Central to the achievement of the Agenda for Sustainable Development is an adequate, equitably distributed and fully supported health workforce. Nurses are the largest occupational group and represent an indispensable force with which to combat inequities in access to health services and progress towards health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), while …
A EUROPEAN Community plan to introduce a carbon tax to reduce oil consumption and pollution may run into heavy weather in Japan, Malaysia and some other East Asian states, whose officials say they would prefer to cut the lead and sulphur contents in oil that is considered harmful. "We believe …
USE OF additives, irradiation and the threat of pesticide residues and food-borne infections have led to the quality of diet being questioned these days as never before. Factory Farming comes as a comprehensive review of modern livestock farming and its implications, mainly in the context of Europe and North America. …
What do you think of Agenda 21, especially as there are so many who would prefer to find fault with the document? It's a broadbased question. Agenda 21 should be taken for what it is -- a broad inter-governmental agreement on a number of principles and objectives that is long …
ALL THROUGH the second half of the 20th century, whenever Western governments have seen their industries lagging behind globally, they have resorted to updating their technology policies. The result has been that technology strategies became the key to economic growth not only in the US and in several European nations, …
THE EFFICACY of azidothymidine (AZT) in delaying the onset of AIDS symptoms is in serious doubt following a three-year study in Europe, which indicates it makes little difference whether AZT treatment starts early or late. The Anglo-French study, called Concorde, found 29 per cent of the volunteers who took AZT …
TWO HUNDRED years ago, Thomas Malthus had asked at what point man's population would exceed his means of subsistence. The world's population then had not reached 1 billion. Today, a year before the population conference in Cairo, the total number of people in the world is fast approaching 5.5 billion. …
WHILE the European Community has rejected vehement French demands for a ban on the import of cheap fish primarily from Russia and other non-EC countries, it has agreed to monitor fish exports from these countries more closely. France -- one of the biggest fish consumers in the EC -- had …
TILL THE 16th century, so little was known in Europe of Africa and Asia that the main task for Western scholars in the 16th and 17th centuries was to record the bewildering variety of strange new worlds and reconcile them with their constricted medieval vision of the earth. The works …
EVEN AS European Community researchers are developing a powerful computerised translation system that promises to break through language barriers, scientists in Japan, Germany and USA are working on a telephone translation system whose implications for world trade are mind-boggling. Both systems are reportedly in the test stage. The EC project, …
FARMERS are exploiting a loophole in the European Community's new common agricultural policy, which grants them crop subsidies to leave their land fallow so as to reduce oilseed production. But many of these fields in UK will shortly turn a greedy yellow as they would have been planted with rape …
DENMARK is determined to use its position as president of the European Commission to push through the proposed energy tax because, as Danish energy minister Jann Sjurgen put it, "EC must shoulder its responsibility in trying to combat global warming." The proposed tax will be levied on fuels with a …
TEMPTED by projections that the number of air passengers will double in the next 10 years, but daunted by the US $10 billion price tag of a super jumbo jet with a carrying capacity of 800 passengers, Boeing of USA is negotiating collaboration with Europe's Airbus Industrie consortium. Boeing's latest …
BIRD MIGRATION patterns can change dramatically over decades and scientists say global warming can increase the incidence of such changes. Drastic changes in climate and landscape during the ice ages led to many birds altering their migratory routes. Such changes occur at present as well, but too gradually to be …
A US $700 million "nuclear safety account" to reduce the risk of accidents in east Europe - agreed in principle last July - has finally been approved by specialists from the Group of Seven industrialised nations. At least 32 reactors are deemed sufficiently safe for upgrading; 26 are excluded as …
MONSOON modeller A D Vernekar and his colleagues at the University of Maryland have worked out how the snow cover in Europe and Asia, especially in the Tibetan plateau, affects the Indian monsoon. Using what he calls a COLA (Centre for Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Interactions) global circulation model, Vernekar simulated the global …
PRESSING need for foreign exchange is pushing the country on to the international timber trail. Though the ministry of environment and forests (MEF) chooses to be tight-lipped, official sources admit timber exports have been given a green signal. To begin with, timber traders will be allowed to re-export teak wood …
A NEW CONDOM for women that gives them greater sexual freedom has been approved for sale in some European countries (Outlook Vol 10, No 2). The condom consists of a loose-fitting, polyurethane sheath with flexible rings at both ends. The smaller ring at the closed end is inserted into the …
1992 has been a watershed year. Trends that were visible over the last few years came to a head, both globally and locally. At the global level, the events that preceded the Rio summit and took place at the meet were fascinating proofs that micro movements at the community, state, …
What is the significant insight that you have gleaned over your years in environmental politics? We've realised the circle of dependency that exists between the government -- with its five-year cycle of being in power -- and industry -- with its 20-30 year cycle of investment planning. Industrialised countries depend …
WHILE Europe continues its efforts ID reduce electromagnetic pollution, dw European Commission (EC) has gritated a four-year reprieve to mWons exporting electronic equipMonts. The Commission recently wowded the deadline for imposing %@&restrictions; against import of shm2rouic goods that do not adhere to standards for electromag interference or pollution (EMI) md …
