From 2002 to 2005, we evaluated five Brazilian harm reduction programs ran by active drug users who distributed pipes, condoms, educational material, and provided referral to crack users. System-wide barriers identified: funds discontinuation and legislation barriers toward fieldwork. Major achievements: increased access to health, social, and psychological support. Crack-cocaine users experien...

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is a highly-contagious livestock disease with global socioeconomic ramifications. The disease negatively impacts both individual farmers through reduced herd viability and nations through trade restrictions of animals and animal derivatives. Vaccines for FMD prevention have existed for over 70 years, yet the disease remains enzootic in a large percentage of the glob...

BACKGROUND The complexity of malaria and public health policy responses presents social, financial, cultural, and institutional barriers to policymaking at multiple stages in the policy process. These barriers reduce the effectiveness of health policy in achieving national goals. METHODS We conducted a structured literature review to characterize malaria policy barriers, and we engaged stakeh...

In the last 20 years, both public and private expenditures on resource conservation and environmental protection have increased dramatically. However, there are numerous technical and political barriers to the efficient use of conservation funds. This paper discusses some of these barriers and approaches to overcoming them. It argues that ecosystem complexities such as threshold effects, ecosys...

This study aims to a comparative study of development plans of Iran and South Korea over the past four decades with an emphasis on economic and political development using comparative historical; research method. Theoretical framework is derived from Amartya Sen, Shils and Adrian Leftwich theories. Results of this study depict that under development approach of South Korea, priority has been co...

The political fallout of the referendum against 'mass migration' in Switzerland could damage the country's reputation as a hub for international scientific collaboration. Worse still, by encouraging anti-immigration parties across Europe ahead of the European elections, it could ring in a new era of barriers to the exchange of people, skills and experience. Michael Gross reports.

Red-tape barriers (RTBs) are an important source of trade costs, but have received little attention in the trade literature. In this paper we take a first step toward a theory of RTBs, and show that their implications can be very different from those of more traditional trade barriers. The model highlights that RTBs have important impacts on the extensive margin of trade, and yields rich compar...

While entrepreneurs benefit from unrestricted free entry into markets, they have a time-inconsistent incentive to lobby for government entry restrictions once they become successful. Bad political institutions yield to these demands, and growing barriers are placed on domestic and international competition. Good institutions do not, and this effort is instead channeled toward further wealth cre...

Rising international trade flows are a primary component of globalization. The liberalization of trade policy in many developing countries has helped foster the growth of these flows. Preceding and concurrent with this move to free trade, there has been a global movement toward democracy. We argue that these two trends are related: democratization of the political system reduces the ability of ...

Antenatal syphilis control is an integral component of reproductive health policies in most countries. In many of these countries, however, the existence of a health policy does not automatically translate into an effective health programme. We argue that neglecting to take into account the perspectives of all stakeholders when planning programmes may be the reason that functional and sustained...