Global Maternal Mortality Ratio Down 44% Since 1990, Falling Short Of 75% Reduction Goal, Report Shows November 12, 2015 News Summary News outlets discuss findings showing the global maternal mortality ratio dropped 43.9 percent from 1990 to 2015. U.N. agencies and the World Bank released the report, which was published simultaneously in The Lancet. Agence France-Presse: Maternal mortality cut by almost half in 25 years: U.N. “Deaths of women from pregnancy-related…
TPP Needs ‘Thorough Human Rights Assessment’ To Ensure No Threat To Achieving SDGs November 12, 2015 News Summary The Conversation: The Trans-Pacific Partnership poses a grave threat to sustainable development Matthew Rimmer, professor of intellectual property and innovation law at the Queensland University of Technology “…Several chapters of the [Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)] impinge upon the [Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)], potentially undermining the U.N.’s efforts to promote sustainable development…
WHO’s Chan Expresses Concern Over TPP, Saying Pact Could Limit Access To Some Medicines November 12, 2015 News Summary Reuters: Pacific trade deal could limit affordable drugs: world health chief “A massive trade pact between 12 Pacific rim countries could limit the availability of affordable medicines, the head of the World Health Organization said on Thursday, joining a heated debate on the impact of the deal. Margaret Chan told…
Patent Protection Requirements For Medicines Must Consider Public Health Dimension November 12, 2015 News Summary Inter Press Service: Opinion: The Grant of Patents and the Exorbitant Cost of “Lifesaving” Drugs Germán Velásquez, special adviser for health and development at the South Centre “…[T]he number of patents obtained annually to protect truly new pharmaceutical products is very low and falling. … The major problems can be…
Ethiopian Government Begins Food Distribution, Says Supplies Will Last Through December November 12, 2015 News Summary Associated Press: Ethiopia government distributes food to hungry people “Ethiopia’s government has started distributing rations of wheat and cooking oil to people facing hunger in the northern and northeastern parts of the country. … More than eight million people require urgent food assistance and the Ethiopian government says there is…
Enforcing Guatemala’s New Marriage Age Of 18 Will Prove Challenging In Rural Areas, Women’s Rights Advocates Say November 12, 2015 News Summary Thomson Reuters Foundation: Guatemala bans child marriage, big change for rural areas “Guatemala has raised the minimum age for marriage to 18, but women’s rights campaigners said enforcing the new law would be a challenge in a country where nearly one-third of girls are currently married by that age. ……
U.N.’s Ban Urges Nations Not To Shift Resources To Refugee Crises At Expense Of Development Aid November 12, 2015 News Summary Inter Press Service: Refugee Crisis May Threaten Development Aid to World’s Poor “As the spreading refugee crisis threatens to destabilize national budgets of donor nations in Western Europe, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Wednesday appealed to the international community not to forsake its longstanding commitment for development assistance to the world’s poorer…
Registration Data, Digital Health Tools Critical To Eliminate Mother-To-Child HIV Transmission November 12, 2015 News Summary Devex: How real numbers can eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV Patricia Mechael, principal and policy lead at HealthEnabled and faculty member at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies “…The simple act of registering pregnant women — and their newborn children — within the health system is providing the…
Maasai Cricket Team Uses Notoriety To Promote Women’s Rights, Ending FGM November 12, 2015 News Summary The Guardian: Maasai Cricket Warriors determined to hit female genital mutilation for six “When Maasai tribesmen took up cricket in 2009, media attention soon followed. It gave the young men — whose story is the subject of a new film — the perfect platform to campaign for women’s rights and…