Mohamed Fofanah
FREETOWN, Oct 16 2010 (IPS) – Marie Musa, 37, is devastated. After the mother of four gave premature birth, her baby boy died a few hours later because the hospital did not have enough incubators to rescue the infant.
Maternity ward in Port Loko: government resources are stretched thin by its ambitious plans to offer free …
Matthew O. Berger
WASHINGTON, Nov 17 2010 (IPS) – Over the past several years, the number of people needing treatment for HIV/AIDS has risen, but so has the amount of funding for the treatment and prevention of the disease. The United States has been at the forefront of that funding, but with the new emphasis in Washington on reducing government spending that may be about to change.
Even though the U.S. lags behind many European countries in terms of global health contributions as a proportion of GDP, it remains the single largest funder of health assistance to developing countries.
This is why the new U.S. Congress that was elected earlier this month and will take office in January is somewhat concerning to global health advocates. Republicans will take control of th…
Sujoy Dhar*
VAISHALI, India, Dec 29 2010 (IPS) – With three small children to raise in a dirt-poor village in eastern India s Bihar state, farm labourer Renu Devi is an unsung rural supermom who shuttles between home and field every day.
Renu Devi of Bagwanpur Rati village in India s Bihar state with her children who take the Vitamin A doses. Credit: Sujoy Dhar/IPS
But the demure 30-year-old mother does not forge…
Kanya D’Almeida
NEW YORK, Feb 15 2011 (IPS) – When U.S. President Barack Obama raised the curtain on a six- year, six-billion-dollar Global Health Initiative (GHI) in May 2009, he appeared to be embarking on the path of promises that paved the way to his election victory earlier that year.
One and a half years later, the GHI has suffered a savage slashing of its budget and, even worse, has taken a big step away from one of its core focal areas the global fight against the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
On Tuesday, Dr. Rajiv Shah, a head administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), delivered the David E. Barmes Global Health Lecture at the National Institutes of Health, to chart a new course for Obama s GHI in 2011 and beyond.
Shah ident…
Zofeen Ebrahim
KARACHI, Mar 15 2011 (IPS) – At eight in the morning 30-year-old Sultana Solangi steps out of her house ready for her day s work. Wearing a black gown that shows only her eyes, she is shod in comfortable slippers and lugs a large black bag.
Lady health worker administering oral polio vaccine. Credit: Fahim Siddiqi
She will walk through this city s poorest communities, visiting as many as 10 homes everyday, helping to raise awareness and improve maternal and child health.
In her bag is an assortment…
Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Apr 13 2011 (IPS) – As the international community readies to cope with a rising world population of some seven billion people by the middle of this year, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warns that financial assistance for population-related activities has made no visible gains since 2008.
A strong upward trend with 10.40 billion dollars in 2008 stalled in 2009, remaining virtually at the same level, registering 10.39 billion dollars.
The 2008 figure was a historic high because it was the first time that population assistance by Western donors had surpassed 10 billion dollars, according to a U.N. report released here.
The funding levels for 2010 have been estimated slightly higher, at 10.5 billion dollars, with a projected figure…
Emad Mekay
CAIRO, May 13 2011 (IPS) – Egypt is stepping up its wheat production in a bid to stem the country s rising dependence on foreign imports that escalated during the 30-year rule of former President Hosni Mubarak, who was ousted in February.
Bakeries struggle to produce bread in the face of wheat shortage. Credit: Emad Mekay/IPS.
Egyptian officials say the Jan. 25 Revolution brought a new political will that would make it easier for the country to develop local solutions for food cri…
Joshua Kyalimpa and Terna Gyuse
KAMPALA, Jun 14 2011 (IPS) – GAVI, the Global Alliance for Vaccinations and Immunisation, secured pledges of 4.3 billion dollars from donors in London on Jun. 13 with the aim of securing funding to ensure life-saving vaccinations for every child on the planet.
The Malaria Vaccine
“The World Health Organzation has indicated that, if results confirm safety and efficacy, a policy recommendation is possible as early as 2015, paving the way for countries to implement,” says Dr Christian Loucq, director of the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative.
The RTS,S vaccine, the most advanced candidate vaccine against human malaria) was developed over the past decade at a cost of around 300 million dollars by pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline, with an…
PORTLAND, Oregon , Jun 24 2011 – James Smith is a 53-year-old Portland veteran who used to have a job he loved. After a car accident left him with traumatic brain and neck injuries in 2005, Smith lost his job, ran out of money and wound up on the streets.
When Smith tried to apply for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), he was denied three times because he was flagged as violent. He was loud, angry and high-strung symptoms of traumatic brain injury, or TBI. For years, Smith sunk deeper into despair.
This week, with the help of Portland law firm Swanson, Thomas Coon and Central City Concern s BEST programme, Smith won his second hearing. The benefits he was awarded will give Smith a house, health care and a new life.
People suffering from TBI, the so-called …
Matthew Cardinale
ATLANTA, Georgia, Jul 29 2011 (IPS) – Utility companies across the U.S. have announced plans to shut down and retire several coal-fired power plants following a new rule published by the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) intended to reduce emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide.
The new rule, called the (CSAP), announced on Jul. 7, is one of several new rules expected from the EPA that will make it difficult for the coal industry to keep aging plants running.
Other proposed rules which will likely force the closure of several coal plants in the near future include a new standard limiting mercury pollution, expected later this year; a limit to carbon dioxide pollution; a limit to ozone pollution; and regulations on coal ash, a tox…