Apostolis Fotiadis ATHENS, Nov 1 2011 (IPS) – Harsh austerity measures and a struggling economy have given birth to the new poor in Athens, a term used to describe those suffering the impacts of social exclusion and rapidly shrinking civic welfare institutions. Demonstrations against austerity measures in Athens in May 2010. Credit: Nikos Pilos/IPS Plunging…
Isaiah Esipisu GARISSA, Kenya, Dec 19 2011 (IPS) – The Garissa Maternal Shelter in North Eastern Province, Kenya is the only such facility in an area with the country s highest maternal mortality rate. At 1,000 deaths per 100,000 live births, it is almost double the country s average. A pregnant woman in Kenya s…
MARSEILLE, Feb 13 2012 (IPS) – Following numerous warnings issued by geologists, health scientists and environmental experts throughout the United States, Europe is now well aware of the high ecological and health risks associated with the exploitation of shale gas fields. Shale gas extraction releases high amounts of methane, which contributes significantly to global warming.…
Mario Queiroz LISBON, Mar 19 2012 (IPS) – This winter the mortality rate in Portugal has grown alarmingly, to a level far higher than the seasonal averages of previous years. And the brunt of the death toll is being borne by low-income elderly people. The General Directorate of Health (DGS) reported that 11,600 people died…
UNITED NATIONS, Apr 28 2012 (IPS) – Human development and biodiversity will not be the only focus of the Rio+20 Earth Summit in June, for which representatives of hundreds of states and non- governmental organisations (NGOs) will gather to discuss sustainable development. The delegates will also deal with the wellbeing of farm animals and sustainable…
Tobacco corporations threaten public health with lawsuits against anti-tobacco legislation. Credit: Fried Dough/ CC by 2.0 UNITED NATIONS, Jun 2 2012 (IPS) – Lawsuits from major tobacco corporations challenging anti-tobacco policies all over the world underscore the ever greater need for a global crackdown on tobacco use, for the sake of both public health and…
Parents wait anxiously outside a Phnom Penh hospital. Credit: Mike Hodgkinson/IPS Parents wait anxiously outside a Phnom Penh hospital. Credit: Mike Hodgkinson/IPS Health experts are blaming high malnutrition levels for an outbreak of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) that has killed more than 54 children in impoverished Cambodia since April. On Wednesday, Cambodia closed all…
A young man sipping a sachet of tujilijili in Chaisa compound, Lusaka, Zambia. Officially he risks a two-year prison sentence by doing this, as these sachets containing hard liquor have now been banned. Credit: Jorrit Meulenbeek LUSAKA, Sep 12 2012 – About a dozen men aimlessly wander around what seems like a prison courtyard. Most…
IPS correspondent Julia Kallas interviews RENEE SHARP, lead author of the report ”Americans Eat Their Weight in Genetically Engineered Food”. UNITED NATIONS, Oct 20 2012 (IPS) – In 1994, genetically modified produce, in the form of tomatoes, first appeared in grocery stores in the United States. Numerous other types of produce have been genetically modified…
Robert Brewster, 74, a long-term survivor with HIV from New York City. Credit: Image courtesy of www.grayingofaids.org ATLANTA, Georgia, Nov 26 2012 (IPS) – When HIV/AIDS first emerged in the 1980s, the stereotypical image of a person living with the disease in the United States was a young or middle-aged white homosexual male. For decades,…