Will patent rights be used only for ensuring the legitimate interests of pharmaceutical companies, or will these be used in an exaggerated and unjust way to deprive patients of their right to life? This crucial question, which has been debated time and again in the context of the significant case of Glivec, an anti-cancer drug, has now reached a critical stage. It may be pointed out here that as early as...
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Choked Manipur to airlift condoms by Pankaj Sarma
A blockade-choked Manipur could be facing an HIV epidemic because of condom shortage, forcing the AIDS Control Society to consider airlifting rubber to the state. The Sadar Hills District Demand Committee imposed an economic blockade along Imphal-Jiribam and Imphal-Dimapur highways on July 31 in support of the creation of Sadar Hills district. The United Naga Council imposed another blockade on August 21, to oppose inclusion of Naga villages when the Sadar Hills...
More »Shaming numbers
-The Hindu Among the many forms of gender inequality, perhaps the most insidious is the one related to the sex ratio. India ranks high among countries having an adverse sex ratio, with fewer women than men. The 2011 Census revealed a small improvement in the overall sex ratio, from 932.91 females for every 1000 males (in 2001) to 940.27, but a steep fall in ratio for the 0-6 age group, from...
More »Women Hung Out to Dry in Global Labour Market by Kanya D'Almeida
Amid policy battles over food production, energy resources and economic decline, one untapped natural resource that is guaranteed to boost production on a global scale has been stubbornly overlooked – the power of women in the labour force. According to the World Bank's 2012 World Development Report (WDR) "Gender Equality and Development", ensuring equal access for women farmers would increase maize yields by 11 to 16 percent in Malawi and 17...
More »Poor countries lead in mother, child spending
-AP Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Nepal and some of the world’s other poorest countries helped lead the way over the past year as U.N. member states began meeting their unprecedented pledge of more than $40 billion for maternal and child health, a new study of the spending says. The spending report is being released Tuesday at a high-level event chaired by U.N. Secretary-General Mr. Ki-moon, who has made raising money for the health of...
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