STWR - Share The World's Resources

The malaria pandemic still affects half the world's population, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa where it remains a huge killer. But the battle is as political as scientific, and the issue of the distribution of funding - reduced since the economic crisis - has taken on crucial importance, says Pauline Léna.

Conventional wisdom insists that the private sector is much more efficient than the government, but is this really true? Recent privatisation initiatives in health, education and national defence have proven more expensive and less effective than the public-run alternatives, writes David Morris.

As the world population approaches seven billion, still many developing countries are struggling to keep pace with the investments that are required to meet the needs of their growing populace. So what are the prospects for the two billion more people that are expected by 2045? Analysis by IPS News.

Recent “intellectual property enforcement” initiatives threaten access to affordable medicines in poorer countries. Policymakers must reject these dangerous efforts to prioritise commercial interests over the right to health, say signatories to the Berkeley Declaration.

We need a better way of balancing the interests of researchers wanting to develop traditional knowledge for modern medicine, and the indigenous custodians of that knowledge who are entitled to a fair share of any rewards, say Bhushan Patwardhan, Gerard Bodeker and Darshan Shankar.

There is a general readiness on the part of the Irish public for a redistribution of resources to address the issue of inequality, which lies at the heart of so many mental health problems. This demands a radical overhaul of our economic structures and systems as well as political action, argue Justin Frewen and Anna Datta.

The United Nations says urbanisation is now unstoppable and we should prepare to live in the 'endless city' - defined by megaregions linked by urban corridors. But the reality is that the world’s megacities are becoming sprawling megaslums, writes John Vidal.