David Vargas
ASUNCION, Oct 4 2007 (IPS) – In spite of official claims to the contrary, it is becoming less and less likely that Paraguay will meet the health goals the United Nations member countries committed themselves to achieve by 2015, experts say.
A study published by Dr. Antonio Arbo, head of paediatrics at the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Asunción, indicates that far from showing progress, health indices have worsened in recent years.
The report places Paraguay among the five countries with the highest child mortality rates in the Americas. In Paraguay, for every 1,000 live births, 25 children die before reaching their fifth birthday.
This figure has not varied much in the past 12 years, Arbo said. In 1995 it was 30 children per 1,000, and now it…
A woman on crutches walks past a row of shops in northern Sri Lanka, where over 110,000 people disabled by war struggle along with very little official assistance. Credit: Amantha Perera
MANNAR, Sri Lanka, Feb 16 2015 (IPS) – It is a hot, steamy day in Sri Lanka’s northwestern Mannar District. Mid-day temperatures are reaching 34 degrees Celsius, and the tarred road is practically melting under the sun.
Sarojini Tangarasa is finding it hard to walk on her one bare foot. Her hands constantly shake and she has to balance on a crutch. “I am just trying to get to my daughter’s house,” she says.
Her destination is just two km away, but it feels like …