Miriam Mannak
CAPE TOWN, Aug 3 2009 (IPS) – For the first time in eighty years, a new Tuberculosis (TB) vaccine has entered the efficacy stage of a clinical trial. While the developers are optimistic about the outcome, lung health and TB experts are warning against being overly excited.
The bacteria that causes TB is a tricky one, as people can get the disease more then once which is different when one looks at conditions such as measles, said Anthony Harries, head of the research department of the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease.
The organisation, with headquarters in Paris aims to bring expertise, solutions and support to address health challenges in low- and middle-income countries.
This makes developing a vaccine that protects p…
Fabio Scarpello
DENPASAR, Indonesia, Aug 24 2009 (IPS) – Women s rights groups who are campaigning for widening the scope of abortion in Indonesia are calling for an amendment to a colonial era law that puts poor women at risk.
Tini Hadad (right): We want the health law to be updated Credit:
Tini Hadad, secretary general of the Association for Women s Health, says Indonesia has one of the world s highest rates of deaths from unsafe abortions. This is because the current laws are totally inadequate, she told IPS.
The Association f…
Bonnie Allen
BAILA, Liberia, Oct 1 2009 (IPS) – As heavy rain hammers the grass thatch roof of her mud hut, Goromah Borbor huddles inside and quietly describes how her daughter Annie died while giving birth.
For women like Queen Smith, it s a long trek from their forest homes in northern Liberia to …
Eli Clifton
WASHINGTON, Oct 16 2009 (IPS) – The global economic crisis has led to an historic increase in hunger and undernourishment in the world s poorest countries, with broad consequences for political security and stability, according to two reports released for World Food Day, observed Friday.
A child eats a World Food Programme nutritional biscuit. This year, WFP will help feed…
Hilmi Toros
ISTANBUL, Nov 16 2009 (IPS) – Success in fighting violence against women may well hinge on partnership with an often overlooked but still a critically vital party men themselves.
Population experts are moving ahead with strategy and projects that go beyond treating men simply as perpetrators or, at best, uncaring and passive onlookers. Recently, more and more men are looked upon to become allies in combating violence against women.
The current approach is that without men s involvement, the problem cannot be solved, Karen Daduryan, a senior officer of the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA), told IPS as the U.N. body presented a study at a meeting in Istanbul Nov. 11-13 on women s health in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Otherwise, the risk is that women retur…
Evelyn Matsamura Kiapi interviews UNAIDS senior advisor for human rights and law, SUSAN TIMBERLAKE, on the criminalisation of HIV transmission.
ARUSHA, Dec 7 2009 (IPS) – The East African Community is currently developing a law to guide the region s response to HIV/AIDS. The move comes ahead of the commencement of the East Africa common market protocol.
Susan Timberlake, UNAIDS senior advisor for human rights and law. Credit: Evelyn Matsamura Kiapi
The law will allow…
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Jan 18 2010 (IPS) – Rosemarie Tintin s black hat and veil barely concealed the sorrow on her face. She recently lost her entire family in Haiti s devastating earthquake and the only place she could find solace was at her church.
Port-au-Prince residents retrieve the body of their relative from a pile outside the general hospital. Credit: UN Photo/Logan Abassi
But that too was hardly p…