Archive for October, 2012

  |   Newer Entries »
05/10/2012

‘Mistrust Puts Pharmaceutical Industry in the Spotlight’

Special Report by EurActiv*, 5 October, 2012 – The European healthcare system is struggling to cope with low levels of transparency and trust in the pharmaceutical sector, according to 97% of doctors, industry professionals and policymakers attending a workshop at the Gastein Health Forum yesterday (4 October).

In good hands? | Source: Euractiv

“North Korea would be proud of you!” said workshop moderator John Bowis, a former MEP and president of stakeholder group Health First Europe, after conducting the straw poll in a session addressing transparency between the public, health professionals and industry in the Austrian resort.

Thomas Heynisch, an official with the EU executive’s enterprise department, told delegates that the Commission would publish new corporate social responsibility guidelines in early 2013 to tackle issues of trust and ethics in the pharmaceutical sector, and access to medicines in Europe.

This was prompted because the EU executive believed there was “a level of mistrust, particularly between public authorities and the pharma industry.”

“The Commission wants to move beyond codes of conduct, but not to introduce new legislation, rather we want guiding principles which can be a source of inspiration for those working within and beyond the pharma industry,” Heynisch said, explaining that enforcement of the new guidelines will be carried out at national level.

read more »

Posted in Market Lords, Mother Earth, Others-USA-Europe-etc., The Peoples | Leave a Comment »

05/10/2012

Teachers Under Severe Challenges – World Day

Human Wrongs Watch

‘Teachers face severe challenges in different parts of the world and are still under pressure to produce results. As the profession marks World Teachers Day on 5 October, 2012, two teachers working thousands of miles apart tell their stories.’

©Flickr/lynnefeatherstone | ILO

Geneva, ILO*– Amina* has been teaching for four years and she feels frustrated every day she goes into the government school where she works in Arusha, Northern Tanzania.
“We receive a small salary of between US$ 120 – 190 a month, and when we are in the classroom we have a lot of challenges,” she said.
“There are very few teaching materials; we have a big number of students in the class and there is no library. When you are posted to go to the interior, there is no water or electricity.”

She is one of only four science teachers in her 1,070-pupil school and teaches classes of between 70 and 80 students.

“I teach chemistry and biology but the students don’t like the subjects. They think it is very difficult. We don’t have a laboratory or equipment or teaching materials. It is difficult for a teacher to give encouragement in such big classes. They don’t manage to do the work and their performance is not good.

read more »

Posted in Africa, Asia, Latin America & Caribbean, Market Lords, Middle East, Others-USA-Europe-etc., The Peoples | Leave a Comment »

05/10/2012

‘Where Will Yemen’s Aid Money Go?’

Human Wrongs Watch

By IRIN*, Dubai – With billions of aid dollars set to pour into Yemen, humanitarian agencies are calling for greater transparency in its allocation, warning that not enough of the funds appear designated for the country’s dire humanitarian situation.

Photo: Lindsay Mackenzie/IRIN. Donors have pledged funds for humanitarian and reconstruction work, but it’s not clear how the money will be channeled.

At a meeting of the so-called Friends of Yemen grouping of countries in New York yesterday, donors pledged $1.5 billion for Yemen, in addition to $6.4 billion raised at a conference in Saudi Arabia earlier this month.

But despite all the money floating around, a UN appeal for funds to address urgent humanitarian needs in Yemen remains less than half met.

The shortfall – just under $300 million – amounts to less than 4 percent of the total funds allocated in the two meetings, but donors are more focused on the political, security and macro-developmental needs rather than humanitarian issues, aid workers say.

“There needs to be the right balance,” Peter Rice, coordinator of the INGO Forum, an advocacy group that represents more than 50 international NGOs in Yemen, told IRIN. “The humanitarian situation changed a lot during the course of 2011. If the considerable humanitarian needs are not addressed, Yemen’s development in the long term will be severely affected.”

read more »

Posted in Asia, Market Lords, Middle East, Others-USA-Europe-etc., The Peoples, War Lords | Leave a Comment »

03/10/2012

Eliminate Atomic Energy

Human Wrongs Watch

By , Pressenza*, London – Following the annual International Atomic Energy Organization (IEAE) conference in Vienna, Austria, numerous Peace and Scientific organizations in Europe have strongly criticized the nuclear body on its support for the pro- war preparation against Iran. With a strong call to reform the Nuclear body, the Peace initiatives unanimously agreed that the Nuclear body stand on Iran was unacceptable.

TrigaReactorCore | Source: http://bit.ly/SqcZrs | Pressenza

The organizations protesting the IAEA support for war in Iran comprises; the International Association of Lawyers against Nuclear Arms (IALANA), the International Network of Engineers and Scientists for Global Responsibility (INES), the Austrian Forum for Scientists and environment as well as the international scientific organization ENRIC.

read more »

Posted in Market Lords, Middle East, Mother Earth, Others-USA-Europe-etc., The Peoples, War Lords | Leave a Comment »

  |   Newer Entries »