Neena Bhandari
SYDNEY, Apr 13 2008 (IPS) – While millions of children s lives have been saved as a result of a successful worldwide campaign to boost vaccination programmes, governments across the world are failing in following through on their commitments to health aid and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Wealthy countries such as the G8 members continue to content themselves with largely symbolic gestures. We have to make sure that the pledge made by governments (on MDGs)is followed, eminent medical scientist Gustav Nossal told IPS.
Global resources for fighting AIDS, Tuberculosis and malaria now total eight billion US dollars a year. The amount should be several times more than this. After all, we are only talking about the price of a couple of jet fighter…
Farid Ahmed
DHAKA, May 24 2008 (IPS) – Authorities here have stepped up surveillance against avian influenza after the case of a 16-month-old boy, who took ill in January, was diagnosed as one of infection with the deadly H5N1 virus.
Culling operations gainst bird flu outside Dhaka. Credit: Farid Ahmed/IPS
Bangladesh become the 15th country to report a case of human infection after the Geneva-based World Health Organisation (WHO), citing results from laboratories at the Centres for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta, confirmed the in…
Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Jun 19 2008 (IPS) – The devastating impact of rising food prices is expected to hit most of the world s 2.2 billion children the hardest particularly in developing nations.
They are likely to be its main victims, says Kul Gautam, a former deputy executive director of the U.N. children s agency UNICEF. Remember, 80 percent of the human brain is formed in the first 18 months of a child s life.
And whether a child will grow to live up to his or her full human potential, or the child will be condemned to be a slow learner and poor achiever in life, is largely determined in the first few years of a child s pre-school life.
The damage caused by malnutrition, infection and poor child care in early childhood often lasts for the whole lif…
Ali Gharib
WASHINGTON, Aug 27 2008 (IPS) – From the party platform ratified by delegates between speeches Monday, to primetime, headlining speeches by two heavy hitters in the election Sen. Hillary Clinton and first-lady hopeful Michelle Obama the initial two days of the Democratic National Convention were dominated by women.
Michelle Obama addresses delegates at the Democratic National Convention, which ends on Aug. 28. Credit: rklau…
Gustavo Capdevila
GENEVA, Oct 27 2008 (IPS) – A draft protocol to eliminate all forms of illicit trade in tobacco products, such as contraband, illegal manufacturing and counterfeit cigarettes, has been outlined at the World Health Organisation (WHO).
The second meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body in charge of drafting the protocol, which ended on Saturday, debated the possibility of creating a group of experts to review certain initiatives, including the feasibility of an international system for monitoring and tracking tobacco products.
The system must have international standards and be appropriate for low- and middle-income countries, said Eduardo Bianco, a Uruguayan doctor and the Latin American head of the Framework Convention Alliance on Tobacco C…
Prime Sarmiento
MANILA, Dec 22 2008 (IPS) – Cecilia Moran never thought that she would one day have to give up farming owing to poor health. She grew up helping her father tend a family-owned plot in Davao province. The sale of such produce as rice, corn, coconut and durian in the local market took care of family needs.
A few months ago, after being weakened by tuberculosis, Moran retired from farming. Her illness, Moran said, was brought on by constant exposure to aerial spraying with toxic pesticides.
Big agribusiness corporations in Davao employ aerial spraying to kill Sigatoka , a fungus that attacks the leaves of banana plants and causes premature aging of fruits. Bananas, primarily grown in Davao, are a valued export crop and earns for the Philippines over 400 m…
Marcela Valente
BUENOS AIRES, Mar 23 2009 (IPS) – The colourful new magazine of the International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS (ICW) in Latin America and the Caribbean has a modern look and provides not only information but articles on fashion and entertainment. It is also the perfect size to carry in a purse.
Magazines in doctors offices often show HIV-positive women in the role of victims, leading tragic lives. But the ones I know are happy, full of energy, and living healthy smoking-free lives, keeping close track of their immune systems, María Mansilla, the editor in charge of content for the publication No estás sola (You Are not Alone) told IPS.
The name of the magazine emerged from the slogan of an ICW Latina campaign targeting pregnant women livi…
Kester Kenn Klomegah interviews ALEXANDER ANTONENKO, Russian businessperson
MOSCOW, Apr 22 2009 (IPS) – At a glance, trade between Russia and African states is still at low levels, which experts attribute to an inadequate flow of information and lack of interaction.
Alexander Antonenko: Keen to collaborate with African enterprises Credit: Kester Klenn Klomegah/IPS
While Russia is undergoing an economic transformation and is predicted to become one of the …
Mel Frykberg
GAZA CITY, May 21 2009 (IPS) – The lives of hundreds of critically ill Gazans continue to be jeopardised by the power struggle between rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah, and political blackmail by Israel.
Mohammed Zibdeh, 12, who has cancer of the brain is waiting in Gaza city for a permit to travel to Israel for advanced treatment. He is dependent on a ventilator connected to his throat for survival.
Last year Mohammed was able to secure a permit to travel to an Israeli hospital where he received chemotherapy for his brain tumour, causing the tumour to shrink significantly.
However, a power struggle between Fatah and Hamas over the issuance of exit permits for patients, and Israel s reluctance to issue visas for Gazans on the basis of al…
Kristin Palitza
CAPE TOWN, Jul 22 2009 (IPS) – Failure to sustain funding for HIV/AIDS treatment programmes could lead to a rising number of deaths, particularly in Africa.
Shortfalls in funding for sites like this Senegalese health clinic will directly affect HIV disease and mortality rates. Credit: Dima Gavrysh/UNFPA
We need 17 to 18 billion dollars per yea…