Africans Can Solve the Disease that Haunts Us — Here’s How
It is critical that African scientists tackle African problems, and the reasons extend beyond access. Credit: Jeffrey Moyo/IPS. By Khisi MdluliBOSTON, US, Mar 15 2024 (IPS) I was born in Brakpan, Johannesburg, South Africa, and grew up in eSwatini (known then as Swaziland). People in these two countries share one predominant fear: unemployment. Other worries in these countries and others in the region include unwanted pregnancies, low income and food safety. The diseases that are dreaded the most are cancer and diabetes. Feared infectious diseases include HIV-AIDS, COVID and cholera. Even though South Africa and eSwatini a...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - March 15, 2024 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Khisi Mdluli Tags: Africa Development & Aid Headlines Health Poverty & SDGs Source Type: news

International Women ’s Day, 2024Rural Tajik Woman’s Road to Empowering Women Living with HIV
Takhmina Haidarova, Tajik advocate for the rights of women living with HIV. By Ed HoltBRATISLAVA, Mar 7 2024 (IPS) Born and raised in a rural area in a traditional Tajik family, Takhmina Haidarova managed to finish high school with excellent grades and wanted to go to university. “[But] it was compulsory for my family to give higher education to boys, and girls were trained to be housewives,” she says. Her dream of higher education was instead replaced by an arranged marriage to a cousin. “I was strongly against this wedding, but my father decided for me and married me to him. I hadn’t even seen him before the wed...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - March 7, 2024 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Ed Holt Tags: Active Citizens Civil Society Editors' Choice Featured Gender Headlines Health Human Rights Middle East & North Africa Sustainable Development Goals TerraViva United Nations Women's Health International Women's Day 2024 IPS UN Bu Source Type: news

International Women ’s Day, 2024
By External SourceMar 6 2024 (IPS-Partners)   On March 8th, we celebrate International Women’s Day. A day to honour the resilience, achievements, and potential of women worldwide. The world faces crises—geopolitical conflicts, poverty, and climate change. These exacerbate the global plight of women everywhere. Furthermore, the global economic and financial systems perpetuate gender inequality. Less than 50% of working-age women are in the global labour force. Women spend about three times as many hours on unpaid domestic work as men. Globally, women in the paid workforce earn 20% less than men on average. ...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - March 6, 2024 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: External Source Tags: Climate Change Gender Gender Identity Health Inequality Labour Multimedia TerraViva United Nations Video International Women's Day 2024 IPS UN Bureau Source Type: news

Air Quality Sensors Boosting Nairobi ’s Fight Against Air Pollution
Deborah Adhiambo (43) has been battling mild asthma since 2022, a condition she describes as “both a health and economic burden.’’ The mother of three lives within Dandora Estate, nine miles east of Kenya’s capital, Nairobi. Dandora is home to Kenya’s largest open landfill, which receives more than 2,000 metric tonnes of waste daily. For […] (Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health)
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - February 29, 2024 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Jackson Okata Tags: Africa Climate Action Conferences Development & Aid Environment Featured Headlines Health Sustainable Development Goals TerraViva United Nations Climate and Clean Air Conference(CCAC) IPS UN Bureau IPS UN Bureau Report Kenya UN Source Type: news

‘ I Haven ’t Forgotten Where I Came From, ’ says Yvonne Pinto, Incoming IRRI Chief
Yvonne Pinto, the incoming Director General of the International Rice Research Institute, at the 5th All Africa Horticulture Conference in Marrakesh, Morocco, February 26 to March 1, 2024. Credit: Supplied by Yvonne Pinto By Neena BhandariSYDNEY, Feb 28 2024 (IPS) Growing up on a small farming station in Holetta (Ethiopia), Yvonne Pinto would accompany her agriculturist father to the farm, where she would spend her time cross-fertilizing plants. Her tiny fingers making the task easier, as she would marvel at the end product of a prospective new and higher yielding variety. These formative years laid the foundation for her ...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - February 28, 2024 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Neena Bhandari Tags: Africa Asia-Pacific Biodiversity Development & Aid Editors' Choice Environment Featured Food and Agriculture Food Security and Nutrition Food Sustainability Headlines Health Humanitarian Emergencies Middle East & North Africa S Source Type: news

Female Genital Mutilation Continues Amid Sudan ’s Conflict and Forced Displacement
Paleki Ayang, Gender Advisor for the Middle East and North Africa, Equality Now By Paleki AyangJUBA, Feb 27 2024 (IPS) Female genital mutilation (FGM) stands as one of the most egregious violations of human rights, particularly affecting women and girls worldwide. However, when conflict and forced displacement enter the equation, the horrors of FGM are exacerbated, creating a dire situation that demands urgent attention and action. Where instability and insecurity prevail, the prevalence of FGM often intensifies, exacerbated by factors such as displacement, poverty, and the breakdown of social systems. On April 15, 2023, w...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - February 27, 2024 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Paleki Ayang Tags: Active Citizens Africa Armed Conflicts Civil Society Development & Aid Gender Gender Violence Headlines Health Human Rights Middle East & North Africa TerraViva United Nations Youth female genital mutilation FGM IPS UN Bureau Source Type: news

Children ’s Futures at a Crossroads
Credit: UNICEF/Abdulazeem Mohamed   War in Sudan is putting the future of its 24 million youngest citizens at risk, the Representative of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned. January 2024   Meanwhile geopolitical and geoeconomic fragmentation threaten the development and survival of children across the globe. But a more hopeful path exists.By Jasmina ByrneUNITED NATIONS, Feb 23 2024 (IPS) At the start of 2024, we stand at a critical juncture: Geopolitical tensions are escalating, economic integration is unravelling, and multilateral cooperation is faltering. This global fragmentation threatens to undermi...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - February 23, 2024 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Jasmina Byrne Tags: Armed Conflicts Civil Society COVID-19 Featured Global Global Governance Headlines Human Rights TerraViva United Nations IPS UN Bureau Source Type: news

New Anti-Rape Crisis Centre Brings Hope for Sexual Abuse Survivors in Pakistan
Women and experts attend a seminar on rape and justice organized by Blue Veins in Peshawar, Pakistan. Credit: Ashfaq Yusufzai/IPSBy Ashfaq YusufzaiPESHAWAR, Pakistan , Feb 21 2024 (IPS) Medical experts and women’s rights activists are pinning hopes on the establishment of an anti-rape crisis centre for the provision of medical and legal aid to victims of sexual assaults in a timely manner will ensure convictions. Currently, it takes years to bring the perpetrators of rape to justice due to a lack of evidence and more often than not, the accused get acquitted. “In most of the cases, the evidence in sexual assault ca...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - February 21, 2024 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Ashfaq Yusufzai Tags: Active Citizens Aid Asia-Pacific Civil Society Crime & Justice Development & Aid Featured Gender Gender Violence Headlines Health Human Rights Sustainable Development Goals TerraViva United Nations Women's Health IPS UN Burea Source Type: news

Tracking Global Development in Child Benefits Through New Monitoring and Information Platform
Students attending class at the Souza Gare school in the Littoral region, Cameroon. The school hosts displaced children who have fled the violence in the North-West and South-West regions. Credits: ECW/Daniel Beloumou By Naureen HossainUNITED NATIONS, Feb 15 2024 (IPS) Inclusive social protections for children would be a positive signifier of social development in a time where 1.4 billion children globally are denied them. A step towards realizing this has been taken through a new monitoring tool on current social protection and child poverty statistics. The International Labour Organization (ILO), UNICEF, and Save the Chi...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - February 15, 2024 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Naureen Hossain Tags: Active Citizens Child Labour Civil Society Development & Aid Editors' Choice Education Cannot Wait. Future of Education is here Gender Global Headlines Health Human Rights Humanitarian Emergencies Population Sustainable Developme Source Type: news

Women, Girls Equal Partners in HIV Responses, Says Activist
Tendayi Westerhof was one of the first celebrities in Zimbabwe to disclose their HIV-positive status. By Ed HoltBRATISLAVA, Feb 14 2024 (IPS) UNAIDS Executive Director, Winnie Byanyima, recently made an impassioned call for governments to support women and girls from marginalized communities at the frontlines of the defence of human rights, to help ensure, among others, that global health is protected. This comes as the latest data from UNAIDS shows that: Globally, 46% of all new HIV infections were among women and girls in 2022 In sub-Saharan Africa, adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) accounted for more than 77% of ...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - February 14, 2024 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Ed Holt Tags: Africa Aid Development & Aid Editors' Choice Featured Global Headlines Health Sustainable Development Goals TerraViva United Nations IPS UN Bureau IPS UN Bureau Report Zimbabwe Source Type: news

North Ignores ‘Perfect Storm’ in Global South
By Jomo Kwame SundaramKATHMANDU, Nepal, Feb 14 2024 (IPS) A gathering ‘perfect storm’ – due to various developments, several quite deliberate – now threatens much devastation in the global South, likely to most hurt the poorest and most vulnerable. Globalisation’s protracted decline The age of globalization had mixed consequences, unevenly incorporating national markets for labour, goods and even some services. It ended gradually, with the trend far more pronounced following the protracted worldwide stagnation since the 2008 global financial crisis. Jomo Kwame SundaramSometimes still referred to as the Great Re...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - February 14, 2024 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Jomo Kwame Sundaram Tags: Armed Conflicts COVID-19 Economy & Trade Financial Crisis Global Globalisation Headlines Labour Sustainable Development Goals TerraViva United Nations IPS UN Bureau Source Type: news

Proven Vector Control Interventions Needed to Stem Malaria Infections in Africa
Rwanda is using drone technology as an effective and innovative way of eradicating malaria in breeding sites. Credit: Aimable Twahirwa/IPSBy Aimable TwahirwaKIGALI, Feb 8 2024 (IPS) Experts recommend that the current prevention of malaria in highly endemic countries in Africa should integrate “locally appropriate” control measures to cope with the highest burden of mosquito-borne disease on the continent. The latest 2023 World Malaria Report shows that the life-threatening disease remains a significant public health challenge, with both malaria incidence and mortality higher now than they were before the start...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - February 8, 2024 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Aimable Twahirwa Tags: Africa Climate Action Climate Change Development & Aid Editors' Choice Featured Global Headlines Health Humanitarian Emergencies Sustainable Development Goals TerraViva United Nations IPS UN Bureau IPS UN Bureau Report Malaria Source Type: news

Is Anti-Woke a Grass-Root Movement?
  Woke, adjective; woker, wokest. Chiefly US slang – Being aware of and actively attentive to important societal facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice). Disapproving: politically liberal or progressive (as in matters of racial and social justice) especially in a way that is considered unreasonable or extreme. (Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health)
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - February 8, 2024 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Jan Lundius Tags: Active Citizens Climate Change Crime & Justice Gender Global Headlines Health Human Rights LGBTQ Migration & Refugees TerraViva United Nations IPS UN Bureau Source Type: news

Embodying the Spirit of the Dragon
By Siddharth ChatterjeeBEIJING, Feb 8 2024 (IPS) The Year of the Dragon is upon us. UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in his message for this Lunar New Year, “The dragon symbolizes energy, wisdom, protection and good luck. We need these qualities to rise to today’s global challenges.” Indeed, we do. Just consider some of the challenges from the past year. The persistent drag of COVID-19. Sluggish economies. The hottest year on record. Climate disasters, one after the other. A rising tide of fake news, fake images, and hate speech. Risks posed by the malicious use of AI, which grows in sophistication by t...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - February 8, 2024 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Siddharth Chatterjee Tags: Armed Conflicts Asia-Pacific Climate Change Economy & Trade Education Energy Environment Financial Crisis Food and Agriculture Global Headlines Health Peace Sustainable Development Goals TerraViva United Nations IPS UN Bureau Source Type: news

Female Genital Mutilation and Cutting in Asia Remain a Neglected Problem
Women’s rights organizations in Asia are calling for states to introduce much-needed laws to criminalize FGM, says Nawaz Naz Chowdhury, Global Legal Advisor at Equality Now.By Nawmi Naz ChowdhuryKUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, Feb 6 2024 (IPS) Significant advances have been made in Africa towards ending female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C). Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for Asia, where FGM/C occurs in at least ten countries, but governments across the region are failing to take effective action. Women’s rights organizations are calling for states to introduce much-needed laws to criminalize FGM, provide national...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - February 6, 2024 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Nawmi Naz Chowdhury Tags: Asia-Pacific Education Featured Gender Gender Violence Headlines Health Humanitarian Emergencies Sustainable Development Goals TerraViva United Nations Women's Health IPS UN Bureau Source Type: news