Germán Velásquez is Special Adviser for Health and Development, South Centre, Geneva
GENEVA, Nov 10 2015 (IPS) – The important relationship between the examination of patents carried out by national patent offices and the right of citizens to access to medicines hasn t always been well-understood. Too often these are viewed as unrelated functions or responsibilities of the state. And the reason is clear: patentability requirements are not defined by patent offices, but frequently by the courts, tribunals, legislation or treaty negotiators.
Germán Velásquez
This is the case when patent policy is implemented in isolation from, rather than gui…
The drone took 10 minutes to cover 10 km. Photo Credit: UNICEF
LILONGWE, Malawi, Mar 28 2016 (IPS) – The first successful test-flight of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or drone was an unhindered 10 km journey from a community health centre to the Kamuzu central hospital laboratory in the capital Lilongwe. Local community members watched with excitement as the drone rose into the sky, after being launched by the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and government of Malawi at the area 25 health centre.
The first of its kind in southern Africa, the US manufactured machine was on trial till …
May 29 2016 – The most recent population projections expect the Island’s population to reach 25 million by 2042 and 25.8 million by 2062. It is expected to stabilise around the mid 2060s at 25-26 million. This is a significant departure from earlier projections that expected population stability much earlier at around 23-24 million in the 2030s and to decline thereafter.
This higher population growth that is mainly due to the recent increase in fertility from below replacement level to above replacement level, poses serious social and economic challenges in education, health, care of the elderly, public finances and retirement benefits.
Twenty Five million
Prof. Indralal de Silva’s and Dr. Ranjith de Silva’s recent book, Sri Lanka: 25 Million People and Implic…
Jomo Kwame Sundaram was United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development. Rob Vos is Director of Agricultural Development Economics at FAO and was Director of Development Policy Analysis at the UN Secretariat.
Seniors in conversation at Jongmyo Park, in downtown Seoul, Republic of Korea. UN Photo/Kibae Park
KUALA LUMPUR and ROME, Oct 1 2016 (IPS) – October 1st is the International Day of Older Persons. Just another day? Perhaps, but it should remind us that the world’s population is ageing, brought about by the combined effects of declining mortality and fertility rates and longer longevity. By mid-century, one out of five people …
Despite eradication and education efforts, drug use, especially heroin, remains rampant in parts of Myanmar. Photo: . Source:
ROME/VIENNA, Mar 7 2017 (IPS) – Women and girls comprise one-third of global drug users yet are only one-fifth of those receiving treatment, a UN-Backed independent expert body warned.
Citing a significant rise over the past year in the number of women dying from drug overdoses globally, the Vienna-based () warned that women and girls comprise one-third of global drug users.
“Yet [they] are only one-fifth of those receiving treatment, as significant systemic, structural, social, cultural and personal barriers affect women’s abil…
Rural women sell mango and sweet potato jam at the food processing shop in Bantantinnting, Senegal. Credit: UN Photo/Evan Schneider
ROME, May 26 2017 (IPS) – Women constitute the largest share of informal traders in Africa–about 70 per cent in Southern Africa and more than half in other parts of this vast continent made up of 54 states, home to over 1,200 billion people.
Informal cross-border trading, in which transactions are not compliant with local tax and other rules, accounts for a large share – between – of employment in sub-Saharan Africa, says a new United Nations specialised report.
Africa s vast but informal cross-border trade can contribute…
Over the next decade, China will be home to the world’s largest elderly population, while India — because of its demographic dividend – will require jobs for the world’s largest workforce. Credit: Neeta Lal/IPS
SEOUL/NEW DELHI, Oct 28 2017 (IPS) – Experts on population ageing converged in Seoul this week to discuss how to make reaching one s golden years a happy and sustainable process across the world.
They gathered at the Global Symposium on Ageing 2017. T…
Siddharth Chatterjee is the United Nations Resident Coordinator, Kenya. Radhika Shah, is Co-President Stanford Angels & Entrepreneurs
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO) pledged his full support for the delivery of universal healthcare within the next five years, one of the pillars of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Big Four Action plan. Credit: State House
NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 5 2018 (IPS) – Africa’s quest for health continues to be held back by a combination of factors such as natural disasters and pandemics, prevailing high rates of communicable and rising incidence of non-communicable diseases, sedentary lifestyles…
Tianyi Luo is a senior manager with the Aqueduct Project at the Global Water Program at World Resources Institute.
WASHINGTON DC, May 11 2018 (IPS) – Most power generation, whether to cool steam in thermoelectric plants or power turbines for hydropower. And the global demand for both water and electricity will continue to increase substantially in the coming decades.
Although growth is generally a good thing for the economy, it challenges nations—particularly —to better manage their limited water resources and invest in the right energy systems.
Power generation from solar photovoltaic (PV) and wind is clean and requires zero or little water use. These renewable forms of energy can help countries meet their increased demand for electricity without adding carbon…
Wendell C Balderas is Media and Communications Manager, Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA)
Tobacco pickers carry leaves to one of the sheds where they are cured on the Rosario plantation in San Juan y Martínez, in Vuelta Abajo, a western Cuban region famous for producing premium cigars. Credit: Jorge Luis Baños/IPS
BANGKOK, Thailand, Nov 20 2018 (IPS) – Thailand is set to become the first Asian country to introduce standardized packaging of tobacco. On 14 November 2018, the Thai National Committee on Tobacco Control approved the Ministry of Health Regulation that requires cigarettes in Thailand to be sold in packaging stripped of the fancy, colorful and un…