Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) is recognized as a serious public health problem, accounting for 250 000 to 300 000 deaths per year; it is now the third-leading cause of death behind cancer and nonsudden cardiovascular deaths.1,2 Immediate, well-performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and early defibrillation are the only out-of-hospital interventions that improve outcomes.3 The chain of surv...

Q: Why did the CIPIH fail to deliver its report on time in 2005? A: The CIPIH had to deal with a very difficult issue: how to promote the development of medicines for diseases prevailing in developing countries. These diseases are neglected in industry’s R&D (research and development) budgets because selling medicines to treat them is not profitable enough. The CIPIH chose to cover issues rangi...

Recent trade disagreements over hormone treated beef, genetically modified foods, and antiretroviral drugs have captured the public interest and revealed the tensions between national public health policies and the need to comply with trade agreements overseen by the World Trade Organisation. A new round of global trade negotiations will be on the agenda next month at the World Trade Organisati...

BACKGROUND: Following the lead of evidence-based medicine, practice based on effectiveness research has become the new gold standard of contemporary public policy. Studies of this sort are increasingly demanded to evaluate services provided by mental health, social services and criminal justice systems. AIMS: The paper questions whether the simple randomized controlled trial (RCT) paradigm as a...

Nike's tagline,"Just do it," is an inspirational call to action for the millions who wear the company's athletic gear. But in terms of corporate responsibility, Nike didn't always follow its own advice. In the 1990s, protesters railed against sweatshop conditions at some of its overseas suppliers and made Nike the global poster child for corporate ethical fecklessness. The intense pressure that...

The number of public policy conflicts has increased sharply in most western democracies, especially in the fields of planning, regional development, and environmental policy. Attempts have been made to find a way out through new forms of negotiation-based conflict resolution. Alternative Dispute Resolution raises high expectations as to its potential for reaching consensual solutions, to be ach...