Anne Arbor, MI; Bellevue, WA; Cape Coral, FL; Stamford, CT; Green Bay, WI; Manchester, NH; Allentown, PA; Portsmouth, VA; Cambridge, MA.
Taking Stock of 100,000 Iraqi Deaths
read more
Health
U.S. Aid for Tsunami-Hit Nations Falls Short
As the full extent of the destruction and death the tsunami wrought in South Asia becomes clear, significant aid pledges are finally pouring in. While the U.S. is beginning to respond, little attention is being paid in the public debate to the need for effective development assistance for South Asia in the medium to long term. Comparisons of what the U.S. is doing for disaster relief relative to other nations are obscuring the need for a sober assessment of how well U.S. aid measures up compared to the actual need. The White House is drafting its 2006 budget this month, so this is an important opportunity to expose how the U.S. falls short when it comes to providing aid commensurate with its wealth.
Natural or Public Health Disaster?
The recent South Asian tsunamiÂs devastation has already claimed at least 144,000 lives, caused countless injuries and wiped out entire villages. Concern now turns to the escalating death count caused by the spread of disease.
The Iglesias Legacy and the IDB’s Future
en Espanol: El Legado de Iglesias y el Futuro del BID
Bush Overstates Africa Aid Increase
Now that the dust has settled from the rush of media reports about Africa brought on by the Group of Eight summit, itÂs worth taking a closer look at what the United States has actually committed to, in terms of aid for programs to address poverty and disease in Africa.
AIDS Appointee Shows that Business Still Rules the Roost
The appointment of a former top executive of a major U.S. pharmaceutical company and major Republican contributor as President George W. Bush’s global AIDS co-ordinator has stunned and outraged AIDS experts and activists. Bush’s choice of former Eli Lilly & Co. boss Randall Tobias was announced at the White House on July 1, just a few days before Bush’s first trip as president to Africa. The U.S. Senate must confirm the nomination.
The United States in Iraq: An Experiment with Unilateral Humanitarianism
Operation Iraqi Freedom, the invasion and occupation of Iraq by the U.S. and its coalition partners, embodies a new approach to post-conflict humanitarian action. This approach unifies security, governance, humanitarian response, and reconstruction under the control of the Department of Defense. Humanitarian action is unilateral in character and linked inextricably to the U.S. security agenda in the context of the global war on terrorism. The UN agencies and nongovernmental organizations, traditionally the coordinators and implementers of humanitarian assistance and post-conflict reconstruction programs, are expected to play supportive roles within an effort managed by the Pentagon.
New Global AIDS Bill Meets Activist Skepticism
In what its supporters hailed as a milestone in the U.S. commitment to fighting the global spread of HIV/AIDS, the Senate approved by voice vote a five-year, $15 billion anti-AIDS package in the pre-dawn hours of May 15th.
House Passes $15-Billion Global AIDS Measure
In a key victory for President George W. Bush and anti-AIDS activists, the U.S. House of Representatives Thursday approved a five-year, $15 billion package to fight HIV/AIDS in 14 African and Caribbean nations. The bill, which would provide $3 billion each year beginning in 2004 to some of the world’s worst-affected countries, provides that up to $1 billion in each annual installment should go the cash-strapped Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria.
The Dis-Integration of U.S. Global AIDS Funding
In his proposed “Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief” announced during last month’s State of the Union Address, President Bush promised, among other things, “a comprehensive plan [to] prevent seven million new HIV infections.” International organizations working to prevent the spread of HIV and improve women’s health worldwide met the announcement with a mixture of hope and skepticism. Hope because prevention is critical to reducing the toll of HIV worldwide. Skepticism because sound AIDS prevention depends on effective promotion of safe sex, an obvious area of contention for the Bush administration.