Zofeen Ebrahim interviews NAFIS SADIK, special adviser to the U.N. Secretary General and special envoy for HIV and AIDS in Asia BERLIN, Sep 10 2009 (IPS) – As secretary-general of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in September 1994, Nafis Sadik had described this groundbreaking event as a quantum leap in reinforcing commitments […]
Category: Wellness
AFGHANISTAN: Gov’t and Donors Fail to Protect Women’s Rights
Eli Clifton WASHINGTON, Dec 7 2009 (IPS) – Attention over the past week has focused on United States President Barack Obama s decision to surge troop levels in Afghanistan to 30,000 and begin a drawdown in 18-months, but a new report calls attention to the failure of the Afghanistan government and international donors to protect […]
ZAMBIA: Putting Waste to Work
Lewis Mwanangombe NDOLA, Zambia, Nov 23 2009 (IPS) – When Obed Mumba first came to the Zambian copper mining town of Ndola in search of work, it was still known reverently as Ku kalale the land of the white man. In the decades since, he has witnessed his Kabushi township outgrow the limited dreams of […]
KENYA: Anti-Counterfeit Law “Violates Right to Life and Health”
Susan Anyangu-Amu NAIROBI, Dec 21 2009 (IPS) – Kenya s new Anti-Counterfeit Act will be challenged on Mar 8 next year in the country s Constitutional Court on the basis that it violates the right to health. The petitioners, three people living with HIV, argue that the law confuses generic and fake medicine. This could […]
KENYA: Victory for Anti-Abortion Lobby
Susan Anyangu-Amu NAIROBI, Feb 2 2010 (IPS) – The threat by influential Christian leaders to mobilise a vote against Kenya s draft constitution if it does not explicitly prevent any expansion of abortion rights appears to have succeeded. Thousands of young women risk their health procuring abortions each year: will a new constitution entrench restrictive […]
ENVIRONMENT-UGANDA: Landslides – Experts Warn Worst is Yet to Come
Joshua Kyalimpa KAMPALA, Mar 9 2010 (IPS) – Fourteen-year-old Isaac Wadyegere of Bundesi village in Bududa district woke up to a rainy and chilly Monday morning and went to school as usual. But Mar. 1 was not a usual day in eastern Uganda. Officials assessing the damage caused by the latest landslides in Kabale, western […]
MIDEAST: Adding Torture to Injury
Pam Bailey GAZA, Apr 13 2010 (IPS) – It was bad enough that Ahmad Asfour was severely maimed by an Israeli drone strike outside his house on Jan. 9, 2009. But, his search for advanced treatment landed the journalism student, now 19, in Israeli prison where he remains. Samir Asfour with a picture of his […]
African Grandmothers Demand Support in Role as Caregivers
Mantoe Phakathi MANZINI, Swaziland, May 13 2010 (IPS) – Africa cannot survive without us, is the message from grandmothers representing all corners of the continent. March at the birth of the African Grandmothers Movement: We demand economic independence to support our families. Credit: Mantoe Phakathi/IPS More than 3,000 grandmothers marched in the streets of Swaziland […]
WORLD: “Anti-Counterfeit Deal Threatens Accessibility of Drugs”
Adam Robert Green LONDON, Jun 28 2010 (IPS) – A proposed anti-counterfeit trade deal between 10 countries and the European Union (EU) could create a new set of barriers to the export of generic medicines to low income countries . Everest Panda gets medicine for her baby from nurse Khetase Kapira in the children s […]
KENYA: HIV Strain Among Gays Same as Strain in Heterosexuals
Isaiah Esipisu NAIROBI, Jul 20 2010 (IPS) – Because of societal pressure and the criminality associated with men who have sex with men (MSM) in Kenya, Omondi Maina* married a woman. This is despite being involved in a homosexual relationship for the last 10 years. David Kuria of the Gays and Lesbians Coalition of Kenya […]