The objective of this study was to explore the possibility of asbestos exposure during the process of diamond mining. Scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analysis were used to identify asbestos fibres in the lungs of diamond mine workers who had an autopsy for compensation purposes and in the tailings and soils from three South African diamond mines located close to asbestos deposits. Tremolite-actinolite asbestos fibres were identified in the lungs of five men working on diamond mines. Tremolite-actinolite and/or chrysotile asbestos were present in the mine tailings of all three mines. Mesothelioma, asbestosis, and/or pleural plaques were diagnosed in six diamond mine workers at autopsy. The authors conclude that these findings indicate that diamond mine workers are at risk of asbestos exposure and, thus, of developing asbestos-related diseases. Even at low concentrations, asbestos has the potential to cause disease, and mining companies should be aware of the health risk of accidentally mining it. Recording of comprehensive work histories should be mandatory to enable the risk to be quantified in future studies, the authors argue.
Health equity in economic and trade policies
Participants at an official high-level thematic debate on trade at the United Nations Conference on Least Developed Countries, held in Istanbul, Turkey, in May 2011, criticised excessive trade liberalisation as damaging to the economies of least-developed countries (LDCs). President Banda of Zambia, who gave a keynote speech, also criticised the lack of a positive response from the European Union to African demands in the Economic Partnership Agreement negotiations. Martin Khor, Executive Director of the South Centre, noted that many LDCs have higher ratios of exports to gross national product than some developed countries. He argued it is the way in which the LDCs are integrated in trade that has been a disadvantage because LDCs are too dependent on raw materials export, and prices of commodities have had a long-term trend decline, thus causing major revenue and income losses. All speakers agreed that LDCs face the basic problem of supply capacity which hinders them from taking advantage of any market opening and that their exports outside of commodities therefore remain small. Khor emphasised that it is thus vital that LDCs be assisted to increase their capacity to produce in agriculture, industry and services, including health services.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has announced it will be entering a new phase in its Global Action Plan for Influenza Vaccines (GAP), in which the organisation will be giving more attention to the local health and policy environment. WHO held its first review of phase 1 of GAP on 12-14 July 2011. WHO’s estimate of the seasonal flu vaccine manufacturing capacities is 800,000 million doses per year, compared to 350,000 in 2006. The estimate rises to 1.7 billion doses by 2015 if all the projects going on now are successful. There are currently 37 manufacturers of influenza vaccine in the world, either operating now or operational by 2015. According to WHO, 10 manufacturers are in Europe, 14 in the Western Pacific region, 6 in the South East Asia region, and 5 in the Americas region. Included in the 37 are 11 new manufacturers in 11 low or middle-income countries are part of the GAP programme, which have been working with WHO to acquire technologies to produce influenza vaccine.
Across Africa, China has become known as the agent of mass construction, bartering infrastructural development – chiefly mining-specific – for long-term access to strategic resources. Through this mechanism, Ghanaian cocoa, Gabonese iron and Congolese oil have been swapped for construction of dams (Bui, Poubara, and River Dam), allowing Chinese corporations such as Sinohydro to capture Africa's hydropower market. The 'barter system' enables China to export goods and labour and to 'import' recycled project capital and African resources. In the process, the author of this article argues that China has activated the same 'Western' capitalist vehicles of engagement but with one noticeable difference: prior to Beijing's entrance, just 4% of foreign direct investment (FDI) was earmarked for infrastructure. China has constructed stadiums across the continent, as well as buildings and special economic zones. Though Zambia was pegged as the third largest recipient of Chinese investment in Africa, Zambian labour unions appear apprehensive about Chinese FDI as the means of national development, stating that Chinese FDI has had modest impact on national development, with overall negative impacts on the labour market. In Zambian mines, the bulk of the work is reported to be subcontracted to Chinese workers and companies, leading to complaint of displacement of local workers.
British firms are reported to have acquired more land in Africa for controversial biofuel plantations than companies from any other country, a Guardian investigation has revealed. Half of the 3.2m hectares (ha) of biofuel land identified in countries from Mozambique to Senegal is linked to 11 British companies, more than any other country. There are no central records of land acquisitions in Africa, but research by the Guardian revealed 100 biofuel projects in sub-Saharan Africa by 50 companies in more than 20 countries. The authors note that the revelation of the central role of UK companies in biofuels coincides with a report from Oxfam forecasting that the price of staple foods will more than double in the next 20 years. The report identifies biofuels as a factor and demands that western governments end biofuel policies that divert food to fuel for cars.
A large group of developing countries has submitted a proposal to amend the World Trade Organisation's Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement to require the disclosure of origin of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge in patent applications. The proponents stressed that the change would help ensure that the utilisation of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge would comply with the access and benefit-sharing legislation of the country providing genetic resources and traditional knowledge, that is, the country of origin. They call for acknowledgement that a legal obligation establishing such a mandatory disclosure requirement in patent applications will help prevent both misappropriation of genetic resources and the granting of erroneous patents and also enhance transparency about the utilisation of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge.
While China's relationship to Africa is much examined, knowledge and analysis of India's role in Africa has until now been limited but, as a significant global player, India's growing interactions with various African countries call for detailed analysis of the Asian giant's influence and its relations with the African continent. In this book, which enables readers to compare India to China and other 'rising powers' in Africa, expert African, Indian and western commentators draw on a collection of accessibly written case studies to explore inter-related areas including trade, investment, development aid, civil society relations, security and geopolitics.
As world market prices for crops such as grain and soybeans have risen, governments in countries that import food have realised they can no longer depend on the market for supplies. At the same time, predictions that food and water shortages are being exacerbated by climate change and expanding populations have convinced countries such as China, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and others to buy large amounts of land in poor countries in Africa, according to this paper. Agribusinesses, government agencies, and investment funds alike have been acquiring long-term leases for more than 50 million hectares of land in countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar and Mozambique. But in many cases the contracts are just a few pages long, and the land is sold for less than US$1 per hectare. These so-called “land grabs” are water acquisitions as well; some contacts include turning over water rights without a fee. And since most of the leases are for up to 100 years, the local population often loses the rights to its land and water for generations. Why are the governments in these African countries signing such fragile deals? Poor African nations hope to gain jobs and infrastructure development, the author concedes. Yet many local farmers living on land sold to foreign entities stand to lose much as most of the contacts to acquire the land were completed without local participation or notification.
The European Commission has issued a new draft customs regulation that it says addresses past concerns over wrongful seizures of generic drug shipments transiting through European ports. But the new regulation does not substantively change existing rules, it said, and civil society groups say it does not go far enough. The proposal does not explain that the customs regulation is of a procedural nature, and it does not change or add to the rules defining what an intellectual property rights (IPR) infringement is. In 2008, shipments of legitimate generic medicines transiting through Europe were detained by customs authorities on allegation of IPR rights infringement. This triggered the filing of disputes at the World trade Organisation (WTO). On 11 May 2010, India requested consultations at the WTO with the European Union and the Netherlands about seizures of generic drugs coming from India and travelling via the Netherlands to developing countries in Africa and elsewhere. India said those seizures were inconsistent with the obligations of the European Union and the Netherlands of various provisions of the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). The dispute is ongoing and remains at the consultation phase.
According to the author of this article, secrecy jurisdictions – or tax havens - act as financial sinkholes: places where vast sums of money flow between the legitimate world economy and the illicit underworld economy. The costs of financial sinkholes are borne by ordinary citizens throughout the world, not only by taxpayers in industrialised countries but also by many of the world’s poorest people. The author points to the flight of US$735 billion (in constant 2008 dollars) from sub-Saharan Africa from 1970 to 2008. Most of this disappeared into secrecy jurisdictions, with recorded African deposits in Western banks amounting to less than 6% of this amount. To put Africa’s capital haemorrhage into perspective, the total foreign debt of the same countries stood at US$177 billion at the end of 2008. In this sense Africa is a net creditor to the rest of the world because its external assets far exceed its external liabilities. However the assets are private and hidden, whereas the liabilities are public, owed by the people of Africa through their governments. The author points to advocacy from groups like the Tax Justice Network, Global Financial Integrity and Global Witness, who have raised public awareness of these issues.