Progress or Profits? The World Trade Organization’s Approach to Pharmaceutical Patents

How does a powerful institution like the World Trade Organization (WTO) influence global health? Since the 1990s, WTO-led trade agreements have included provisions related to public health and intellectual property—specifically, pharmaceutical patents. How does the WTO's approach to patent law impact the development and accessibility of pharmaceuticals worldwide? In the style of Global Health Watch, this project identified and contrasted the dominant narrative put forward by the WTO and the counter-narrative presented by outside sources. Pharmaceutical patents are justified by the WTO for two reasons: to respect an inventor's right to own and profit from their work; and to stimulate investment into new medicines. The WTO insists that patents do not negatively affect pharmaceutical research or access to medicines because of public health flexibilities included in trade agreements. Evidence from investigative journalists and alternative media sources discredit these claims. Historical and contemporary examples of trade agreements and patented pharmaceuticals show how the current patent system is flawed. Long patent terms have created monopolies and public health flexibilities have been underused. Since the 1990s, free-trade agreements have increased patent protection and made it more difficult for governments to ensure access to medicines, even when patents have expired. While the WTO has positioned itself as a global health stakeholder, this study suggests that its current approach to patents places corporate profit over public health

Inside a Killer Drug Epidemic: A Look at Canada’s Opioid Crisis

“Comprehensive, collaborative, compassionate and evidence-based”are the words used to describe the Government of Canada’sapproach in addressing the opioid crisis. An average of eight peopledie every day due to opioid overdose. This is greater than the numberof Canadians lost in 1995 to the HIV epidemic. This multi-facetedcrisis is far beyond the illegal drug market and the increased use offentanyl and other illegal opioid drugs. The crisis has deeperrootsthat liein high level addiction to legal opioids caused byinappropriate prescribing practices and lack of education about therisks of opioid usage

Societal Fears of Female Sexuality in Witchcraft

In 1663, in Brunswick, Germany, Tempel Anneke was tried, found guilty of witchcraft, and sentenced to death. This project, supported by a literature review, theorizes that the trial and execution were the result of a 17th century fear of uncontrolled female sexuality and the inversion of prescribed societal norms. Witches represented a fear of female sexuality and the power of female sexuality threatened the basic social order. Tempel Anneke was labelled a witch because she was single (widowed) and did not adhere to the archetype of a mother. Her sexuality threatened existing gender norms and German societal norms

Getting in Shape: Government Action on Child and Adolescent Physical Activity in Norway

In social democracies, improving physical activity is arguably the role of the government. Because physical activity and nutrition are factors associated with strong health outcomes, it is important to design effective policies to improve the activity level and nutritional intake among some of the nation’s most vulnerable population groups: children and adolescents. With access to large data and refined scientific methods, determining if government policies, initiatives, and investments are effective is becoming less challenging. This review identifies the ways in which Norway’s government is participating in current country-level interventions to improve physical activity and nutrition in its child and adolescent populations. Empirical studies assessing the impact of Norway’s physical activity- or nutrition-related policies, programs, or initiatives were reviewed. The analysis found three main types of government initiatives: national strategies; school-based programs; and daylight saving time. However, these initiatives led to only limited changes to actual physical activity levels in these population groups. Results suggest that the government should use evidence-based policy making to design future initiatives aimed at reducing sedentary time, increasing physical activity, and improving nutritional habits in children and adolescents

Save-a-Bear: Human Interactive Device, Addressing Accessibility, Emotional Care, and the Seriousness of Teaching CPR to Children, All in the Comfort of One’s Home

This project focused on the application of the interaction design process, design knowledge and skills to design interactions with a child-size manikin for children to learn the cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) technique. Despite having numerous CPR manikins and feedback devices available on the market, very few are specialized in teaching children the essential skill. The interactions with the manikin should be designed to support haptic feedback to facilitate the children’s learning. The study focused on key factors that should be prioritized when developing a CPR manikin for children. The research was conducted as a group utilizing various methods, including primary/secondary, PACT, competitive analysis, and affinity mapping. Findings reveal that there is a need to address accessibility, emotional care, and the seriousness of teaching CPR.      This project led to the creation of Save-A-Bear. It is a portable and responsive CPR bear with compression and audio feedback that addresses accessibility, emotional care, and the seriousness of teaching CPR to children all in the comfort of a child’s home. Features that include an inbuilt speaker that plays 100 beats per minute (BPM) songs, tracks compressions by recording metrics on the app, is easily portable, and raises awareness of the importance of understanding CPR & first-aid practices. This device assists in the transition to remote learning through its physical and digital component and at-home training program. By creating this device, children will be well equipped with the skills to deal with any future medical emergencies, to take care of themselves, their loved ones, and the community

The Impact of Facebook Use on the Psychological Well-Being of Young Adults

With over 2.13 billion monthly active users (2018), Facebook is one of the most extensively used social networking sites in the world. It is so extensively used among young adults that many regard it as an extension of their daily lives. A literature review was conducted to determine if Facebook use positively or negatively impacts the psychological well-being of young adults. Unlike some previous studies, the results of this research show that Facebook has a positive impact on young adults’ psychological well-being, especially for those with high emotional needs. Facebook provides an online community of support, promotes personal growth, coping strategies, and autonomy, and increases the likelihood that users will make healthy decisions. This research gives rise to the possibility of using Facebook in a controlled setting as a coping tool for those with low psychological well-being. Further research is needed on whether the social networking site could  be used to improve the psychological well-being of young adults in educational or health care settings

“Womb for Rent”: Socio-Cultural Implications of Reproductive Tourism in India

Commercial surrogacy in India has become an increasingly controversial human rights and global health issue. Indian women living in dire poverty are the most vulnerable group in this transnational phenomenon. Reproductive tourism can be defined as the process whereby affluent people, predominately from Global North countries (i.e., Canada) seek assisted reproduction in the Global South (in this case, India), to accomplish fertility and kinship formation goals while remaining oblivious to the inevitable social issues associated with this international trade. This study investigates how the media and academic anthropological research present current understandings of family and kinship regarding commercial surrogacy. I argue that reproductive tourism is a multi-faceted social issue with significant socio-cultural implications for kinship in India and the Global North with roots in a gendered division of labour, culture-specific belief systems, technological advancement, race and class stratification, capitalist structures, and globalization. I critically analyze diverse media sources that offer insights within these realms, and I use research in anthropology as ethnographic evidence to support, challenge, or extend claims reported by the media. The commodification of reproductive labour has had vast impacts on the cultural meanings of kinship in India and in Global North countries. Transnational surrogacy must be perceived by governments as a public matter rather than a private one, in order to adequately derive holistic solutions to halt the exploitation of vulnerable Indian women while balancing the desire of infertile individuals to utilize surrogacy as a means of kinship formation