Fabíola Ortiz
RIO DE JANEIRO, Oct 21 2011 (IPS) – Economic status, education, access to clean water and sanitation, nutrition and the environment determine the level of health of persons, communities or countries, and so does the extent to which rights are enjoyed or denied.
Native Guaraní woman cooking in the village of Cantagalo in southern Brazil. Credit: Alejandro Arigón/IPS
The , held Oct. 19-21 in Brazil, defined 15 commitments that should be …
ABALA, Niger, Apr 25 2012 (IPS) – It was the middle of the day when Tabisou, 72, suddenly saw people from her town of Amderamboukane in Mali fleeing for their lives. Her family had no time to pack their things; the fighting had already begun.
Several of the children in Abala camp are visibly malnourished, and NGO workers are concerned about potential epidemics. Credit: Willi…
A basket of condoms passed around during International Women’s Day in Manila. Credit: Kara Santos/IPS
ISTANBUL, May 25 2012 (IPS) – While much of the world is facing a global financial crisis, made worse by government cuts in social spending, members of parliament meeting here Wednesday agreed the economic crunch is no reason for governments to relax their commitment to women’s reproductive rights and health, made 18 years ago.
Speaking at the opening session of the fifth International Parliamentarians Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), Babatunde Osotimehin, executive director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) said 250 milli…
Just five countries grow nearly 90 percent of all biotech crops. Credit: Bigstock
WASHINGTON, May 14 2013 (IPS) – A consumer protection group here is accusing U.S. diplomats of engaging in a concerted and at times forceful advocacy campaign on behalf of genetically modified seeds and even specific biotechnology companies, particularly aiming to influence governments in developing countries.
In a released Tuesday, Food Water Watch (FWW) offers new research suggesting that the U.S. State Department over the past decade has offered centralised directives to U.S. embassies to promote biotech products and respond to industry concerns.“Biotech is such a controversial po…
HIV patients who do not adhere to their ART will often develop drug resistance. Credit Jennifer McKellar/IPS
BULAWAYO , Dec 18 2013 (IPS) – Each month, scores of people living with HIV gather at Mpilo s Opportunistic Infections Clinic in Bulawayo for free antiretroviral medication that has improved their lives.
Antiretroviral therapy (ART) coverage is set to expand in line with new guidelines, but experts fear weakening adherence to drug regimes will limit the benefits.
Sindiso Buzwani* is one of those who should be at the clinic, but this month he is absent. Asked why he has stopped taking medication despite his failing health, the frail-looking man…
Passengers wear face masks while riding the subway in Shenzhen, China. Credit: UN News/Jing Zhang.
UNITED NATIONS, Jan 31 2020 (IPS) – The rise in new coronavirus cases outside China, now constitutes a global health emergency, the World Health Organization’s Emergency Committee declared on Thursday, calling on all countries to take urgent measures to contain the respiratory disease.
state there a…
Garment workers wash hands before entering an apparel factory at the Ulail area in Savar, on April 28, 2020. The Covid-19 pandemic has laid bare, in the cruellest way, the extraordinary precariousness and injustices of our world of work. Photo: Palash Khan
May 4 2020 – In these times of Covid-19, the big challenge for most of us is how to protect ourselves and our families from the virus and how to hold on to our jobs. For policymakers, that translates into beating the pandemic without doing irreversible damage to the economy in the process.
With over three million confirmed cases and over 230,000 victims of the virus to date globally, and the exp…