The Los Angeles Times reports this week that Venezuela’s last independent television station, Globovision, has been sold to owners close to...
The Los Angeles Times reports this week that Venezuela’s last independent television station, Globovision, has been sold to owners close to the new president. For any optimists who hoped for positive change under new President Nicolas Maduro, it appears that he is continuing his predecessor’s policies. In an interview with the Bush Institute’s Freedom Collection, Venezuelan broadcaster Marcel Granier describes how the state censored and ultimately closed the RCTV station several years ago.
Last December, The 4% Growth Project of the Bush Institute hosted the Immigration and Economic Growth Conference to spotlight the positive economic impact of immigration. This week, the Wall Street Journal writes that cities, mostly in the Midwest and mid-Atlantic states, are betting that attracting foreign-born residents can spur business creation and revive neighborhoods.
This article is by Dr. Sakeena Yacoobi, director of the Afghan Institute of Learning. From the time of Taliban control, she opened literacy centers for women. Her article describes a quiet, but forward movement of women in Afghanistan, one whose power should not be discounted or underestimated.
In energy and economic news, Economic Growth Fellow Bernard Weinstein in the National Journal explains that with few new policy interventions, America is cleaning its air, reducing GHG emissions, and producing more domestic energy from both conventional and renewable sources.
The Global Health team points to a recent New York Times article on the announcement that two companies that make vaccines against cervical cancer are cutting their prices to the world’s poorest countries below $5 per dose. This will eventually make it possible for millions of girls to be protected against a major deadly cancer. It comes as wonderful news to the Institute’s Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon initiative, which works with PEPFAR (the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) to screen women for cervical cancer and save lives in sub-Saharan Africa.
The Global Health program is also looking at a new Save the Children report, which says Africa has the worst infant mortality of any continent in the world. Nearly every minute somewhere in the world, two newborn babies die, and often in developing African countries like the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali, or Sierra Leone. Contrary to popular belief, these countries do not need to look to the West for solutions. Using new efficient business-like approaches, countries and organizations right within Africa are making basic newborn health care more accessible, acceptable and affordable and saving more babies than ever.
What We’re Watching
Rwanda was the first African country to introduce protection with donated HPV vaccines. The GAVI Alliance, a public-private global health partnership founded by Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon partner the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, will support this program in 2014 with a sustainable supply of paid-for HPV vaccines. Watch their short film on Rwanda’s program.
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