New Textbook Release: GLOBAL PUBLIC HEALTH – ECOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS

Preamble: The release of "Global Public Health - Ecological Foundations", published byOxford University Press (New York), is imminent. This edition of PacificSci Global Perspectives offers a preview of this important new work by Franklin White, Lorann Stallones and John M Last. 

This new book is written for students of public health, development studies and environmental studies. It should also interest many other people in the health sciences who are seeking a broader perspective on the global health and related environmental challenges that face us and our planet.

For information on pricing , ordering and shipping, visit Oxford University Press at: http://www.us.oup.com/us/catalog/general/subject/Medicine/EpidemiologyBiostatistics/?view=usa&sf=toc&ci=9780199751907

ABOUT THE BOOK

Description
Amid ongoing shifts in the world economic and political order, the promise for future public health is tenuous. Will today's economic systems sustain tomorrow's health? Will future generations inherit fair access to health and health care?

An important hope for the health of future generations is the establishment of a well-grounded, global public health system. Global Public Health: Ecological Foundations addresses both the challenges and cooperative solutions of contemporary public health, within a framework of social justice, environmental sustainability, and global cooperation.

With an emphasis on ecological foundations, this book approaches public health principles-history, foundations, topics, and applications-with a community-oriented perspective. By achieving global reach through cooperative, community-based interventions, this text illustrates that the practical application of public health principles can help maintain the health of the world's people.

Blending established wisdom with new perspectives, Global Public Health will stimulate better understanding of how the different streams of public health can work more synergistically to promote global health equity. It is a foundation for future public health measures to be built and to succeed.

Features

• Ecological approach to public health
• Full global scope, including developing countries
• Describes integrative approaches that are locally applicable
• Community-centric approach to public health

Table of Contents

Preface

1. History, Aims and Methods of Public Health

2. Scientific Basis of Public Health

3. Philosophical and Ethical Foundations of Public Health

4. Community Foundations of Public Health

5. Health of Populations: health situation analysis & public health surveillance

6. An Integrated Approach to Disease Prevention and Control

7. Air, Water and Food Safety and Security

8. Public Health Organization and Function in Evolving Health Systems

9. Global Ecology and Emerging Health Challenges

Epilogue

Reviews

"Global Public Health: Ecological Foundations is stunning proof of the power of global thought and focused scholarship. It is simultaneously ambitious in scope and simple in approach, and the result is the definitive textbook for anyone studying public health at any level. I warmed to this book from the first page and could not put it down."

-- Hugh H. Tilson, MD, DrPH
Professor of Public Health Leadership, Epidemiology, and Health Policy
Gillings School of Public Health, University of North Carolina

"People across the globe are more connected now than ever before. This important new work by White, Stallones, and Last clearly articulates the power of this connectedness and the potential to improve health across the levels of an ecological framework. The authors effectively communicate the core principles of public health and relate these to a variety of critical global health issues."

-- Ross C. Brownson, PhD
Professor and co-director, Prevention Research Center in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri

Product Details

384 pages; 6-1/8 x 9-1/4; ISBN13: 978-0-19-975190-7ISBN10: 0-19-975190-0

About the Author(s)

Franklin White, MDCM, MSc, FRCPC, FFPH, is President of Pacific Health & Development Sciences, Inc., in Victoria, British Columbia, and Adjunct Professor at University of Victoria and Dalhousie University.

Lorann Stallones, PhD, MPH, is Professor of Psychology and Director, Graduate Degree Program in Public Health at Colorado State University, Colorado School of Public Health.

John M. Last, MD, DPH, FRACP, FRCPC, FFPH, FACPM is Emeritus Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Ottawa; he is the author of Public Health and Human Ecology and A Dictionary of Public Health, and former editor in chief of Public Health and Preventive Medicine ("Maxcy-Rosenau-Last"), and A Dictionary of Epidemiology .

Acknowledgement: This information has been copied from the Oxford University Press (New York) site: http://www.us.oup.com/us/catalog/general/subject/Medicine/EpidemiologyBiostatistics/?view=usa&sf=toc&ci=9780199751907  Accessed January 14, 2013.

Early Child Development - Policy Shifts, Global Viewpoints, and the Evidence Base.

PREAMBLE: In this issue we maintain our focus on Canadian policy shifts that are of global interest, assuming Canada’s reputation for enlightened social policy. Unfortunately this reputation is being undermined by a neo-conservative ideology. Over a million Canadian children live in poverty and cannot access child care support. In support of child friendly interventions, we include evidence reviewed by the US-based RAND Corporation showing that childhood intervention programs yield benefits in behavior, educational progression and attainment, delinquency and crime, and labor market success, among other domains. Well-trained caregivers and smaller child-to-staff ratios offer more favorable results. Economic studies have shown that well-designed early childhood interventions generate a favourable economic return on this social investment.

 CANADA’s SLIPPAGE ON CHILD CARE PROVISIONS
In 2005, after many years of educational research, advocacy and negotiation, early learning and child care agreements were reached between the Government of Canada and its provinces, laying a foundation for a system to meet the needs of all Canadian families. Canceling them, as the incoming Conservative government did in 2006 in favour of family income supplements only, was a major set-back to the evolution of a national child care program, and represented a net reduction of $4 billion in child care funding. While family income support in itself may be a valid policy goal, it will never substitute for early learning and child care services that are of quality, available and affordable.

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Perhaps the most historically surprising feature of this policy shift is that the idea of a national child care programme was first proposed in 1970 by Brian Mulroney’s Progressive Conservatives (the “PCs” were an ancestor of the Conservative Party of Canada). Evidently today’s Conservatives are now dominated by the social philosophy of the former far right Alliance Party which cobbled with the former PCs to spawn the party. Unfortunately, the new party seems to lack the capacity to accept a sound initiative launched under the previous Liberal government, even one which originated with the PCs, and that was at its grassroots non-partisan. As noted by the New Democratic Party (Denise Savois MP, personal communication): without child care, many parents (mostly mothers) can’t fully participate in the workforce. This undermines their equality, and many children also lose out on vital early learning opportunities when quality child care is scarce or unavailable.

UPDATE: In response to widespread criticism of it’s lack of coherent policy in this area, in March 2007 the Conservative government announced additional federal-provincial transfers of money ostensibly for child care spaces, and a scheme of tax credits for businesses to create child care; opposition critics note that such transfers can be readily clawed back or reallocated, and reflect a massive cut in the support originally intended for child care, and that such tax credit schemes are an inadequate response to the needs. A private members bill, The Early Learning and Child Care Act, will be studied by a parliamentary committee this month; if not supported in favour of Canada's children, this will become an election issue.

 PERSPECTIVE OF THE ORGANIZATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT (OECD)
In October 2004, the OECD described Canada's child-care system as “a chronically under-funded patchwork of programs with no overarching goals”. It found a shortage of available regulated child-care spaces – enough for fewer than 20 % of children 6 years and younger with working parents. By contrast, the following estimates apply to other OECD countries: UK, 60 %; Belgium, 63%; France, 69%; Denmark, 78%. The OECD recommended that Canada double its child-care spending to reach the OECD average.
For more in-depth on Day Care in Canada: http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/daycare/

 THE EVIDENCE – HOW IMPORTANT IS EARLY CHILDHOOD?
As part of a recent study, RAND researchers synthesized what is known from the scientifically sound research literature about the short- and long-term benefits from early intervention programs, the features that are associated with more-effective programs, and the economic gains (attractive benefit: cost ratios) that accrue from investing additional resources in early childhood. There is increasing recognition that the first few years of a child’s life are a particularly sensitive period in the process of human development, laying a foundation in childhood and beyond for cognitive functioning; behavioral, social, and self-regulatory capacities; and physical health. Yet many children face stressors during these years that can impair their healthy development. Early childhood intervention programs are designed to mitigate the factors that place children at risk of poor outcomes. Such programs provide supports for the parents, the children, or the family as a whole. These supports may be in the form of learning activities or other structured experiences that affect a child directly or that have indirect effects through training parents or otherwise enhancing the care-giving environment.

The research brief linked below describes work documented in Early Childhood Interventions: Proven Results, Future Promise by Lynn A. Karoly, M. Rebecca Kilburn, and Jill S. Cannon, MG-341-PNC, 2005, 200 pp, ISBN: 0-8330-3836-2

Source: RAND Corporation. RAND Research Briefs
http://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RB9145/index1.html
Note: We selected RAND for their review in part because we appreciate that this think tank normally enjoys support from across the political spectrum, including Conservatives.

Global and Local Perspectives on Colonized Minorities in Developed Countries

PREAMBLE: Colonized racial, cultural or religious minorities exist throughout the world, and are to be found nested within powerful societies. For examples, consider Tibet now within China, the Ainu of Japan, the Dalits of India, Amerindian enclaves in the Caribbean, tribal minorities in Africa, Boznian Muslims in former Yugoslavia, the Kurds of Iraq, others in all continents and among the Pacific islands. In choosing to highlight the situation of indigenous minorities in western industrialized countries, our example is Canada only because this is our home base. The issues here apply to several economically advanced western countries where it is sometimes said that one may find “3rd world conditions in 1st world settings”. Because these countries claim leadership for human rights, they also must live up to these principles.
[For a flavour of Canadian politics, scan column at right.]

 GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE ON COLONIZED MINORITIES
“Continuing disparities between the health of indigenous people and the non-indigenous settlers of Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States … is a matter of major concern within each country. In each country the legacies of colonial dispossession, land alienation, forcible relocation, suppression of indigenous cultural practices, values and beliefs, loss of language, disruption of families, violations of indigenous inherent sovereignty and right to self-determination, treaties, international law and indigenous cultural law, and other factors, have resulted in indigenous peoples experiencing a deplorable health status compared to non-indigenous settlers.”

Source: International Network of Indigenous Health Knowledge and Development http://www.inihkd.org/ Accessed Feb 4, 2007

 LOCAL PERSPECTIVES - CANADA’S FIRST NATIONS PEOPLE
Education: 44% of Aboriginal people aged 20-24 lack high school education, compared to 19% for Canada as a whole. Only 23% of Aboriginals aged 18-29 had completed post secondary education, compared to 43% in the rest of Canada.
Health: Infant mortality 20% higher than Canada; Type 2 diabetes 3 times more frequent; Suicide 3 to 11 times more frequent.
Housing: On-reserve, the estimated shortage is 20 to 35,000 units, and growing by 2,200 units per year. Off-reserve, the housing need is 76% higher than non-Aboriginal households. In northern Canada, housing needs are 130% higher.
Economic Opportunities: The unemployment rate among Aboriginal peoples is 19.1%,; the national rate is 7.4%. On reserves, unemployment is about 29%. Median employment income is two-thirds of the average for non-Aboriginal Canadians.

Reference: Government of Canada - Background information for the Kelowna Accord.http://www.pco.gc.ca/default.asp?Language=E&Page=archivemartin&Sub=newscommuniques&Doc=news_release_20051125_661_e.htm

 The KELOWNA ACCORD – a 2-Act Play or a 3-Act Play?
“Act 1”– A New Beginning
The Kelowna Accord (Nov 25, 2005) seemingly bound the Canadian government, provincial governments, and Canada’s First Nations to invest $5.1 billion over 5 years to close the gap between Aboriginal and other Canadians in education, health, housing and opportunities.[1] An operational plan contained 5-year targets over 10-years to ensure focused and accountable actions. Former Prime Minister Paul Martin acknowledged the Assembly of First Nations for taking the important step of proposing the establishment of a First Nations Auditor General and an Ombudsman.[2] He stated: "With this plan, we have made an important step forward in honouring our commitment to close the gap in the quality of life that now exists between Aboriginal peoples and other Canadians."[1]

“Act 2” - Another Broken Promise
Despite this promising start, on gaining power in January 2006, a new minority federal Conservative government (receiving only 36% of the popular vote) reneged, ostensibly because the Accord had not yet found its way into the federal budget, the election having intervened. Their own budget (despite a big surplus) cut the initiative by 80%, the residue going to a limited number of programs and housing provisions. Reflecting public opinion across the country, mostly favouring the Accord, the BC First Nations Leadership Council released an open letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Hon. Jim Flaherty, Minister of Finance and Hon. Jim Prentice, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development.[3] B.C. provincial Premier Gordon Campbell, at an inter-ministerial meeting, stated: "… the least that any Canadian can expect is when a government makes a commitment of resources, that those resources are going to flow."[4]

“Act 3” – Will there be one?
The Harper government will launch a new federal budget on March 19. Although there have been no statements to indicate a change in thinking that would reflect renewed respect for the Accord, this may be the last real opportunity for the “new” government to act in good faith towards it.

References: 1. Privy Council Office. Government of Canada. Press Release Nov 25, 2006http://www.pco.gc.ca/default.asp?Language=E&Page=archivemartin&Sub=newscommuniques&Doc=news_release_20051125_661_e.htm
2. Patterson LL. Aboriginal roundtable to Kelowna Accord: policy negotiations 2004-5. May 2006 http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/library/PRBpubs/prb0604-e.htm
3. Union of BC Indian Chiefs. Open Letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Hon. Jim Flaherty, Minister of Finance and Hon. Jim Prentice, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development. May 4, 2006. http://www.ubcic.bc.ca/files/PDF/FNLC_NR_2006FedBudget_openletter.pdf
4. Aboriginal leaders seek to revive Kelowna Accord. Canadian Press. July 26 2006 . http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060725/aboriginal_mtg_060725/20060726?hub=Canada&s_name=

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Although our "new" government (when viewed from a politically Conservative perspective) may well have the best interests of Canada at heart, there is no doubt that the initial excuse not to implement the Kelowna Accord is no longer valid. About to launch a new budget in March, with a massive surplus in hand (thanks to a continuing strong economy), if the Conservatives do not now address the intent of the Accord at proper scale, this will confirm a steady drift to the political right, consistent with odd examples of out-dated thinking expressed on behalf of this regime (see: review of Canadian political flavours in column at right). It is therefore both timely and critical for Stephen Harper to show leadership on the situation facing aboriginal Canadians, and to emerge from the current policy fog as a Prime Minister for all Canadians. We will monitor the situation and comment further after the budget.

Global Food Security - A Matter of Survival

 PREAMBLE: In 1996, the World Food Summit set a target to halve the number of undernourished people by 2015. However, in 2007, it appears unlikely that this target will be met. One key to success is the Doha round of trade negotiations where 1st world priorities conflict with 3rd world needs. In this issue we focus on the conflict between grain for fuel or for food, the stalled Doha round, and examine global food security.

 ETHANOL DEMAND MAY DESTABILIZE THE FOOD SUPPLY
Global competition for corn supplies is generating social instability due to soaring prices out of reach in lower income countries that depend on this staple. The rationale of wealthy countries is to reduce dependence on foreign oil, despite ethanol’s low efficiency and corrosive properties. According to the Earth Policy Institute, an epic competition between the world’s 800 million motorists and its 2 billion poor people is emerging (1): the corn needed to fill a 25 gallon tank with ethanol would feed a poor family for a year. The US ethanol boom is sending shockwaves through the food chain: corn for ethanol is now sought-after by petroleum companies, supported by new government subsidies and mandates: even before the price hikes, ethanol production cost the US taxpayer $11 billion from 1979-2000 (US Government Accounting Office (2)), while the soaring cost of corn in the US recently pushed up the cost of tortillas in Mexico by a third. Facing protests, Mexican President Felipe Calderon responded with price controls on corn-based products (3). The projected savings to US and Canadian automotive fuel supplies from adding ethanol could be achieved several times over, at a fraction of the cost, by raising auto fuel efficiency standards by 20%, levels already exceeded in Europe and Asia.

References: 1) Brown L. Distillery demand for grain to fuel cars vastly understated – world may be facing highest grain prices in history. Earth Policy Institute. Jan 4, 2007-1. http://www.earth-policy.org/Updates/2007/Update63.htm 2) Reguly E. Lining up at the ethanol trough. Globe and Mail B2. Jan 25, 2007. 3) McKenna B. America’s appetite for ethanol poised to take corn from mouths of the poor. Globe and Mail B11. Jan 23, 2007.

 WORLD TRADE NEGOTIATIONS – THE DOHA ROUND
This series of negotiations commenced in 2001 in Doha, Qatar. The aim is to lower trade barriers world-wide, among countries of widely varying economic circumstances. Talks have stalled due to a stand-off between the world’s richest countries and developing ones. Although the round addresses all sectors, the impasse pertains to agriculture. Developing countries need “fair trade” to stimulate rural development and efficiency in production and distribution (1). However, protectionism rampant in developed nations, posing in the guise of other agendas eg., intellectual property rights, the “cultural value” of farming, international labour practices, quality control, professed anxiety about disease importation and even bioterrorism. Lack of progress can be laid at the feet of western agribusiness and the farm lobby. Rich country agricultural subsidies total over $300 billion annually, 6 times the value of development assistance. The average EU cow is subsidized at $2.50 per day; more than most Africans live on (2). Food security is an ethical challenge.

The July 2006 talks in Geneva failed to reach agreement on reducing subsidies and lowering import taxes - negotiations will take months to resume. A successful outcome is increasingly unlikely because the trade authority granted under the Trade Act of 2002 to US President Bush expires in 2007. Any pact will then require approval by an increasingly protectionist US Congress, which in turn discourages the willingness of other countries to participate. As WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy stated in a recent prospective, “If the global trading system is to be relevant, it is the responsibility of all members, in particular the big elephants, to meet this challenge”(3).

References: 1) UNDP. Human Development Report. Millennium Development Goals: a compact among nations to end human poverty. New York: Oxford UP 2003. 2) Williams J. 50 facts that should change the world. Icon Books 2004. 3) Lamy P. Doha’s Final Deadline. The World in 2007. 21st ed. The Economist.

 GLOBAL FOOD SECURITY – AN OVERVIEW
Nutrition throughout life determines growth, development and disease susceptibility. Although enough food is produced to feed everyone, maldistribution results in hunger and malnutrition, affecting millions. Most vulnerable are the poor, the marginalized, women, and children. Children are most vulnerable, suffering irreversible growth retardation by stunting and wasting, and impaired cognitive development that impacts throughout life; females are twice as likely as males to experience malnutrition.

Food security would exist if all people, at all times, had physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and preferences. Food insecurity results from unavailability, unstable supplies, insufficient purchasing power, inappropriate distribution, or inadequate household utilization. The UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization estimates that 852 million people were undernourished in 2000-2, >95% in developing countries.(1) Barriers to food security can be overcome by economically viable and environmentally sustainable means; however, trade practices and policies associated with deregulated markets mitigate against this goal.

Though food and nutrition insecurity is generally declining worldwide, progress in South Asia is sluggish, while the problem is worsening in Africa due to conflicts, droughts, floods, and economic downturns. The number of undernourished African, estimated at 204 million (1999–2001), is double that of two decades earlier. Food shortages are so severe in East and Central Africa that they require regular international intervention.

Reference: Food and Agricultural Organization. The State of Food Security in the World 2004. Rome: Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations; 2004.

 Book Review: BANKER TO THE POOR - micro-lending and the battle against world poverty. Muhammad Yunus. Founder of Grameen Bank. Public Affairs New York 2003.
We selected this book because of Muhammad Yunus’s recent award of the 2006 Nobel Prize for Peace. Scanning the web, we selected the closing paragraph of a review by Tom McInerny: “What this book cannot show is his quiet, captivating demeanor, which verges on the spiritual To learn the secret of his man’s goodness, one looks for a sign, a indication of how and why he was called. That secret is his ability to ask ‘Why not?’… where others have willingly supported the status quo, embraced stagnation and elevated what is to the level of what must be.” http://www.grameen-info.org/book/hungary.htm

THANKS FOR VISITING PacificSci GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES!

Peace, Security, Health & Human Rights

PREAMBLE: In our first issue of 2007, we take note of the new UN Secretary General, focus on war and peace in the Middle East, and complete the transfer of reports and commentaries from our News & Reports site (as announced in our December posting).

 KOFI ANNAN ADMINISTERS OATH OF OFFICE TO SUCCESSOR Statement by Secretary-General-Designate (synopsis)
United Nations Secretary-General-designate Ban Ki-moon, of South Korea, stood before the world’s nations mindful of the oath he had just taken and that the sentiments, loyalty, discretion and conscience, together with the principles of the Charter, would be his watchwords as he carried out his duties. He told Mr. Annan: “Your courage and vision have inspired the world” and stated that "by strengthening the three pillars of the UN, security, development and human rights, the UN family could build a more peaceful and prosperous world for future generations."
December 14, 2006 http://www.maximsnews.com/1006mnundecember29333.htm

 FOCUS ON IRAQ & PALESTINE .............................................

THE HUMAN COST OF THE WAR IN IRAQ: A survey led by the Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, reveals that approximately 600,000 people have been killed in violence that began with the US invasion of Iraq in March 2003. http://www.stat.columbia.edu/~gelman/stuff_for_blog/iraq1.pdf

PRESIDENT FORD DISAGREED ON THE INVASION: In an embargoed 2004 interview (publishable only after his death on December 26, 2006) Ford revealed that he believed that President Bush, Vice President Cheney and Secretary Rumsfeld erred in justifying the war as one aimed at eliminating Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction and said he would have pushed alternatives, such as sanctions, much more vigorously.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/27/AR2006122701558.html

INVESTORS PROFIT: War is a disaster, but not for Lockheed Martin (LM). The world’s largest arms merchant (F-16 fighters, Patriot missiles, radar, satellites) turns mayhem into money. For the first 9 months of 2006, revenues rose 7% to $28.78 billion and profit jumped 43% to $1.8 billion (US taxpayers foot the bill), creating shock and awe on Wall Street. Like other firms that profit from conflict, LM claims “We are a company that values ethics, integrity, teamwork, and pursues superior performance”.
Adapted from: John Heinzl, Globe and Mail, December 30, 2006.

Book Review: PALESTINE - PEACE NOT APARTHEID: This book offers a critical analysis of the crisis in Palestine and Israel. It is unique, coming as it does from the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize awardee, former US President Jimmy Carter, who states: "Peace will come to Israel and the Middle East only when the Israeli government is willing to comply with international law, with the Roadmap for Peace, with official American policy, with the wishes of a majority of its own citizens - and honor its own previous commitments - by accepting its legal borders. All Arab neighbors must pledge to honor Israel's right to live in peace under these conditions." Highly recommended. For negative views, visit: http://blog.washingtonpost.com/worldopinionroundup/2006/12/jimmy_carter_palestinian_sympa.html

CAN INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC HEALTH LAW HELP PREVENT WAR? This question was posed during the lead up to the invasion of Iraq, in the belief that prevention of war (the ultimate violence) is one of the most critical steps mankind can make to protect public health. Given the serious potential for future premeditated wars in our times, there is value in revisiting this idea: http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/81/3/Letter0303.pdf

 FOCUS ON AFRICA .............................................

A TASTE OF REALITY - African Medical and Research Foundation (AMREF): For Africa's health realities, offers a Film Catalogue with such titles as: Gulu, TV-Slum, Speak Africa, Baba Mandela, & Big Brother AIDS. To access AMREF, winner of the 2005 Gates Award for Global Health, see AMREF’s link in column at right (Recommended Global Links).

Book Review: COMMISSION ON AFRICA REPORT: This report, chaired by Tony Blair, calls for G8 nations to end extreme poverty in the world's most desperate continent. Reference: Our Common Interest - The Commission for Africa: an argument. Penguin 2005. For the full report and background document visit the relevant link in column at right.

Book Review: BODY COUNT: Not to be confused with a novel of this title, this documents how the Bush Administration, allied with the Christian Right, joined the Vatican to promote abstinence as the preferred strategy for the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and how some African leaders fell in line, denying life-saving drugs while drug companies moved to protect patent rights and profits. Reference: Peter Gill. Body Count - how they turned AIDS into a catastrophe. Profile Books. London 2006. ISBN-10 1 86197 923 1.

 COMMENTARIES .....................................................

MAKING MARKETS WORK FOR THE POOR - CARE Canada's Approach: While a strong civil society and public sector infrastructures are essential for social development, international cooperation increasingly embraces stimulation of a vibrant private sector. Visit the relevant link in column at right.

FIRST WORLD CONCERNS - GDP: A POOR MEASUREMENT OF GROWTH: GDP, widely imagined to measure prosperity, is misleading as it does not reflect wealth disparities, and may rise even as fortunes of middle and lower income people falter.
http://www.sightline.org/publications/enewsletters/CSNews/CS_10_05_economy

THANKS FOR VISITING PacificSci GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES!