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,…
IPS correspondent Sabine Clappaert interviews MARLEEN TEMMERMAN, head of the Department of Reproductive Health and Research at the World Health Organisation (WHO) BRUSSELS, Jan 20 2013 (IPS) – Despite staggering advances in medical science and technology over the years, women around the world continue to suffer gravely as a result of inadequate access to basic…
The United Nations steps in to save Gaza from collapsing under the weight of its rubbish. Credit: Emad Badwan/IPS. GAZA CITY, Mar 31 2013 (IPS) – “For the past five years we’ve collected garbage by traditional means: donkey and cart,” says Abdel Rahem Abulkumboz, director of health and environment at the Municipality of Gaza. The…
Vandana Shiva, a scientist and environmental activist, presents plants to schoolchildren as part of the campaign “Gardens of Hope”. Credit: Silvia Giannelli/IPS FLORENCE, May 20 2013 (IPS) – As the global agricultural sector is faced with ever-greater challenges, the question of how to reform and improve the sector is a controversial and difficult one. So…
VILNIUS, Lithuania, Jun 11 2013 (IPS) – As former presidents, senior diplomats and experts meet in the Lithuanian capital to discuss a litany of rights abuses, lethal epidemics and social destruction caused by repressive drug policies in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, pockets of hope for drug reform are emerging across the region. Eastern Europe…
A nutritionist assesses the health of a child: red indicates severe malnutrition. Malnutrition has become a growing concern in northern Cameroon. Credit:Kristin Palitza/IPS YAOUNDE, Jul 22 2013 (IPS) – At the Garoua Regional Hospital’s Paediatric Feeding Centre in northern Cameroon, Aicha Ahidjo* is relieved to hear that her one-year-old son will survive. The child was…
A school in Papua New Guinea. “Services” refers to an extremely broad array of sectors, including education, water and energy provision, health, banking, construction, retail and much more. Credit: Catherine Wilson/IPS WASHINGTON, Sep 17 2013 (IPS) – Nearly 350 international civil society organisations are urging countries taking part in new negotiations towards an agreement on…