International dimensions in education

Re: International dimensions in education

by Gina Bennett -
Number of replies: 0
Hi Nancy,

I'm glad you raised the example of the availability of generic, low-cost AIDS drugs for Africa. That example was also raised during our discussion at ETUG last week. I think it's an extremely pertinent example; in fact, you could argue that it is the same example. Because it's not exactly the availability of the drugs themselves that's so critical (the drugs I'm sure could be made in African laboratories too): it's the information about how to make them that's so critical. It's vital, essential medical information, & without it, people die.

You did suggest a difference between the AIDS drug problem & the problem of sharing other essential information. You suggested that the drug problem was solved at an institutional/international level. I will suggest that the AIDS drug problem was perhaps 'solved' a number of times informally, illegally, outside of the institutional/international level long before it reached global recognition.

Access to information is an essential part of access to education. I'm not saying that education is the total cure to everything -- hungry people need food first -- but education is the key to a sustainable improvement in quality of life. To my thinking, withholding information so that the rich can get richer while the poor get poorer is just plain wrong.

Gina