Stephen Harper ended Parliament in typical style. He had the trained seals he's appointed to the unelected Senate (a body he doesn't believe in) sabotage the clear will of the democratically elected House of Commons with consequences that will cost the lives of "thousands, maybe millions, of poor people" in Africa and elsewhere.

The words are those of an outraged James Orbinski, a renowned doctor and Canadian expert in international health. The issue is Bill C-393, passed by a large majority in the House to provide inexpensive Canadian-made generic drugs for people in poor countries dying of easily treatable diseases such as AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.

Armed with the willingness to make change and the support of their university student bodies, over 120 students from around the world traveled to Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut this November to attend the 3rd annual conference of the student advocacy group Universities Allied for Essential Medicines (UAEM).

UAEM was formed at Yale in 2001 to encourage universities to support funding and implementation of neglected disease research that focuses on illnesses primarily affecting developing countries, such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and Chagas. UAEM also works with universities' research and medicine patent and licensing offices to ensure that both are made globally available and are financially affordable.