BULAWAYO, Mar 24 2011 (IPS) – In the dusty streets of Bulawayo’s densely populated townships, Susan Nkiwane is making house calls today. She is one of a group of twelve women who form a fragile web of support for TB sufferers in her community. Waiting for TB treatment. Credit: Gary Hampton/World Lung Foundation The conditions […]
Category: Wellness
OP-ED: Still no Escape from Killer Chernobyl
Analysis by Peter Custers LEIDEN, the Netherlands, Apr 25 2011 (IPS) – The accident could have served as a wake-up call to the whole of humanity. Twenty-five years ago, on Apr. 26 1986, disaster struck at the fourth reactor of the Chernobyl nuclear complex in the Ukrainian state of the former Soviet Union. The accident […]
CHINA: HIV Patients Find Treatment but Face Discrimination
Gordon Ross BEIJING, May 30 2011 (IPS) – Despite notable successes in the battle against HIV and AIDS in China, discrimination against infected people remains rife here and critics continue to question the Chinese government over allocation of treatment funds. China has cut AIDS mortality by almost two-thirds since it began distributing antiretroviral drugs nine […]
U.S.: A Lifesaver That Fits in Your Pocket
PORTLAND, Oregon, Jul 18 2011 – How much good can a small red pouch, zip tie and sheet of paper do for someone living on the streets? Turns out, a lot. The Vial of Life contains medical information that can help homeless people in case of emergency. Credit: Courtesy of the Downtown Chapel Downtown Chapel […]
INDIA: Sex Selection on the Rise Despite Stricter Law
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, Jul 12 2011 (IPS) – When Sujatha’s husband learned that she had conceived just five months after they got married, he became agitated over what he called her ill-timed pregnancy . To worsen her husband’s anxiety, a test to determine the sex of the foetus showed she was carrying a girl. Sujatha, a public […]
ICRC Warns of Human Toll of Attacks on Medical Workers
Denis Foynes UNITED NATIONS, Aug 12 2011 (IPS) – A new report by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) describes a pattern of attacks on medical staff that the group says is undermining the safe delivery of medical assistance and health care across the globe. The violence against health care faculties and medical […]
Corporate Profits Trumping Public Health
Elizabeth Whitman UNITED NATIONS, Sep 21 2011 (IPS) – There is a well-documented and shameful history of certain players in industry who put public health at risk to protect their own profits, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told world leaders Monday as they met to address the issue of non-communicable diseases at the 66th U.N. General […]
Haitian Cholera Victims Seek Reparations from U.N.
UNITED NATIONS, Nov 8 2011 (IPS) – More than 5,000 Haitian cholera victims are seeking compensation, action and an apology from the U.N. and the United Nations Stabilisation Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) for the ongoing epidemic that has killed more than 6,600 Haitians and sickened more than 476,000 since October 2010. A young child is […]
BRAZIL: Providing Alternatives for Small-Scale Tobacco Farmers
Fabíola Ortiz RIO DE JANEIRO, Dec 23 2011 (IPS) – The fall in world tobacco consumption, especially in industrialised nations, is a sign of the urgent need for producer countries like Brazil, China, India and the United States to offer their farmers alternatives to growing tobacco. Graphic picture-based health warnings on cigarette packs can help […]
ETHIOPIA: “Significant Progress Towards Improving Livelihoods”
While the Ethiopian government boasts that the country can soon be categorised as middle-income, economic analysts are more cautious saying that the country has made “significant progress”. ADDIS ABABA , Feb 21 2012 (IPS) – Ethiopia says that the double-digit economic growth the country has experienced over the last seven years has started benefitting its […]