands of South Africans developed the fatal asbestos cancer, mesothelioma, and the debilitating disease of asbestosis." (International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions [ICEM], 6 Nov. 2001)
South African asbestos settlement talks begin: At a hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice this morning, it was agreed that lawyers from both parties will now have fourteen days to “engage in constructive dialogue”, while the case is suspended. (ACTSA [Action for Southern Africa], 5 Nov. 2001)
Member states need to take action against tobacco advertising: Tobacco company self-regulation does not work - The World Health Organization (WHO), the world’s leading international public health agency, is calling on law-makers around the world to take action against advertising of tobacco and tobacco products in order to protect the health of the young and the old, smokers and non-smokers alike. The call comes ahead of talks between 191 countries meeting in Geneva, Switzerland later this month to negotiate global rules for tobacco control. (World Health Organization, 1 Nov. 2001)
Public Health vs Corporate welfare choices for Doha: Months of talks and negotiations over the issues of Public Health and access to medicines, that have been affirmed to be a fundamental human right, the United States and its core supporters have refused to yield and place public health of billions across the world above corporate profits of the pharmaceutical corporations (Chakravarthi Raghavan, South-North Development Monitor, 29 Oct. 2001)
No new drugs for 'poor' diseases: Virtually no new drugs are being developed for diseases that predominantly affect the poor, according to a report released by the Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF). The report, Fatal Imbalance claims, among others, that from 11 companies surveyed, only one new tuberculosis (TB) drug was brought to the market in the last five years. Eight of the 11 companies reported no research activities in the last year for fatal diseases that almost exclusively affect the poor such as sleeping sickness, Chagas disease and leishmaniasis while many drugs are being developed for sleeping disorders, impotence and obesity. (Anso Thom, News24 [South Africa], 29 Oct. 2001)
Compensate South African Victims, Cape plc Told: Multinational should settle now with asbestos claimants, world union says -...Cape closed its British asbestos factory in 1968, due to the high incidence of asbestos-related diseases. But it kept its South African operation running for another decade after that, and lobbied the apartheid regime to suppress information about the health risks. (ICEM, the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions, 24 Oct. 2001)
Global Partnerships: Humanitarian Programs of the Pharmaceutical Industry in Developing Nations:...Typically working in partnership with local non-governmental organizations (NGOs), as well as international health and relief organizations, pharmaceutical companies are directly involved in improving public health...From 1998 through 2001, the industry provided more than $1.9 billion in financial assistance and donated medicines through its NGO partners, according to the Partnership for Quality Medical Donations. (PhRMA [Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America], 24 Oct. 2001)
Eastern Europe countries battle legacy of the past: More than 10 years after the 1989 collapse of communism, the rusting remains of smelters and mines are a legacy eastern Europe is finding hard to get rid of. Dilapidated smelting and mining facilities continue to spew toxins into an already befouled environment in these countries, many of which are hoping to join the European Union. The EU is using the lure of enlargement to push candidate states to put clean-up high on their agenda. [Details on Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria] (Adrian Dascalu, Reuters, 24 Oct. 2001)
Healthy initiatives [Brazil]:...For the past five years, Schering-Plough, the pharmaceuticals company, and hundreds of volunteer employees have worked to bring basic health concepts to children in kindergartens in the poorest neighbourhoods in southern São Paulo city in a project called Criança é Vida (Children are Life). (Raymond Colitt, in Responsible business in the global economy: A Financial Times Guide, 23 Oct. 2001)
Giant mining group launches 'citizenship train' [Brazil]:...In a novel public-private partnership with the Maranhao state government, Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD), the giant mining group, launched what it calls the "citizenship train"...On board the custom-fitted carriages, officials issue identity papers as well as birth and death certificates in 15 minutes, instead of the three months it would normally take. Physicians, including dentists and gynaecologists, perform preventative examinations, offer treatment and counsel, and provide free medication as well as vaccinations for humans and animals. (Raymond Colitt, in Responsible business in the global economy: A Financial Times Guide, 23 Oct. 2001)
Health Minister defends contract for generic antibiotics to treat anthrax [Canada]: Health Minister Allan Rock is refusing to say whether his department violated patent law in ordering a large amount of anti-anthrax medication from a generic drug company. Nor would Rock say whether he will stick with generic drug manufacturer Apotex as a source of supply now that brand manufacturer Bayer says it has ample product to meet Canada's needs. He said he is not in a position to answer those questions and they will be dealt with when his officials meet with Bayer officials next week. (Dennis Bueckert, Canadian Press, 19 Oct. 2001)
Ottawa accused of breaking its own patent law [regarding Canadian Government's decision to override Bayer's patent of anti-anthrax drug by ordering a cheaper generic version]:...The federal government can override a patent in emergency situations. But, an official emergency has not been declared. And, now Bayer is upset it was never even consulted. The German-based pharmaceutical company is even thinking about suing. Another problem for Ottawa is once the exception is made to the patent law, how many more will follow? Public health advocates welcome the renewed debate over patent protection. They say drug companies get too much protection and the patients too little. (Domenic Fazioli, Global Television Montreal, 19 Oct. 2001)
Bayer Seeks Meeting With Canadians: Canada's decision to override a patent on the anti-anthrax drug Cipro angered officials with German drugmaker Bayer AG, who said Friday they were seeking talks with the country's ministry of health. Canadian health officials said Thursday they would order stocks of the antibiotic from a Canadian manufacturer despite Bayer's patent on the antibiotic, which runs out in late 2003. (Guardian [UK], 19 Oct. 2001)
EPA says US air quality better, but smog still a problem:...Over 160 million tons of pollutants are released into the air each year, and 121 million people live where air quality is unhealthy, EPA said in its report on national air quality based on data collected in 2000. (Chris Baltimore, Reuters, 19 Oct. 2001)
US in talks on anthrax patent: The US government admitted yesterday that it had held discussions with a German drugs company about overriding the patent on its anthrax drug in a move that could throw wide open the debate about the cost of medicines in poor countries. (Geoff Dyer and Khozem Merchant, Financial Times, 18 Oct. 2001)
US in talks on anthrax patent: The US government admitted yesterday that it had held discussions with a German drugs company about overriding the patent on its anthrax drug in a move that could throw wide open the debate about the cost of medicines in poor countries. (Geoff Dyer and Khozem Merchant, Financial Times, 18 Oct. 2001)
India may allow GM crop production by March: India is likely to allow by March the commercial production of a genetically modified (GM) crop for the first time, a top government official said. (Atul Prakash, Reuters, 17 Oct. 2001)
Your questions answered: The Nestlé boycott and Nestlé's Public Relations materials. (Baby Milk Action, 16 Oct. 2001)
NURSING: WHO Conference To Address Efforts To Stem Global Shortage - In an attempt to address the global shortage of nurses and midwives, the World Health Organization is hosting the first international conference to deal with the problem this week in Atlanta. The conference, which opened yesterday and will run until Friday, will look at issues such as pay, hazardous working conditions, lack of career development, professional status and autonomy, cited as reasons for the deficit in nurses. (UN Wire, 16 Oct. 2001)
Developing Countries Learn to Limit Chemical Risks: Officials from over 100 governments concerned with reducing the risks of chemical use, particularly in developing countries, have been meeting in Rome this week to prepare for the entry into force of a global treaty to govern these risks. (Environment News Service, 11 Oct. 2001)
Poisoning victims of Japan's mercury bay may be double previous estimates: Poisoning from Japan's infamous mercury bay may plague tens of thousands more people than previously acknowledged, according to fresh research slated for release next week. The findings could increase pressure on the Japanese government to boost victim compensation as they refocus concern on an environmental catastrophe shadowing the country for nearly 50 years. The government officially recognizes 2,265 victims — 1,435 already dead — of the industrial dumpings at southern Japan's Minamata Bay, where chemical maker Chisso Corp. had been pouring tons of mercury compounds since in the 1930s. (Hans Greimel, Associated Press, 11 Oct. 2001)
New Oxfam America Report Reveals Poverty, Health Problems Worse in Developing Countries Dependent on Oil And Mining: Findings released as World Bank launches major review of extractive resource projects (Oxfam America, 10 Oct. 2001)
Protecting workers in the non-ferrous metal industries: Protecting workers from occupational safety and health hazards, preventing or reducing the incidence and severity of illnesses and injury and promoting consultations and cooperation between governments, and employers and workers’ organizations are the key objectives of a new Code of practice on safety and health in the production of non-ferrous metals. (Human.Rights@Work: A monthly newsletter produced by the ILO Bureau for Workers' Activities, International Labour Organization, 9 Oct. 2001)
Report shows near empty pipeline of drugs for diseases of the world's poor: Virtually no new drugs are being developed for diseases that predominantly affect the poor, according to "Fatal Imbalance", a report issued today by the international medical aid agency Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). (Médecins Sans Frontières, 9 Oct. 2001)
Roche Laments AIDS Drug Delivery: With AIDS drug prices slashed for the poorest countries, the problem now is how to get the vital medicine delivered to people with the disease, the head of Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche said Friday. "We need infrastructure, training ... political will and commitment," Roche chief executive Franz Humer told Dow Jones Newswires...Large drug companies are not the only members of the private sector expected to play their part, he said. "Major employers in afflicted countries should also allocate resources to promote prevention," Humer said. (Associated Press, 5 Oct. 2001)
Novartis finds GMO soy in Philippines baby food: Swiss healthcare group Novartis AG confirmed yesterday allegations from environmental group Greenpeace that some samples of baby food it sold in the Philippines contained genetically modified soy. Novartis stressed the products were safe but added that it was seeking a new supplier. (Reuters, 5 Oct. 2001)
Protesters arrested at Dutch chemical plant: Dutch police arrested 15 activists from environmental group Greenpeace yesterday after they occupied a chemical plant owned by French firm Atofina. Police said 10 of the protesters were arrested earlier in the day after chaining themselves to a fence at the plant's entrance to protest its production of a toxic paint additive...Atofina is owned by France's TotalFinaElf , the world's fourth largest oil company. (Reuters, 5 Oct. 2001)
New report sounds alarm over AIDS in Asia: Cautions AIDS Will Spread Unless Rapid Action Rapidly Stepped Up; Warns Some Countries on Brink of Potentially Explosive Epidemics (UNAIDS, 4 Oct. 2001)
Unilever's Mercury Fever [India]: The fifth in our series of articles on Global Compact companies examines Unilever's response when caught dumping toxic mercury waste from a thermometer factory in Southern India earlier this year. The Anglo-Dutch company recently closed the factory. Community members, however, allege that the multinational has downplayed the dangers of mercury and misled the public in an attempt to cover up the truth. Indian journalist Nityanand Jayaraman reports for CorpWatch. (Nityanand Jayaraman, special to CorpWatch, 4 Oct. 2001)
KARACHI: Noise, air pollution on the rise in city [Pakistan] - Smoke and noise-emitting vehicles have converted Karachi into the most-polluted city of the country, compelling its citizens to breathe in an atmosphere full of carbon dioxide. According to a survey, for every litre of petroleum consumed by an automobile, 2.2 grams of carbon dioxide is released into the air, consequently spreading different kinds of diseases...It is surprising to note that the multinational petroleum-marketing companies operating in Pakistan have adopted dual standards for marketing their products. These oil-marketing companies, while operating in Western countries, maintain minimum levels of lead in petroleum products in order to abide by the strict environmental laws enforced in those countries. However, a doctor observed that they were least bothered about the general health of their fellow human beings in Pakistan and freely marketed heavily lead-loaded petroleum products (Latif Baloch, Dawn [Pakistan], 4 Oct. 2001)
Shell accused of mismanaging toxic waste in Brazil: The Brazilian state of Sao Paulo this week accused a subsidiary of Anglo-Dutch group Royal Dutch/Shell of exposing at least 156 people to toxic pesticides in a rural town in the interior of the state...But the company rejected the charges. (Sharon Cohen, Reuters, 4 Oct. 2001)
US panel backs caution on vaccines with mercury: There is no proof that a mercury-containing preservative present in some vaccines causes developmental disorders in children, but doctors should steer clear of giving children vaccines made with the substance just to be safe, a panel of experts said in a report yesterday. (Will Dunham, Reuters, 2 Oct. 2001)
Hungary still counting cost of pollution legacy: Varga and more than 1,000 other local residents sued the former Metalloglobus battery disposal factory nearly 10 years ago, claiming it was responsible for tainting 200,000 square metres (2.15 million square feet) of nearby land with lead, copper and other heavy metals that leaked deep into the soil. The cancer rate in the capital's 22nd District, where Varga lives, is officially three times the national average...some are questioning how Hungary succeeded in completing environment negotiations with the European Union, which it hopes to join by 2004. (Kristen Schweizer, Reuters, 1 Oct. 2001)
WTO must not block access to medical treatment -...The following are extracts from a statement by the Health Gap International and ACT UP from the United States, and from an open letter to the WTO by about 40 NGOs from around the globe. (South Bulletin no. 22, South Centre, Oct. 2001)
EPA [U.S. Environmental Protection Agency] ordered to assess pesticide health risks: A San Francisco federal judge, acting over the objections of pesticide-makers and farm groups, has approved a nationwide settlement between environmentalists and the Bush administration, speeding up a review of pesticides in the food supply. (Bob Egelko, San Francisco Chronicle, 28 Sep. 2001)
Holy Smoke: Like many other developing countries, Cambodia is taking the brunt of the aggressive marketing techniques of big cigarette companies...World Health Organisation figures show that by the year 2030, there will be 10 million tobacco-related deaths every year. Most of these will occur in developing countries, an epidemic of heart and lung disease and cancer that will kill more people than HIV/AIDS, TB, malaria and childhood diseases combined...Dr Kaing Sor of Preabat Norodom Sihanouk Hospital describes the effects he comes across: "What we're seeing at the hospital is an increase in diseases like chronic bronchitis and other chronic infections, and the main cause is smoking. Because cigarettes weaken the lungs they make you much more susceptible to many diseases including TB." Buddhist monks are now spearheading the campaign to persuade Cambodians to give up tobacco...There are no health warnings on tobacco products in Cambodia, and no bans on sales to minors. (Lifeonline: A multimedia initiative about the impact of globalization, 27 Sep. 2001)
Eight California stores fined for selling illegal insecticides to customers: Eight Southern California stores selling illegal insecticides that looked like candy and blackboard chalk were fined by the [U.S.] Environmental Protection Agency...The illegal mothballs found at stores in California, Nevada, Hawaii and Guam contained carcinogens and insecticidal chalks that had two toxins known to poison children. (Associated Press, in San Francisco Chronicle, 27 Sep. 2001)
Questions follow factory blast [France]: Concerns are being raised about the safety of building chemical plants in residential areas following the explosion in Toulouse that killed 29 people, writes Jon Henley (Jon Henley, Guardian [UK], 27 Sep. 2001)
China's children labour round the clock: One girl has died from exhaustion, but teenagers are kept at work in sweatshops for 16-hour shifts (John Gittings, Guardian [UK], 26 Sep. 2001)
Asbestos Related Cancers On the Rise: Industrialized as well as developing countries are under threat of asbestos exposure in the workplace, said researchers at the 11th Annual Congress of the European Respiratory Society today in Berlin...millions of people, largely in poorer countries, continue to suffer daily exposure to asbestos. (Environment News Service, 24 Sep. 2001)
Chemical waste threatens environment in southern Russia: Rostov environmentalists warn of the threat of ecological disaster. Many tonnes of toxic waste and hundreds thousand square metres of contaminated soil - this is the result of the 50-year work of the Volgodonsk chemical plant. (Text of report by Russian NTV, 22 Sep. 2001)
course: Human Health & Global Environmental Change: A multi-disciplinary course designed to meet the demand for a more comprehensive understanding of the relationship between human health and the global environment for future physicians, policy-makers and public health experts (Center for Health and the Global Environment, Harvard Medical School, Fall Courses 2001)
South Africa's Winning Tobacco Control Strategy: A notable victory has been scored in the battle against tobacco in South Africa where smoking has been rated the second highest health concern, after HIV/AIDS. Thanks to some of the strictest tobacco control measures ever adopted by the government of a developing country, cigarette consumption has fallen for eight consecutive years while the percentage of adult smokers in the country has dropped from 32 to 28 percent. The main weapon in the government’s arsenal was a steep rise in tobacco taxes (John Eberlee, Reports: Science from the Developing World, International Development Research Centre, 21 Sep. 2001)
Environment: Ecuadorians file U.S. suit over Plan Colombia - Ecuadorian Indians are taking legal action in federal court here, charging that a U.S. company that was contracted to carry out fumigation of illicit crops in neighboring Colombia recklessly sprayed their homes and farms, causing illnesses and deaths, and destroying crops. U.S.-based attorneys representing 10,000 individuals living in the Amazon rainforest near the border with Colombia filed a class action complaint against Virginia-based DynCorp Corporation in federal court here Sep. 11. A DynCorp spokesperson said the company has not been notified about the complaint and declined to comment further. (Inter Press Service, 21 Sep. 2001)
Paying the Price [the fight for affordable AIDS drugs in Africa] (Lifeonline: A multimedia initiative about the impact of globalization, 20 Sep. 2001)
Leaders say eased patent accord could hurt AIDS research: Leaders of the international pharmaceutical industry warned yesterday that research and development into AIDS drugs could dry up if global trading rules on patents are loosened. The warning was issued as delegates to the World Trade Organization met to discuss whether the body's TRIPS patents and copyright pact should be amended to make it easier for poor countries to get medicines at low cost. (Robert Evans, Reuters, in Boston Globe, 20 Sep. 2001)
Patents 'threat to Aids drugs': The number of Aids drugs under development has fallen by a third since 1998, a trend that could intensify if global patent protection were weakened, the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Associations warned yesterday. (Frances Williams, Financial Times, 20 Sep. 2001)
HIV/AIDS: Drug Firms Say Easing Patent Restrictions Could Hurt Research - Leaders of the international pharmaceutical industry said yesterday that if global trading rules on patents are loosened, it could negatively impact research and development of AIDS drugs. The warnings came during a Geneva meeting of World Trade Organization delegates, who were discussing whether the WTO's Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) should be amended to make it simpler for developing countries to have access to medicines at low cost. The TRIPS accord places strict conditions on when drug patents can be removed. (UN Wire, 20 Sep. 2001)
TRIPS council session on access to medicines: Statement by Médecins Sans Frontières on TRIPS and affordable medicines - MSF calls upon World Trade Organization (WTO) members to support developing countries' proposal to ensure that the multilateral rules on intellectual property do not harm public health. (Médecins Sans Frontières, 19 Sep. 2001)
Intensive farming blamed for Europe's food crisis: Intensive agriculture - once lauded for producing an abundance of cheap food for the masses - is now public enemy No. 1, blamed for striking British cattle with a disease that has killed hundreds of herds and an increasing number of people. (Elizabeth Piper, Reuters, 18 Sep. 2001)
Sustainability and Profitability: Conflict or Convergence? Report on the 5th European Senior Executives' Seminar, 17th to 21st September 2001 [includes summary of presentation on "Health and Poverty: The social challenge of sustainable development" by Sophia Tickell, Senior Policy Advisor, Oxfam] (HRH The Prince of Wales's Business & the Environment Programme, developed and run by the University of Cambridge Programme for Industry, 17-21 Sep. 2001)
Air pollution cuts 'will extend a million lives' [UK]: Air pollution controls planned by the Government will extend the life of about one million people a year by six months, health experts have told ministers. They said that cleaner air and a reduction in poisonous chemicals from vehicle exhaust fumes will significantly improve life expectancy for many, particularly those with breathing problems. (Valerie Elliott, Times [London], 17 Sep. 2001)
Drugs Remain Unaffordable - Health Minister [South Africa]: Although pharmaceutical companies cut the price of HIV/AIDS medication, South Africa still could not afford to provide the drugs through the public health system, Health Minister Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said on Thursday. (UN Integrated Regional Information Network, 15 Sep. 2001)
Health Minister to Defend Court Challenge [South Africa]: Health Minister Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang would defend legal action instituted by the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) aimed at ensuring state provision of the anti-retroviral drug Nevirapine to pregnant HIV positive women countrywide, Health-e News reported on Wednesday. (UN Integrated Regional Information Network, 14 Sep. 2001)
A Battle Against Sleeping Sickness: Best Practice / Aventis Pharma - Aventis Pharma, the pharmaceutical arm of Aventis, has teamed up with the World Health Organization in an attempt to conquer a disease that is ravaging some of the poorest, remotest populations in sub-Saharan Africa. (sponsored section, International Herald Tribune and World Business Council for Sustainable Development, 13 Sep. 2001)
{···français} L'OMS veut obtenir un traité international contre le tabagisme (Agence France-Presse, 13 Sep. 2001)
Doctors Group Helps Spread AIDS Strategy: Doctors Without Borders said today that it was working with Brazil to export the country's successful anti-AIDS program and its locally made AIDS drugs to other developing countries. (Reuters, in New York Times, 13 Sep. 2001)
{português} Brasil exporta tecnologia antiaids para o mundo: Médicos Sem Fronteira vai utilizar conhecimento brasileiro em nações subdesenvolvidas (Nelson Francisco, O Estado de S. Paulo [Brasil], 13 setembro 2001)
Medical Journals Set New Publication Rules: About 12 of the world's most prominent medical journals are issuing a joint editorial this week stating that they will reject any scientific studies that do not come with an assurance that the sponsor -- whether a drug company or other organization -- gave researchers complete access to the data and freedom to report the findings. The unprecedented stand by journals based in eight countries is a response to what editors say is excessive control by drug companies over how the results of studies they sponsor are analyzed, interpreted and reported. "This is a very widely prevalent problem which . . . has profound public health implications," said Richard Horton, editor of the British journal the Lancet, one of the participating journals. In some cases, patients have died because published studies overstated drugs' benefits or minimized their risks, Horton said. (Susan Okie, Washington Post, 10 Sep. 2001)
Don Issues Alert On Unsafe Pesticides: Dangerous pesticides are still in use in Kenya, despite a government ban years ago, a university don said yesterday. Prof Shem Wandiga of the University of Nairobi and the National Academy of Sciences chief, said a study done from 1997 to 1999 along the Indian Ocean discovered concentrations of banned pesticides like DDT, aldrine and dieldrin. He called for stringent enforcement of rules to protect the health of Kenyans from the toxic substances. Some of the chemicals were discovered to be the cause of several types of malignant cancer. (The Nation [Nairobi], 13 Sep. 2001)
Study Reveals Link Between Asthma and Childhood Exposure to Environmental Tobacco Smoke: Childhood exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) is associated with an increased prevalence of asthma among adult non-smokers. According to a Swedish study published in the September issue of CHEST, the peer-reviewed journal of the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP), ETS also increases the chance that exposed children will smoke in adulthood. (PRNewswire, American College of Chest Physicians, 11 Sep. 2001)
Oil Companies Help Curb HIV/AIDS: Two US oil companies are helping teachers and students in the Republic of the Congo (ROC) learn about the risks of HIV/AIDS and how to avoid the deadly virus, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) announced Monday. Chevron and Nomeco are supporting a project - that UNDP and UNICEF are carrying out in cooperation with the National Programme Against AIDS and the ministry of education - with contributions of more than US $50,000 and dozens of used computers and printers. (UN Integrated Regional Information Network, 11 Sep. 2001)
Court to decide on herbicide: GM [genetically-modified food] multinational Aventis yesterday went to the [United Kingdom] high court to try to stop the government releasing information on the health effects of one of its herbicides to Friends of the Earth. (Guardian [UK], 8 Sep. 2001)
Global warming may further disease spread: Climate change associated with global warming is already increasing the spread of infectious diseases, researchers at the New York University School of Medicine maintain. They predict that world-wide climate shifts will create growing threats to public health if not reversed. (Karla Gale, Reuters, in News24 [South Africa], 5 Sep. 2001)
Programme to Supply AIDS Drugs Delayed: A Nigerian pilot programme that would provide cheap antiretrovirals to people living with HIV/AIDS did not begin on 1 September as planned, Reuters reported last week. Largely seen as the most ambitious generic AIDS treatment programme, the pilot project plans to provide 10,000 adults and 5,000 children with generic copies of antiretroviral drugs. (UN Integrated Regional Information Network, 5 Sep. 2001)
WHO [World Health Organization] Calls for Stricter Noose Round Tobacco Products: WHO has warned that current methods of regulating tobacco products are not protecting public health and need to be improved if lives are to be saved... "It is the only consumer product which when consumed as indicated kills", said Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, director general of WHO, adding that food sold by tobacco companies are regulated but their tobacco brands are not and cautioned that it needs to be globally regulated if lives are to be saved. (Makalo And Faal, The Independent [Banjul,Gambia], 3 Sep. 2001)
The Great Divide: India Confronts Globalization: ...Some analysts, such as Jean Dréze, professor at the Delhi School of Economics and frequent collaborator with Nobel Prize winner Amartya Sen, add that the '90s saw a deceleration in the improvement of a number of social indicators, such as infant mortality and life expectancy. According to a recent article in The Hindu newspaper by Professor Gita Singh of the Indian Institute of Management, this deceleration has come about due to policies carried out as part of the neoliberal agenda--such as stagnant public health expenditures, removal of price controls on essential drugs, and subsidizing private hospitals at the expense of public ones. The very fact that the current debate is about whether the restructuring has helped the poor--and not by how much--highlights the meager benefits the free market path has brought to the destitute. (Amitabh Pal, In These Times, 3 Sep. 2001)
Pfizer suit adds to pressure on industry: The lawsuit, filed on behalf of 30 Nigerian families, alleges Pfizer violated their human rights when it set up a clinic to give Trovan, an experimental antibiotic, to 200 children during a meningitis epidemic that swept the north of the country in 1996. Lawsuits have already been filed in Nigeria, but last week, in a sign the company may face far greater damages, the first suit was filed in the US. The families say Pfizer did not obtain "informed consent" before administering the treatment. (Adrian Michaels and David Firn, Financial Times, 2 Sep. 2001)
Experts Warn On Agrochemicals Health Hazards: Except more stringent measures are taken to control and analyse pesticides and other agrochemicals, both from imports and the locally manufactured, Nigeria may be in grave health danger. Pesticide residues from agricultural produce and those applied in control of disease-spreading insects in public health activities have been linked to possible cause of death of a large number of people in sub-Saharan Africa. (Fabian Odum, Guardian [Nigeria], 2 Sep. 2001)
How the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Undermine Democracy and Erode Human Rights: Five Case Studies - Mexico | Africa | Brazil | Colombia | Haiti (Global Exchange, Sep. 2001)
HIV positive: Mark Heywood has been involved in the liberation struggle in South Africa all his "conscious" life. Now he has turned his attention to the fight against HIV/AIDS - "TAC [Treatment Action Campaign] is building a network among communities, seeking to transform the South African health service, and campaigning against patent abuse, whereby prices set by drugs companies are too high for most people to afford." (Mark Heywood, National Secretary of Treatment Action Campaign in South Africa, in Oxfam Campaigner, Sep. 2001)