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Every year the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) publishes a report on the global poverty situation. This year, the report stresses ten themes:
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the commitment to poverty reduction
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developing national anti-poverty plans
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linking poverty to national policies
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linking countries’ international policies to
poverty
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governance: the missing link
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pro-poor local governance: the neglected reforms
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the poor organise: the foundation for success
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focusing resources on the poor
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integrating poverty programmes
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monitoring progress against poverty.
The report emphasises the need to integrate initiatives to promote basic education and health care with national poverty programmes. The report also points out that the connection between ill health and lack of income is often overlooked even in anti-poverty policies and needs to be addressed, particularly for fighting epidemics such as malaria and HIV/AIDS.
To read or download the report visit http://www.undp.org/povertyreport/main
by Belén Balanyá, Ann Doherty, Olivier Hoedeman, Adam Ma’anit and Erik Wesselius, Pluto Press, 2000, 247 pages, price £14.99, ISBN: 0 7453 1491 0
This book describes how corporate influence affects European Union (EU) policies. It demonstrates the systematic way in which transnational corporations, working through lobby groups, have succeeded in influencing a wide range of EU policies. The book also notes that other international institutions have been influenced including OECD, the World Trade Organization and the United Nations.
Looking at all the major players, the authors focus on anti-democratic practices and analyse the structural and political factors that have enabled corporate political power to rule. The book is divided into three sections. The first section introduces the major corporate lobby groups in the EU and describes their contribution to the current neoliberal character of EU legislation. The authors illustrate how national governments, who themselves are main lobbying targets, equate corporate interests with those of the general public. This section also includes a case study on corporate influence upon biotechnology policies.
The second section looks at the EU’s role in promoting economic globalisation, a model of global restructuring of economies and societies around corporate interests. Focus is placed on the alliances between corporate lobby groups and the most powerful governments such as the EU. The authors then examine their combined influence over key economic globalisation institutions like the WTO and the Transatlantic Economic Partnership.
The most important corporate groupings operating on the global level are introduced in the third section. One example given is the International Chamber of Commerce’s attempts to gain control over UN institutions. The book ends with a number of recommendations on how to roll back corporate political and economic power to enable progressive policies and democratisation of society. The authors call for action in social and environmental justice, especially targeting the negative impacts of corporate power.
For ordering information contact: pluto@plutobks.demon.co.uk or visit their website: http://www.plutobooks.com.
Series Editor Nancy Ethiel, Cantigny Conference Series, 1999, 168 pages, price free
The stakes are high in medical publishing. Consumers and health professionals both depend on news reports and medical journals to alert them to new information affecting health. This book, based on the proceedings of a recent conference involving journalists, medical journal editors, the pharmaceutical industry, health professionals and researchers, addresses ethical issues arising from the huge financial stakes in the publication of biomedical research. It underlines the fact that when medical research is used for financial gain or when it becomes a commercial venture there are clear incentives for the industry to present incomplete or distorted medical information.
Topics addressed include the commercialisation of medical news, the links between scientific publication and stock value and misleading medical reporting. The four sections are entitled From the Internet to Infomercials: Assuring the Quality of Medical Information, The Influence of Corporate Interests on the Publication of Medical Information, Biomedicine and the Stock Market, Media Strategies of Medical Journals, the Biomedical Industry, and Research Institutions and Perspectives on the Reporting of Medical Information.
For copies send request to The McCormick Tribune Foundation, 435 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60611, Attention: Sharon Rowell, Programme Officer or visit http://www.rrmtf.org/journalism
Development is the journal of the Society for International Development and aims to be “a point of reference for the dialogue between activists and intellectuals committed to the search for alternative paths of social transformation towards a more sustainable world.” The journal looks at global development initiatives at local, regional and international levels.
The articles gathered in this special issue are the result of a partnership among the World Health Organization, the Society for International Development and the Rockefeller Foundation. The three organisations came together to discuss these issues at a special meeting held at WHO headquarters in Geneva.
The issue follows the structure of the conference starting with a conceptual overview of globalisation and public health and moving on to four cross-cutting themes: governance issues; negotiating new health systems among market, state and civil society actors; the challenges of poverty, health and sustainable development, and TRIPS, pharmaceuticals and the new international division of labour.
In this last section, HAI Europe contact Ellen ‘t Hoen argues for more equitable access to drugs and points out that currently one-third of the world’s population lacks access to essential drugs and that new international trade regulations are likely to result in an even worse situation. ‘T Hoen looks at access problems related to cost, insufficient production and the lack of research and development on needed drugs.
In a related piece, HAI Asia member Zafar Mirza writes on the WTO/TRIPs, pharmaceuticals and health. In it, he examines problems of access to medicine and high drug prices and describes how the implementation of the TRIPs agreement weakens the position of the national-level pharmaceutical industry and that fact’s negative consequences for the majority of the world’s population.
To obtain the journal contact e-mail: subscription@sagepub.co.uk or visit their website at www.sagepub.co.uk. Further information is also available at tel:(+44-207) 374 0645.
by Joseph Glenmullen, M.D. Simon & Schuster, 2000, price US$25,
ISBN 0-684-86001-5
In this highly controversial book, Dr. Joseph Glenmullen, a Harvard psychiatrist, documents the serious long-term side effects of antidepressants taken by an estimated 28 million people. Some of the side effects Glenmullen lists include loss of motor control, sexual dysfunction and new information linking the use of Prozac to an increased inclination towards violence and suicide. At the same time, he offers hope with powerful alternative methods including psychotherapy, cognitive-behavioral treatment, herbal remedies, diet, exercise and twelve step programmes. Glenmullen reports that as many as 75% of patients receive Prozac unnecessarily and/or for trivial conditions and that many doctors outside of academic medical centres are unaware of the risks involved.
Dr. Glenmullen uses the term “Prozac Backlash” to describe the brain’s reaction to the chemical intrusion of the drug. He documents that a high percentage of patients on the drug will have impaired normal functioning of the brain due to Prozac and it is the “backlash” that causes the most severe side effects.
Another controversial issue touched on is the question why the public has not been made aware of all these serious side effects. Glenmullen proposes that public health policy is inadequate for the long term monitoring of side effects of drugs as FDA approval of new drugs on the market only assures short term safety. He also points out that pharmaceutical companies typically perform trials on new drugs that last a mere six to eight weeks and in this way the threat of serious long term side effects are overlooked.
Notwithstanding the ominous warnings, Dr. Glenmullen does offer a balanced view of the efficacy of Prozac and similar drugs. He determines when and how they should be prescribed and concludes that there is an appropriate place for Prozac in the treatment of some patients. He does however, emphasise that drug dosage should be kept low and that patients should be weaned off medications within six months to one year.
By Peter R. Breggin, M.D. and David Cohen, Ph D, Perseus Books, ISBN: 0-7382-0184-7 (1999)
“In this book, Dr. Peter Breggin (a renowned U.S.-based psychiatrist) and Professor David Cohen (a Canadian sociologist who specialises in the effects of psychotropics) absolutely refute the idea that bad brain chemistry is the most important cause of human suffering. To them, this is a reductionist view that is based on nothing but pseudo-science. The authors give a detailed analysis of the damage psychotropics frequently cause, plus ample advice on how to safely stop using them (withdrawal often mimics or worsens the symptoms of the underlying psychiatric condition.) Of course, they also offer other treatment alternatives.
This brings one to an important question: How does the apparent consensus about the usefulness or even necessity of psychiatric drugs tally with such opposing views? Are we dealing with maverick idealists here, whose ideology has made them blind to the less romantic but undeniable laws of brain chemistry? Bearing in mind the authors’ backgrounds (Breggin: Harvard College, Case Western Reverse Medical School, a teaching fellowship at Harvard Medical School; Cohen: McGill University, University of California, Professor of Social Work at the University of Montreal) I would say that this is out of the question. Moreover, Breggin and Cohen back up their critique with piles of very convincing, scientific evidence.
In fact, between the lines the authors themselves supply the answer to the above question. According to them, much of the so-called ‘evidence’ that supports psychiatric drug use finds its origin in the powerful pharmaceutical industry, whereas few funds are available for the distribution of opposing views.
As someone who, for many years, has closely followed the publication of ‘modern’ psychiatry, I am convinced that there is much truth to what Breggin and Cohen have to offer. Therefore, I consider the book an absolute must for anyone who wants to make well-balanced decisions about the application of psychiatric drugs. Even those who may not agree fully with the authors’ opinions will undoubtedly consider the book a real eye-opener.”
(Review by HAI Europe member Frank van Meerendonk)
by Lori Wallach and Michelle Sforza, Public Citizen Foundation, 1999, 229 pages, price US$15
This handbook, for activists who want to challenge corporate–managed trade, explains the system of the World Trade Organization’s code for global commerce. The authors, Lori Wallach and Michelle Sforza, note that the “neoliberal” model of economic organization promotes the expansion of trade at the cost of ignoring workers’ rights, environmental protection, consumer safety and citizen involvement in shaping policies that effect their lives.
The authors look at the political power wielded by the WTO, citing convincing examples such as President Clinton’s refusal to aid American steelworkers defend their jobs in the face of Japanese, Russian and Brazilian steel “dumping”. Clinton claimed that he could do nothing because the World Trade Organization rules forbade him from intervening.
This book describes in detail how the World Trade Organization has prevented citizens from enforcing laws designed to regulate business practices, by creating loopholes for companies.
To order, visit http://www.globaltradewatch.org.
