Latest blog articles

Only a short drive from Maastricht, border stones still mark the borders of Neutral Moresnet, a small condominium that was the result of a very peculiar round of border negotiations and for over a hundred years was a tax haven, a gambling paradise and a would-be Esperanto state.

Throughout the EU, the rights of asylum seekers come under pressure. Overdue policy changes remain stuck in negotiations because of lacking political will. It is up to the European Commission to step up and protect the fundamental rights of asylum seekers.

How do we guarantee access to COVID-19 vaccines and therapies, and secure health-related human rights for all? We’ve heard a string of promises in the race for new vaccines and therapies.

It’s been almost a month since the COVID-19 pandemic has drastically changed the way we live and work. Now that we are more used to, in a manner of speaking, the extraordinary measures to curtail the rampant spread of the virus, it’s time to seriously consider, and openly discuss, this crisis’...

The approach of drugs related problems in Maastricht, with the help of a specially equipped project Frontière, based on the decrease of visible nuisance in the city over the recent years, has so far been successful. ^{(This blog is only available in Dutch)} 

Globally the majority of health-related R&D is invested in medicines with substantial guaranteed returns, yet what is missing is extensive R&D targeted at diseases overwhelmingly prevalent in developing countries. This threatens long-term availability of medicines and treatment options for these...

A 83-year-old man suffered severe brain damage due to a fall in a bank. The man was brought to a hospital where he died one week later. A medical report then showed that the lack of assistance did not (even partly) contribute to the man’s unfortunate death. Still, the refusal to help had certain...

Edwin Kruisbergen obtained his doctorate on monday 9-01-17 at the VU, with a thesis entitled Combating Organised Crime; a study on undercover policing and the follow-the-money strategy. According to confiscation of illegally obtained assets Kruisbergen concluded that not even a 5^th part of the total...