Apartheid
February 10, 2024
Defunding UNWRA in Gaza is ‘collective punishment’ – Lancet & Health Justice Organizations
Health and political leaders globally have condemned defunding of UNRWA, the principle lifeline for the people of Gaza. Sharmila Devi, in the current issue of Lancet, quotes UN leaders and aid agency leaders (including WHO) “no other entity has the capacity to deliver the scale and breadth of assistance that 2·2 million people in Gaza…
January 27, 2024
Tim Schwab & “The Bill Gates Problem” Town Hall Seattle Podcast
Tim Schwab, author of the recently published “The Bill Gates Problem: Reckoning with the myth of the good billionaire,” headlined a Seattle Town Hall event in December 2024 sponsored by the Community Alliance for Global Justice. In this podcast of the event, Tim explains how Bill Gates’ uses his foundation as a vehicle for unaccountable…
Wars are never necessary: Gaza is the best example
This short Lancet piece by Souza, Buss, and Alcazar notes that since the Gaza war began in October 2023, “nothing has been resolved and all impasses remain. The costs of lives lost and survivors’ lives destroyed forever are immense. The billions of dollars spent on killing so far could have saved lives, fed and immunised…
November 7, 2023
Vaccine Milestone: South Africa Starts Local Meningitis Production
In a landmark move for public health and African pharmaceutical manufacturing, South Africa’s Biovac has entered into a strategic partnership with Korean vaccine producer, EuBiologics Co. Ltd., to commence the production of a meningitis vaccine on African soil. This collaboration represents a significant stride in the fight against meningococcal disease, an endemic threat in South…
October 13, 2023
[BOOKS] on Medical Appartheid
Medical apartheid refers to the systemic discrimination, segregation, and unequal treatment of individuals or groups based on their race or ethnicity within the healthcare system, leading to disparities in access, quality of care, and health outcomes. Book recommendations on medical appartheid: “Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial…
October 6, 2023
Could you patent the sun? How vaccine patent waivers would save lives
The world had the chance to truly treat COVID-19 as a common problem and respond to it in an equitable and just manner. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, politicians, mainstream media and celebrities in the West declaring the disease the “great equalizer” – implying that this novel virus would affect everyone regardless of their position, wealth,…
September 2, 2023
Fossil Fuel Shackles: How Wealthy Nations Hook Developing Ones
Introduction In the realm of global environmental justice, a disconcerting phenomenon has gained prominence in recent times: the entrapment of impoverished nations by their wealthier counterparts into a relentless dependence on fossil fuels. (1) This practice, though obscured by economic negotiations, perpetuates a cycle of environmental degradation and inequality. By examining pertinent examples and evidence,…
September 13, 2022
[BOOKS] on Phantom Aid
“Phantom Aid” refers to the phenomenon where foreign aid is promised but not effectively delivered, often due to corruption, mismanagement, or other systemic issues. Here are recommended books to explore the topic more: “The White Man’s Burden: Historical Origins of Racism in the United States” by Winthrop D. Jordan (1974) This seminal work offers…
May 31, 2022
[BOOKS] on War in Global Health
Here is a list of some books that emphasize the role of the USA in fomenting war across the world, often to protect US dominance, corporate exploitation, and promote neoliberal policies – or to undermine or overthrow governments that challenge such exploitation. Some of the books include: “Washington Bullets” by Vijay Prashad (2020) Prashad…
May 7, 2022
Apartheid logic in global health
Mosoka Fallah and Eric Reinhart provide an excellent historical perspective on the global apartheid of HIV treatment in the 1990s and early 2000s as a backdrop to understanding the abject failure to provide COVID-19 prevention and care to the disenfranchised peoples of the world. They point out how such efforts perpetuate the “quasi-colonial humanitarian playgrounds…
