Mantoe Phakathi
MBABANE , Mar 16 2010 (IPS) – Her swollen feet are a constant reminder to Sanele Matsebula that she needs to take her medication.
Swaziland’s Finance Minister Majozi Sithole delivers his budget speech to parliament. Credit: Mantoe Phakathi/IPS
The 26-year-old HIV-positive mother of two says the swelling of her feet are side effects from the antiretroviral treatment (ART) she began two years ago.
I m always told that dic…
Thalif Deen and Jennie Lorentsson
UNITED NATIONS, Apr 21 2010 (IPS) – An international coalition of over 120 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) is demanding a North-South partnership to resolve the spreading global crisis in water and sanitation.
As a first step, Western donors and national governments are being urged to form agreements in at least seven to 10 pilot countries to develop credible national plans, including a new pooled fund and enhanced technical support to develop capacity and planning systems.
The coalition which includes End Water Poverty, African Civil Society Network on Water and Sanitation, Global Call to Action Against Poverty, Freshwater Action Network, Oxfam and WaterAid says donors should also refocus investments towards low-income countrie…
Paul Virgo
ROME, May 23 2010 (IPS) – Saving the planet from environmental catastrophe is undoubtedly very important, but one of the reasons many people are not doing their bit could be that being green does not seem much fun.
Gary Nabhan lecturing at a biodiversity festival in Rome. Credit: Paul Virgo/IPS
Activists frequently tell us, with good reason, that things such as driving cars, eating red meat and jetting off overseas on holiday should be cut down or eliminated because of their hefty carbon footprints…
Mehru Jaffer
VIENNA, Jul 23 2010 (IPS) – Kiren Kaur, 37, has come to terms with HIV she contracted from her husband in 1997. The HIV positive status, per se, is not difficult to deal with. But dealing with the stigma that comes with it is an excruciating experience.
My HIV status does not bother me any more, she told IPS at the global conference on AIDS that concludes in Vienna Jul. 23. It is the double stigma that I face as a widow and an openly HIV positive person that is painful. It is stigma that prevents me from enjoying an intimate relationship (with my family).
Kaur was 24 years old when her husband died in her arms of AIDS. She suspects he contracted HIV before marrying her.
My husband was depressed after he was told he had AIDS and he did not talk …
Kerry Cullinan
DURBAN, South Africa, Aug 23 2010 (IPS) – Almost a million South Africans are already on lifelong antiretroviral (ARV) treatment and this number is supposed to triple in the next decade if the South African government keeps to its implementation plan.
But the prospect of the government being able to meet its target of treating 80 percent of those who need it by 2011 is being threatened by a lack of funds. A number of organisations and prominent officials in the AIDS field condemned the flat-lining of donor funds at the recent international AIDS conference in Vienna.
In 2009, donors contributed 7.6 billion dollars to the international fight against HIV and AIDS, slightly down from 7.7 billion dollars in 2008, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Kristin Palitza
CAPE TOWN, Sep 15 2010 (IPS) – A grouping of six civil society organisations (CSOs) has called on the South African government to ratify the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).
They say South Africa s stated commitment to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015 is not good enough, because the targets are not legally binding. If South Africa signed the ICESCR, however, it s government could be held accountable.
The ICESCR is an important mechanism to intensify efforts to reduce poverty and social inequality, said South African Human Rights Commissioner Anthea van der Burg.
South Africa is one of only a handful of countries in the world that have not ratified the ICESCR, a United Nations hum…
Ansel Herz
LEOGANE, Nov 7 2010 (IPS) – Standing on a raised piece of pavement across from the makeshift home where she has lived for the past 10 months, Violet Nicola threw up her hands.
A boy receives treatment for cholera at the hospital in L Estere, Haiti, as his family watches over him. Credit: UN Photo/Sophia Paris
Our houses are broken again. I ve lost my things. They don t do anything fo…
Omer Redi
ADDIS ABABA, Dec 13 2010 (IPS) – Nigist Abebe has grown in confidence over five years on the job. Today she is one of 34,000 rural health extension workers at the heart of Ethiopia s primary health care strategy.
Five years ago, Nigist Abebe had difficulities winning the trust of mothers in her door-to-door services Credit: Omer Redi Ahmed
One of her most important functions in Dengo Furda Kebele, the vil…
Patricia Grogg
HAVANA, Jan 25 2011 (IPS) – The trial of staff at the Havana Psychiatric Hospital for the deaths of 26 patients who died of cold and neglect revealed a dark chapter in an institution that was once a shining symbol of Cuba s much lauded health care system, and drew reactions of shock and criticism.
Cuba s main newspaper, Granma, broke the silence Monday surrounding the case, which occurred just over a year ago. The paper reported that prosecutors are seeking prison terms of six to 14 years for an unspecified number of administrators and staff, who were on trial from Jan. 17 to 22.
They were charged with abandonment and neglect of minors, disabled and ill people, and with embezzlement.
The sentences are expected to be handed down in the next few d…
Analysis by Suvendrini Kakuchi
TOKYO, Mar 31 2011 (IPS) – As authorities struggle to control dangerous radioactive material spilling from the quake ravaged Fukushima nuclear power reactors, a more difficult question has begun to unsettle Japan: is the country s post-war prosperity as invincible as was believed till now?
The picture emerging today is a sobering one and consumes us, says Yoshiaki Kawata, a researcher in disaster management at Kansai University. The devastation is a harsh reminder of the vulnerability of our economic and technological might we had worked so hard to create.
The Mar. 11 earthquake and tsunami that turned vast stretches of once thriving Tohoku into muddy wastelands and spewed radioactive material contaminating residential and farming area…