Global IssuesWhat’s New July 2006
This page lists changes to this site for July 2006.
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One year on from the G8 Summit of 2005 that seemed to promise so much in the area of tackling poverty, what has been the status so far?
It seems that some progress has certainly been made. For example, significant debt cancellation has allowed some countries to offer enhanced or even free health services to all. Yet, there are still many concerns. The fancy accounting and spin used by some countries to paint a positive picture or give the impression that more assistance has been delivered than what actually has risks discrediting the process, impacting the poor once more. This short article explores some of these concerns.
Tobacco companies accused of interfering with governments’ attempts to implement the international treaty, the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control
The world’s first global health treaty—the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control—became international law in February 2005. The treaty requires countries to impose restrictions on tobacco advertising, sponsorship and promotion; improve labeling and packaging; establish clean indoor air controls; clamp down on tobacco smuggling, and more. However, tobacco companies, understandably concerned about their profits, have been accused of interfering with government policy-making (which they are explicitly prohibit to do under the treaty), through various tactics, including pressure campaigns, bribery and corruption of media owners and editors, and of government officials.
Bush Administration silencing its own climate scientists?
At the beginning of 2006, New York Times reported on NASA’s top climate scientist claiming he was being censored when talking about climate change. The BBC recently followed up with a documentary that looked into this apparently being the case on a wider scale.
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