Drug groups accused of collusion with medicines regulator
Some of the world’s biggest drugmakers have been accused of putting lives at risk by colluding with India’s medicines regulator to win approval for drugs without expensive human safety trials. A report this week from India’s parliamentary committee on health suggests that global drug groups, including GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis and Eli Lilly, “colluded” with India’s Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) to speed lucrative drugs through the approval process.
Cameron puts brakes on his planned reform of lobbying
The UK Government has downgraded its radical proposals to overhaul the lobbying industry in one of a series of U-turns contained in the Queen’s Speech. The creation of a statutory register of lobbyists is expected to be included in next year’s Queen’s Speech – but only in draft form, signalling that it could be years before any actual change is introduced. This is despite the priority that David Cameron attached to reforming lobbying, which he called the “next big scandal waiting to happen”.
UN assesses 130 countries on sustainable water management
A survey undertaken by the United Nations Environment Programme and UN-Water has found that over 80% of UN member countries have reformed their water laws in the past twenty years as a response to growing pressures on water resources from expanding populations, urbanisation and climate change. The survey, which is intended to inform decision-making at the Rio+20 Conference in June, also found that 90% of countries reported a range of positive impacts from integrated approaches to water management, following national reforms.
Inequality in sub-Saharan Africa could threaten political stability and growth, according to the Africa Progress Report, the flagship publication of the Africa Progress Panel. “Extreme disparities in income are slowing the pace of poverty reduction and hampering the development of broad-based economic growth,” says Kofi Annan, who chairs the panel of activists, business people and politicians. The report notes that 70% of Africa’s population lives in countries that have averaged economic growth rates in excess of 4% over the past decade, but that most countries are not on track to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. It recommends investment in education, youth employment, smallholder farming, technology and governance in order to combat inequality.
Top scientists urge governments to solve environmental ‘dilemmas’
The world’s leading scientific institutions have urged governments to focus on three “global dilemmas”: growing demands for water and energy, natural disasters and measuring carbon dioxide. A series of statements, signed by the heads of the national science academies of 15 countries, including the UK, the US, China, Germany, Russia and India, recommend that governments should “engage the international research community in developing systematic, innovative solutions” to these pressing problems.
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