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!
Monday, 1 January 2007
Sunday, 3 December 2006
News, Announcements & Reviews
PREAMBLE: PacificSci is transitioning its current affairs material to this blog format. The material below has been selected and extracted from our News & Reports site:
NEWS..............................................................
2006 NOBEL PEACE PRIZE to Muhammad Yunus & Grameen Bank, Bangladesh: for "efforts to create economic and social development from below". For more information visit: http://www.nobelprize.org/
DARFUR ON THE BRINK OF GENOCIDE: For this report and background history, visit the BBC website: http://www.news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3496731.stm
SENLIS COUNCIL September 5 NEWS RELEASE ON CONDITIONS IN AFGHANISTAN: For this independent analysis of serious deficits in genuine development aid in the face of a humanitarian crisis, visit: http://www.senliscouncil.net/modules
The GAZA HEALTH CRISIS: The UN warns of an increasingly desperate humanitarian crisis because of western economic boycotts, and an Israeli military offensive. Source: http://www.globalhealth.org/news/article/7853/newsletter
WORLD URBAN FORUM: From June 19-23, 2006, participants from 150 nations met in Vancouver for the UN-HABITAT's 3rd World Urban Forum (WUF), to examine sustainable solutions to critical problems facing cities. PacificSci is a WUF Communications Partner. For more information: http://www.unhabitat.org/wuf AND http://www.wuf3-fum3.ca
ANNOUNCEMENTS............................................................
HEALTH IMPACT ASSESSMENT GUIDE: Released in April 2006, this Irish Institute of Public Health guide outlines how to adapt HIA to local settings. Online at: http://www.publichealth.ie/index.asp?locID=489&docID=581
LAUNCH OF ExpandNet WEBSITE: This new network provides a bibliography of scaling-up literature, many with web links, drawing from health service innovations tested in pilot and demonstration projects. Online at: http://www.expandnet.net
DOCUMENT REVIEWS.........................................................
The WORLD HEALTH REPORT 2006 (WHR) - working together for health: Released 7 April, the report assesses the global health human resource crisis and proposals to tackle it. Source: http://www.who.int/whr/2006/en/
FIRST PUBLICATION OF PAKISTAN'S HEALTH POLICY FORUM (PHPF): The "Gateway Paper" on Pakistan's Health Systems: a Way Forward was released on January 9, 2006. For PHPF evidence-based documents, visit: http://www.heartfile.org
FILM REVIEW..............................................................
AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH presents the view of former US Presidential candidate Al Gore that global warming is an urgent moral issue. This may be the most important documentary of 2006. For more information: http://www.climatecrisis.net
BOOK REVIEWS..............................................................
50 FACTS THAT SHOULD CHANGE THE WORLD: These facts reveal the world’s absurd inequalities … 5 examples:
* Every EU cow is subsidized by $2.50 a day, more than 75% of what Africans have to live on.
* China has 44 million missing women.
* Landmines kill or maim at least one person every hour.
* Over 70 % of the world’s population has never heard a dial tone.
* The average urban Briton is caught on camera up to 300 times a day.
Reference: Jessica Williams. 50 facts that should change the world. Icon Books. 2004. For more information: http://www.iconbooks.co.uk/book.cfm?isbn=1-84046-547-6
THE WEATHER MAKERS: A scientific treatise on global warming for those who care about the planet; a call for leadership beyond the vision of election cycles. If nothing is done, the 21st century will see conditions not experienced in 40 million years. Reference: Flannery T. The Weather Makers. Harper-Collins. 2005. For more information: http://www.theweathermakers.com
SHAKE HANDS WITH THE DEVIL: this acclaimed work documents the failure of the world's most powerful to prevent genocide in Rwanda: "The international community of which the UN is only a symbol, failed to move beyond self-interest... While most nations agreed that something should be done, they all had an excuse why they should not be the ones to do it." Reference: Shake Hands with the Devil, by Romeo Dallaire. Vintage Canada Edition 2004. http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/documentaries/storyville/shake-hands-devil.shtml
THANKS FOR VISITING PacificSci GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES!
NEWS..............................................................
2006 NOBEL PEACE PRIZE to Muhammad Yunus & Grameen Bank, Bangladesh: for "efforts to create economic and social development from below". For more information visit: http://www.nobelprize.org/
DARFUR ON THE BRINK OF GENOCIDE: For this report and background history, visit the BBC website: http://www.news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3496731.stm
SENLIS COUNCIL September 5 NEWS RELEASE ON CONDITIONS IN AFGHANISTAN: For this independent analysis of serious deficits in genuine development aid in the face of a humanitarian crisis, visit: http://www.senliscouncil.net/modules
The GAZA HEALTH CRISIS: The UN warns of an increasingly desperate humanitarian crisis because of western economic boycotts, and an Israeli military offensive. Source: http://www.globalhealth.org/news/article/7853/newsletter
WORLD URBAN FORUM: From June 19-23, 2006, participants from 150 nations met in Vancouver for the UN-HABITAT's 3rd World Urban Forum (WUF), to examine sustainable solutions to critical problems facing cities. PacificSci is a WUF Communications Partner. For more information: http://www.unhabitat.org/wuf AND http://www.wuf3-fum3.ca
ANNOUNCEMENTS............................................................
HEALTH IMPACT ASSESSMENT GUIDE: Released in April 2006, this Irish Institute of Public Health guide outlines how to adapt HIA to local settings. Online at: http://www.publichealth.ie/index.asp?locID=489&docID=581
LAUNCH OF ExpandNet WEBSITE: This new network provides a bibliography of scaling-up literature, many with web links, drawing from health service innovations tested in pilot and demonstration projects. Online at: http://www.expandnet.net
DOCUMENT REVIEWS.........................................................
The WORLD HEALTH REPORT 2006 (WHR) - working together for health: Released 7 April, the report assesses the global health human resource crisis and proposals to tackle it. Source: http://www.who.int/whr/2006/en/
FIRST PUBLICATION OF PAKISTAN'S HEALTH POLICY FORUM (PHPF): The "Gateway Paper" on Pakistan's Health Systems: a Way Forward was released on January 9, 2006. For PHPF evidence-based documents, visit: http://www.heartfile.org
FILM REVIEW..............................................................
AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH presents the view of former US Presidential candidate Al Gore that global warming is an urgent moral issue. This may be the most important documentary of 2006. For more information: http://www.climatecrisis.net
BOOK REVIEWS..............................................................
50 FACTS THAT SHOULD CHANGE THE WORLD: These facts reveal the world’s absurd inequalities … 5 examples:
* Every EU cow is subsidized by $2.50 a day, more than 75% of what Africans have to live on.
* China has 44 million missing women.
* Landmines kill or maim at least one person every hour.
* Over 70 % of the world’s population has never heard a dial tone.
* The average urban Briton is caught on camera up to 300 times a day.
Reference: Jessica Williams. 50 facts that should change the world. Icon Books. 2004. For more information: http://www.iconbooks.co.uk/book.cfm?isbn=1-84046-547-6
THE WEATHER MAKERS: A scientific treatise on global warming for those who care about the planet; a call for leadership beyond the vision of election cycles. If nothing is done, the 21st century will see conditions not experienced in 40 million years. Reference: Flannery T. The Weather Makers. Harper-Collins. 2005. For more information: http://www.theweathermakers.com
SHAKE HANDS WITH THE DEVIL: this acclaimed work documents the failure of the world's most powerful to prevent genocide in Rwanda: "The international community of which the UN is only a symbol, failed to move beyond self-interest... While most nations agreed that something should be done, they all had an excuse why they should not be the ones to do it." Reference: Shake Hands with the Devil, by Romeo Dallaire. Vintage Canada Edition 2004. http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/documentaries/storyville/shake-hands-devil.shtml
THANKS FOR VISITING PacificSci GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES!
Saturday, 25 November 2006
Introducing PacificSci
PACIFIC HEALTH & DEVELOPMENT SCIENCES Inc. is a Canadian consulting firm. PacificSci is our Registered Trademark. We partner with health and development organizations in Canada and abroad. Our portfolio blends contractual and pro bono activities.
OUR MISSION:
"seeking solutions to health and social impacts of development”.
PHILOSOPHY: Population health and well-being are outcomes of balanced development, taking into account human needs, and with respect for justice, rights, equity, sustainability and environmental integrity.
APPROACH: Secular-humanistic, population-focused, evidence-based.
For more details visit our WEBSITE: http://www.pacificsci.org
PacificSci maintains two subsidiary sites accessible from our main website (above). If you wish to access these sites directly, the URLs are as follows:
PacificSci NEWS & REPORTS http://www.webspawner.com/users/pacificsci/index.html
PacificSci GLOBAL HEALTH DATA LINKS http://www.webspawner.com/users/globalhealthdata/index.html
PacificSci GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES (launched November 25, 2006) will offer information, views and links on equitable and sustainable human development, with an emphasis on issues relevant to population health.
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