Justiciability of the Right to Health: access to medicines - the South African and Indian experience

The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that the share of people lacking access to essential medicines worldwide is around 1.7 billon, approximately one-third of the world’s population. Lack of access to essential medicines is an especially serious problem for patients in developing and least-developed countries, where many people struggle just to survive from day to day. From the total number of people who lack access to essential medicines, an estimated 1.3 billion, that is to say, about 80%, live in low-income countries. The reasons why patients lack access to essential medicines are manifold and complex and will not be set out in this article. Often mentioned are prohibitively high medicines prices, which have been ascribed to the practice of the pharmaceutical industry of protecting their pharmaceutical products and processes from competition through patents. Whatever the exact reason for patients’ lack of access to essential medicines, the consequences can be disastrous both for the individual concerned and for society at large when taking into account the scale of the problem worldwide. Although many academics and (non-governmental) organisations have addressed this particular problem from various perspectives, the aim of this article is to illustrate the different approaches taken by two legal systems with regard to the justiciability of the right to health. Moreover, the article intends to demonstrate how allowing for the justiciability of the right to health can play a role in enhancing access to medicines for patients in developing countries

Flow Visualization Studies on Drag-Reducing Turbulent Flows

Flow visualisation studies in a square duct of internal dimensions 44.5 x 44.5 mm are reported. The flow marker is a stream of opaque white dye, released from a downstream facing stationary tube, and it is photographed through the plexiglass wall of the duct. The point of dye release can be traversed in a direction perpendicular to the duct wall and three locations are investigated, two in the core of the flow and one in the near- wall region. By using Is exposure times photographs are obtained of a dye dispersion cone and the cone angle is measured and related to the turbulence properties of the flow. Using water as the solvent various concentrations of the highly effective drag reducing polymer Polyox WSR-301 are explored and relationships obtained between cone angle and injection location, Reynolds number and drag reduction. The importance of turbulence suppression in the near-wall region of the flow is demonstrated to be closely linked with the drag reduction mechanism

Etude de la répartition des mollusques hôtes intermédiaires des schistosomes en Afrique de l'Ouest : premiers résultats

Au cours de 18 enquêtes réalisées dans 29 régions de 6 pays d'Afrique de l'Ouest (Bénin, Haute-Volta, Mali, Niger et Togo), une espèce de #Biomphalaria (#Biomphalaria pfeifferi) et six espèces de #Bulinus (#Bulinus truncatus rohlfsi, #Bulinus globosus, #Bulinus jousseaumei, #Bulinus umbilicatus, #Bulinus senegalensis et #Bulinus forskalii) ont été récoltées. L'ébauche de la carte de répartition de ces espèces permet de remarquer : la présence de trois espèces principales (#Biomphalaria pfeifferi, #Bulinus globosus et #Bulinus truncatus rohlfsi) ; l'absence de #Biomphalaria pfeifferi au dessus de 14° de latitude Nord ; l'existence d'une zone à #Bulinus truncatus rohlfsi au nord, d'une zone à #Bulinus globosus au Sud et d'une zone intermédiaire où ces deux espèces sont en sympatrie ; la présence possible de deux souches de #Schistosoma haematobium, chacune transmise par l'un des deux hôtes intermédiaires précédents. Les auteurs font remarquer la tendance à l'extension des parasitoses et de leur hôte intermédiaire, résultat des divers travaux d'aménagement hydraulique et la nécessité de sensibiliser les autorités aux problèmes de santé attachés à tout projet d'aménagement

Effect of dislocations on charge carrier mobility-lifetime product in synthetic single crystal diamond

The authors report correlations between variations in charge transport of electrons and holes in synthetic single crystal diamond and the presence of nitrogen impurities and dislocations. The spatial distribution of these defects was imaged using their characteristic luminescence emission and compared with maps of carrier drift length measured by ion beam induced charge imaging. The images indicate a reduction of electron and hole mobility-lifetime product due to nitrogen impurities and dislocations. Very good charge transport is achieved in selected regions where the dislocation density is minimal

Genetic variability in the compatibility between Schistosoma haematobium and its potential vectors in Niger : epidemiological implications

Une étude de la compatibilité de #Schistosoma haematobium envers ses vecteurs potentiels #Bulinus a été menée au Niger dans trois systèmes épidémiologiques : zones irriguées, mares temporaires, mares permanentes type guelta saharienne. Il a été montré que #Bulinus truncatus et #Bulinus senegalensis avec 71,5 % et 85,9 % de taux de réussite à l'infestation sont de bons hôtes intermédiaires alors que #Bulinus globosus et #Bulinus forskalii sont totalement incompatibles. Les combinaisons #S. haematobium - #B. truncatus sympatriques ou allopatriques donnent des résultats semblables. Ceci laisse supposer le manque d'isolement des populations de schistosomes et le grand brassage du génome du parasite par suite de la grande mobilité des populations humaines sahélienne

Contribution of three rivers to floodplain and coastal productivity in the Gulf of Carpentaria: Finfish catch and growth

Barramundi were used as an indicator species for the effects of river flows on estuaries because they use a variety of aquatic habitats (marine to freshwater) and are an iconic fisheries species of significance in northern Australia. The Fisheries Queensland commercial catch logbook and monitoring data for length, age and reproductive data provide a long-term data series of this estuarine-dependent species in the Gulf of Carpentaria (GoC)