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Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA) is home to 21% of the world’s population of people who inject drugs and it is the region with the fastest-growing HIV epidemic. HIV prevalence among women who inject drugs is significantly higher than among men in EECA. Even in places with high coverage of needle syringe programmes and HIV testing and treatment, women’s access to opioid substitution treatment is lower than men, and women’s sexual and reproductive health needs remain unaddressed. EECA has a unique system of drug registries that store the personal data of people who use drugs. Registration lowers the chances of employment and access to education and for women and increases the risk of losing custody of their children. The system of drug registries contributes to drug-related stigma. Breaches of confidentiality of drug registry data lead to the further marginalisation of women who use drugs. Criminalisation, past experience of police violence and poverty contribute to healthcare access barriers for women. There is a need for legislative changes to improve personal data protection, decriminalise drug use and reduce police violence. The positive effects of these changes would only be seen in the long term. In the interim, women need special access programmes that are designed specifically to address their needs, that provide free-of-charge services and that ensure the safety and confidentiality of personal data.

In this study, the authors aimed to explore consumer perspectives on accelerated access to medicines. The authors were particularly interested in how they balance competing considerations of safety, efficacy, equity and access; whether and how their views change when there are different levels of uncertainty surrounding the safety and efficacy of new medicines; and the procedures that they think should be used to make decisions about accelerated access to new medicines.

This was an exploratory qualitative study. Thirteen semi-structured interviews with patient advocates and two focus groups with patients were conducted and analysed thematically. Interviews and focus groups were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data were analysed through inductive thematic analysis.

Participants outlined a range of justifications for accelerated access, including addressing unmet medical needs and encouraging further research and development. However, they were also cognisant of the potential risks and viewed ongoing data collection, disinvestment and market withdrawal as ways to address these. They also emphasised the importance of transparent decisions being made by people with relevant expertise, based on a thorough consideration of scientific evidence and stakeholder perspectives.

This is the first study to comprehensively explore Australian consumers' views of accelerated access to medicines. The results suggest that consumers want timely access to new medicines, but not at the expense of safety, efficacy, equity and sustainability. While accelerated access programs are likely to be welcomed by consumers, they must be fully informed of their conditions and limitations, and robust post-market data surveillance must be implemented and enforced to protect the interests of both individual patients and the broader community.

This study aims to examine a large, non-disclosed production contract awarded to Lockheed Corp. in the context of a trade-off between a contractually required non-disclosure clause and the need (as a publicly traded firm) to disclose material information to its shareholders. This production contract generated significant cash flows to the firm as evidenced by growth in its earnings. However, the existence of the production contract and its contribution to Lockheed’s earnings, was not disclosed by the firm to shareholders and potential investors while the production contract was being executed.

The authors examine the market reaction to several key contract events which were not disclosed at the time they occurred, in compliance with the contractually required non-disclosure clause.

A statistically significant stock price reaction around the time of the award of this non-public contract, indicative of trading by some capital market participants using non-public information was documented.

Because similar large non-public contracts funded by the government are common in the industrial economy, we conclude by discussing implications for organizational structure, firm’s cost of capital, equity-based compensation and market efficiency.

The aim of this paper is to demonstrate how an imaginative sourcing policy can be used to provide a competitive advantage for clothing manufacturers based in high‐cost countries. The paper shows how Chorus Line Corporation implemented their sourcing mix, through a combination of production in different regions, to maintain and develop their competitive position in the womenswear market in the USA. The company's basic data and decisions are outlined as an example of how one privately owned company views the sourcing and production decision. In this way the paper will help firms to develop their own global production strategies with balanced sources to meet their business and market strategies.

The purpose of this research-based philosophical piece is to present a progressive manifesto for public libraries in the 21st century to address gaps in embracing diversity in its holistic dimensions and representing such information in their strategic planning and web documentations.

Content analysis of public library websites in the USA informed the development of a Strategic Diversity Manifesto that includes the “who”, the “what” and the “how” components to describe and discuss diversity-related matters in their strategic planning and web representations.

The Strategic Diversity Manifesto provides a mechanism for individual public library agencies, in their localized context and environment, to strategically inquire, describe, discuss, reflect, analyze and translate into concretized actions their picture of diversity as grounded in the reality of their representative communities.

The Strategic Diversity Manifesto presents a more a comprehensive and consolidated picture of diversity beyond isolated strategies seen in past efforts. It is a broader level of analysis and “picture painting” of the agency’s context, which may not be as detailed as compared to other modes of description, though as a result, it is more holistic instead of fragmentary. The aim is first and foremost to provide a basis for reflective thought and discussion.

This paper summarizes and compares the perspectives of the prior essays in this issue. Goes on to argue that education for democracy requires dialogical, authentic learning rather than the commodification of uniform, standardized knowledge and its acquisition touted by those marketizing education primarily for economic purposes. The paper calls upon educators and university scholars to resist the identification of learning with text scores, and to defend the traditional role of learning in the human emancipation of citizens whose knowledge and life lessons learned in school contribute to their wise governance of themselves.

To identify controls that can harness the power and capabilities of instant messengers (IM) while minimizing potential security risks.

A risk analysis method and (CIS)² model are used.

IM is a great tool for enterprise productivity. However, it has so many risks, but one could identify and control these risks with technical and managerial countermeasures.

This paper fails to provide detailed and specific risks of commercial IMs, and the case study provided in this paper focuses on the technical rather than managerial issues.

A very helpful case study which provides general risks and controls of recent IMs for the security officers of various organizations.

This paper outlined the risks of IM and potential controls for securing public IM in the workplace.