Monthly Archives: April 2013

Earth Rangers Wants You to Bring Back the Wild

Earth Rangers is a conservation organization focused on getting kids engaged in protecting and learning about the environment. They have a program currently focused on having kids actively engage in protecting wildlife and their ecosystems. Earth Day happens later this month but there’s no reason why you can’t be thinking about the planet everyday. Get inspired by all the great kids making a difference!

In September 2010, Earth Rangers developed Bring Back the Wild, a national education and fundraising program that educates children about the importance of protecting animals by preserving their natural habitats, while raising funds to support the acquisition and restoration of endangered habitats across Canada. Since launching the program, over 200,000 kids have registered to become an Earth Ranger and over $1,000,000 has been raised for conservation projects.

For Earth Rangers, every day is Earth Day and Earth Month is the perfect time to showcase some kids making a difference. Earth Rangers supports children who launch environmental initiatives, act as conservation leaders in their community and engage in fundraising activities of their own to help protect endangered species.

Check out the Bring Back the Wild program.

India’s Supreme Court Paves the Way for Cheaper Pharmaceuticals

India continues to pave the way for providing cheaper generic drugs for its citizens compared to other nations which have a heavy patent system. Previously India has produced drugs for 97% less than ‘normal’ costs as well as committing to the development of generic drugs. Looking out for their citizen’s wellbeing has got them in trouble with a Swiss pharmaceutical company though.

The company took the government to court and after seven years of legal battles the court sided with the government’s goal of providing affordable health care.

Healthcare activists have called on the government to make medicines cheaper in a country where many patented drugs are too costly for most people, 40 percent of whom earn less than $1.25 a day, and where patented drugs account for under 10 percent of total drug sales.

“This appears to be the best outcome for patients in developing countries as fewer patents will be granted on existing medicines,” said Leena Menghaney, Medecins Sans Frontieres’ Access Campaign manager for India.

Over 16,000 patients in India use Glivec, the vast majority of whom receive it free of charge, Novartis says. By contrast, generic Glivec is used by more than 300,000 patients, according to industry reports.

“It’s a victory for patients who take these medicines and also for the government,” said M. Adinarayana, company secretary at Natco Pharma.

Read more here.