Update: May 13

Apologies to those who came by to get an update on my travels. Spending time in front of a computer has not been a priority while I’ve been away. For the first time in years I’ve been un-tethered and it feels pretty damn go0d. I’ll add some photos when I get home in roughly two weeks.

Cheers.

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I’m off to Thailand on Thursday and I’ll be gone until the end of May.

The best way to get in touch while I’m away is through email. You can get me at evan@evanduggan.com. Some of you can get a hold of me via Facebook. I can also be reached on Twitter. (@evanbduggan).

I’ll return phone messages when I get back.

For those interested in my travels, I’ll try to post a few entries about what I’m up to. I’ll be taking lots of photos too and will try to keep my gallery up to date.

Enjoy the playoffs Vancouverites. I’m crossing my fingers the Canucks will still be hanging around by the time I get back during the third round.

One of my favourite shows on television is PBS’s Frontline.

It premiered a great doc last night on Japan’s Fukushima nuclear disaster last March.

Nuclear Aftershocks raises several important questions about what happened in Japan, and whether the disaster should have been anticipated and prevented. It also shows how many countries, including the United States, have to decide what to do next with nuclear-generated power in light of Japan’s nuclear meltdown.

Japan appears to have taken several large steps away from nuclear power as a direct consequence of what happened, and could phase out nuclear reactors entirely. Law makers in Germany have shifted away from nuclear too, buttressed by powerful public opinion and fear.

The doc shows that–at this point–there is no environmentally sustainable alternative to nuclear energy, which can generate enough clean power to bridge the gap between sources such as wind and solar, and what is required for base energy requirements.

Germany for one is looking at using coal to bridge that gap.

The questions: are we willing to risk the consequences of future nuclear disasters? Can we afford not to?

More than half the countries in the world have little to no access to pain medications, the result of bureaucratic hurdles and the chilling effect of the global war on drugs.

We traveled to India, Ukraine and Uganda to put a human face on just some of the millions of patients around the globe forced to suffer long-term illnesses in excruciating pain.

Here’s the result of our year-long investigation.

For those who didn’t come across this in July when the documentary first premiered on Al Jazeera’s People & Power, our film Freedom from Pain is still available on AJE’s website.

The doc was reported and filmed by students, myself included, from the University of British Columbia’s School of Journalism.

We traveled to India, Uganda and the Ukraine to figure out why the so many people–as many as 80 per cent of the world’s population–goes without pain killers when they need them the most.

If you’re moved by what you see, please spread it around.

Please take the time to view our new documentary called Freedom From Pain. It airs on the Al Jazeera English program People & Power on Wednesday July 20 at 3:30 p.m. pt.

Nine journalism students, myself included, traveled to India, Ukraine, and Uganda to investigate how countries around the world treat patients suffering from extreme medical pain.

What we found was alarming: Millions of people in the world are suffering from advanced cancers, horrific wounds, and terminal illnesses with virtually no access to painkillers. But unlike so many global health problems, we found that the lack of pain treatment isn’t about money or shortage of drugs. Morphine — the gold standard in pain treatment — is not only cheap, but is also readily available. We discovered that inflexible, outdated bureaucracies and an irrational fear of narcotics are responsible for the suffering of so many people around the world. Some experts have even compared the suffering of these millions of patients to torture.

However, there is hope. We met with pioneers and doctors in the medical and human rights communities that tirelessly fight to get morphine to patients who need it most and end the needless suffering.

For more information please email me at evan@evanduggan.com.

A press release will be available on Monday, July 18.

You know of a nice, 2 bedroom suite/apartment in Vancouver that’s available for August 1. West of Commercial Drive would be great. Close to good public transit is helpful too.

evan@evanduggan.com

Fascinating topic and a great read in The Tyee about social media, the Vancouver riot and mass disclosure.

Orwell’s telescreens from 1984 really have become a part of our world. How prophetic.

Give this a read and spread it around.

It’s 6:30 in the morning. Dr. Paul Klimo gets out of bed and walks into the kitchen. He makes mango tea, which he sips while his English muffin browns in the toaster.

His wife wanders into the kitchen a little later. They chat, discussing their much-needed home renovations that keep getting put off.

At 8 a.m., Klimo makes the brief commute from his house in West Vancouver to Lions Gate Hospital, where he runs the chemotherapy clinic.

At the hospital, Klimo grabs an espresso from the coffee counter, and at 8:30 a.m., his staff in the oncology department huddle to plan their busy day. They’ll be seeing nearly 30 patients, some for consultations and some for treatment. After lunch, Klimo leaves the hospital and heads up the street to his office where he’ll spend the afternoon with another round of patients. All told, he will see as many as 45 people during his day.

This is Klimo’s routine. It’s been this way more or less since he came to the North Shore three decades ago.

He’ll trace these steps for the last time on Thursday, June 30, and then he’ll retire.

Read the rest of the North Shore News Sunday Focus here.

It was painful enough to watch the Canucks lose their grip on the franchise’s first-ever Stanley Cup last night — that truly caused me great agony. What is far worse and cuts much deeper is the real harm caused to this city by one of the most ridiculous collections of fools I’ve ever seen.