RUMAISA KHAN
Despite President Obama’s claims of shutting Guantanamo Bay down, the military detention camp remains standing. The institution is often criticized for its human rights violations and severe health problems.

TRILLIUM CHANG
On September 23rd, the United Nations kick started the long anticipated Climate Change Summit in New York City. This year’s UN Climate Change Summit not only faces political obstacles but also major moral conundrums.

SHAYAN SHAKERI
Recent strides of the trans*-rights movement have led to positive shifts in the tides governing the ability of trans* people to acquire necessary healthcare. Despite these changes, trans* people face still discrimination in both healthcare and coverage.

ELEANOR HEAVEY
As the 2015 target deadline for the MDGs quickly approaches, there is a focus on accelerating international progress in the reduction of both maternal mortality and the under-five mortality rate by two thirds between 1990 and 2015.

By Matt Douglas-Vail, University of Toronto

Abstract

For people living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa, living or dying depends on access to antiretrovirals (ARVs), which is determined largely by pharmaceutical companies.  In order to understand the epidemic, it is important to examine how the pharmaceutical companiesí distribution of ARVs has contributed to and exacerbated the climate of HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. This paper aims to examine the ways in which pharmaceutical companies, through the unequal distribution of ARVs, have participated in the implementation of contemporary neo-colonialism and thereby worsened the HIV epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa. Briefly, neo-colonialism is the practice of using multi-national corporations to ensure vulnerability, dependency and maintain control over nations. The importance of ARVs will be examined in conjunction with the official policies on access to medications and the role of structural adjustment programs in exacerbating the epidemic. 

By  Marcus Tutert, University of Toronto

Abstract

On November 22nd 2013, the fourth strongest typhoon ever recorded struck the Philippines, leaving devastation in its wake. Over a million residents have been left homeless while the death toll has climbed to over 5,000. In addition to this, a lack of effective healthcare provision from the Philippine government has left the region exceedingly vulnerable in the aftermath. Over the past couple of years, the Philippine policy of decentralization has left the country’s healthcare provision under the jurisdiction of smaller organizations. This policy was initiated because larger central bodies have historically lacked accountability and responsiveness. This article will explore this decentralization of healthcare within the Philippines, examine its potential strengths and address its most significant failings and how they contributed to the ineffective national typhoon response. Following that, the article will comment on the challenges involved with improving systems of care within developing nations as a whole, while assessing possible alternatives proposed by the global health community.

By Amy C. Willis

Abstract

With the introduction of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill (AHB) in Uganda in 2009, an environment of fear, stigma and shame now envelopes the country’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) community. Uganda’s LGBT population is under constant fear of social and legal punishment, with threats of persecution, public outings, and violence constantly bubbling under the surface. To make matters worse, the AHB includes a clause specific to HIV-positive LGBT-identified people under its aggravated homosexuality charge, with the death penalty as the punishment that accompanies a conviction of aggravated homosexuality. The impact of this proposed legislation on the LGBT community and HIV education and prevention is vast and can have a potentially negative impact on the LGBT and men who have sex with men (MSM) communities and beyond.