WASHINGTON, Mar 19 2013 (IPS) – Food safety advocates, environmentalists and health professionals here are engaging in a fervent last-minute campaign to highlight a controversial legislative amendment they say would gut the ability of both the judiciary and the federal government to regulate genetically modified agricultural products.
The U.S. Senate is slated to vote early this week on amendments to a massive, “must pass” bill that would fund the U.S. government’s operations beyond Mar. 27 to the end of this fiscal year. That bill – a piece of stopgap legislation known as a continuing resolution – is so important that leaders in the U.S. Senate had previously suggested that they would not include any potentially controversial amendments.These provisions are giveaways …
YEREVAN, May 9 2013 – A government decree in Armenia that bars pregnant women who are not residents of Yerevan from receiving free childbirth services in the capital is causing discontent in outlying regions.
In a bid to boost population numbers, the state covers the costs for childbirth services in Armenia. Seeking better facilities and medical personnel, pregnant women from the regions often travel to Yerevan to give birth. In 2012, 64 percent of the 70,648 women registered for state-provided childbirth assistance gave birth in Yerevan, according to the National Statistical Service.
The May 1 decree issued by the Ministry of Health was designed to encourage improvements at hospitals in the country’s 10 regions. Under the measure, women will only be able to obtain sta…
Joan Erakit interviews UNFPA Executive Director BABATUNDE OSOTIMEHIN
UNITED NATIONS, Jul 11 2013 (IPS) – On Thursday, the international community recognises World Population Day, a time of assessment, discussion and projections for the future that necessarily gives great weight to the rights of women and girls and particularly their sexual and reproductive health.
Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin. Credit: UNFPA
This past week, the Netherlands has been host to the (ICPD) where equality and the rights of every person have been highlighted.
“Women’s rights are human rights,” the executive director of the (UNFPA), Dr. Baba…
Door-to-door spraying in Cuba is an effective means of controlling dengue. Credit: Jorge Luis Baños/IPS
HAVANA, Aug 22 2013 (IPS) – The spread of the virus that causes dengue fever has created an emergency situation for institutions, governments and scientists in Latin America seeking sustainable solutions for a health problem that could worsen as a result of climate change.
World Health Organisation (WHO) statistics indicate that in the first seven months of 2013 there were nearly 1.4 million reported cases in the region, making this an epidemic year.
In 2012 there were a total of 1.7 million cases, and we do not know yet if the figure will be …
The Supreme Court has extended its ban on clinical trial of 162 new drugs till Dec. 16, 2013. Credit: epSos.de/ CC BY 2.0
KOLKATA, Nov 5 2013 (IPS) – More than 2,500 Indians have died in the course of clinical trials in recent years, government figures reveal.
According to an affidavit filed by the health ministry in the Supreme Court in response to a petition by health NGOs, there were 80 deaths due to clinical trials between January 2005 and June 2012. Between July 2012-August 2013 nine more such reported deaths occurred, making this total 89, according to the petitioner Swasthya Adhikar Manch (SAM), a health rights forum. Compensation was paid in 82 cases.
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NAPLES, Dec 16 2013 (IPS) – The beauty of the Bay of Naples under a setting sun, the romance of Sorrento and the scenic splendour of the Amalfi coastline pull thousands of visitors to southern Italy. But the region is also home to an ugly truth.
The area between Caserta and Naples in the Campania region has come to be known as Italy’s ‘garbage bin’, thanks to the mafia.
The country produces nearly 100 million tonnes of garbage per year, with over a third of it reportedly cornered by the mafia.
The mafia initially began by charging industries from the north for disposing of their toxic wastes in landfills in Campania, especially the Resit landfill site in Giugliano. A neglected and under-regulated sector, waste disposal was an easy front for the mafia to ge…
A patient being treated at the Regional Cancer Centre in Thiruvananthapuram in India. Traditional Ayurvedic treatment is being used increasingly to back regular cancer care. Credit: K.S. Harikrishnan/IPS.
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India , Feb 24 2014 (IPS) – Balakrishnan, a labourer from Kochi in the southern Indian state of Kerala, was suffering from oral cancer. He was admitted to the Regional Cancer Centre (RCC) in Thiruvananthapuram. After the first course of radiation therapy, the 60-year-old could not eat or drink because of severe pain and infection in the mouth.
An Ayurvedic mouth wash developed from the Neem plant was administered to Balakrishnan for three week…
WASHINGTON, Jun 6 2014 (IPS) – International cooperation on key global challenges declined in 2013, according to a new “report card” released here Friday by the influential Council on Foreign Relations (CFR).
Particularly disappointing were international efforts in dealing with terrorism, nuclear non-proliferation and global finance, according to the report which, however, found some gains in two areas – dealing with or preventing armed conflict and improving global health.
The report also found that cooperation on climate change, which last year’s report card found to be worth the lowest grade – a “D” of all the major issues on which the report card focused, was neither better nor worse than the previous four years assessed by the 50-some experts who const…
A water kiosk in Blantyre, Malawi. Activists argue that water and sanitation must be a stand-alone goal in the post-2015 framework. Credit: Charles Mpaka/IPS
UNITED NATIONS, Jul 15 2014 (IPS) – The United Nations is on the verge of releasing a new set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) perhaps 17 or more to replace the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which will run out by the end of 2015.
The proposed new SDGs, which will make amends for the shortcomings of the MDGs, will be an integral part of the U.N. s post-2015 development agenda which, among other things, seeks to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger from the face of the earth by 2030.”Why not have a t…
Relief workers and aid agencies are worried about the security, protection and psychological health of women and children in post-disaster settings. Credit: Naresh Newar/IPS
DABI, Nepal, Aug 27 2014 (IPS) – Living in a makeshift tarpaulin shelter, which barely protects her family from the torrential rainfall or scorching heat of this remote village in southern Nepal, 36-year-old Kamala Pari is under immense stress, worrying about her financial security and children’s safety.
The family’s only house and tiny plot of farmland were completely destroyed by the massive landslide on Jul. 2 that struck the village of Dabi, part of the Dhusun Village Develop…