New Internationalist

Bad medicine - inequality’s toxic effect on health and healthcare

With medical attention increasingly rationed and concerns over the quality of life for a growing elderly population, is the notion of ‘healthcare for all’ impossibly utopian? As our societies become increasingly stratified, healthcare systems further reflect inequality.

November 2012, Issue 457

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The Big Story

The vision thing
Inequality squeezes both how healthy we are and the healthcare we get. Time to get past it, believes Dinyar Godrej.
The cost of living
Industry practices that milk profits from drugs are killing the poor, says Nick Harvey.
Russian roulette for Greeks
Attacks on public health services have left Katerina Kitidi’s compatriots in a hard place.
Healthcare, health and inequality: THE FACTS
A matter of life and death: the contrasting rates of mortality, access to medicine and care across the globe.
Child survival – but at what cost?
We need to go beyond ‘saving lives’ and demand a right to health, according to Claudio Schuftan.
Moral medicine: the Cuban way
A revolutionary example of efficient and affordable healthcare, by John M Kirk and Chris Walker.

Mixed Media

Songs for Kommeno by Günter ‘Baby Sommer’ et al
Ginger and Rosa, directed by Sally Potter
Slavery Inc by Lydia Cacho
The Revenge of History by Seumas Milne

Features

Rosia Montana’s last stand
The fight to save the Romanian town from a destructive gold-mining project has life in it yet, as Luke Dale-Harris reports.

Agenda

Colombia: will peace prevail?
As guerrilla army FARC enter formal talks with government, Colombians are optimistic about an end to the country’s protracted civil war, reports Jonathan Glennie.
Food safety flaw
Introducing... Hassan Sheikh Mohamud
Trafigura: toxic mess
The heat is on in Doha
Fair trade dust-up
Australia: gas hub threat
A divided community weighs up whether to protect aboriginal lands or opt for $1.3 billion in compensation.
India: Trumped-up charges
Azerbaijan: Extradition incites
PLUS: Scratchy Lines by Simon Kneebone

Opinion

Argument – Is there a place for genetically modified crops in a sustainable future?
Author and journalist Mark Lynas and researcher and writer Claire Robinson go head-to-head.
PLUS: Open Window
With Talal Nayer, from Sudan/Ethiopia.
Mark Engler
How not to make every vote count.
Steve Parry
Heroes, frauds and Trojan Tories.
PLUS: Polyp’s Big Bad World cartoon
Essay: To everything there is a season
How can Egyptians make sure last year’s uprisings have a lasting legacy? Maria Golia looks forward.

Regulars

Letter from Botswana
The arrival of the first rains is a moment of joy for Wame Molefhe.
Country Profile: Grenada
Zoe Leigh Smith reports on the tiny Caribbean island’s strangling debt burden.
Making Waves
Zoya Rouhana is fighting for women’s rights in Lebanon.
Worldbeater
The Koch Brothers – class warriors for the one per cent.
Southern Exposure
Saving the tiger, photographed by Fauzan Ijazah from Indonesia.
PLUS
Marc Roberts’ Only Planet cartoon.
And Finally...
Shortlisted for this year’s Booker Prize, Indian novelist Jeet Thayil is not afraid to court controversy. He spills the beans to Amy Hall.