Antoaneta Bezlova
BEIJING , Feb 9 2006 (IPS) – With just two years left for the 2008 Olympics, this city is struggling to live up to its pledge of hosting the green games while also meeting the demands of its increasingly affluent residents and their consumerist ways.
Three years ago, the Chinese capital unveiled its master plan for hosting the 2008 Olympics with the city elders speaking of a commitment to hold the best games ever. They promised an event taking place in spectacular venues spread across a green city and accessible by a new public transport system.
They also pledged to clean up the notorious pollution smothering the city and meet the World Health Organisation s average ambient air-quality standards. By 2008, the city would have blue skies, or be polluti…
Moyiga Nduru
JOHANNESBURG, Mar 14 2006 (IPS) – With over five million of its 47 million citizens HIV-positive, South Africa currently has more people living with HIV/AIDS than any other country a heavy burden as concerns providing anti-retroviral drugs to those in need.
With over five million of its 47 million citizens HIV-positive, South Africa currently has more people living with HIV/AIDS than any other country.
This brings with it a heavy burden as concerns providing anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) to those in need. More than 500,000 South Africans require ARVs, according to Fatima Hassan of the AIDS Law Project at the University of the Witwatersrand, in Johannesburg.
Less than half that number are receiving the medication, however and despite substantial inc…
Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK, Apr 14 2006 (IPS) – South-east Asian governments are caught between tackling bird flu and Burma s secretive junta, which is keener on strengthening its iron grip on power than addressing a possible global pandemic.
On Monday, U.N. officials offered ASEAN governments a picture of how rapidly the H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus had spread in Burma in under a month. Up to now, there are over 100 outbreaks, mainly in two districts, Mandalay and Sagaing, He Changchui, head of the Food and Agriculture Organisation s (FAO) Asia-Pacific office, said at a press conference here.
Part of the problem, He added, was a lack of awareness among communities breeding poultry that have been affected. The information is not that comprehensive.
Tha…
Neena Bhandari
SYDNEY, May 16 2006 (IPS) – Jubilee Australia , the faith lobby, called Tuesday for debt relief to be extended to 66 countries and made a strong case for cancelling the debts of Indonesia, the Philippines and Bangladesh.
Almost 80 million Filipinos, Indonesians and Bangladeshis are living on less than one dollar a day. These countries have massive debts, mostly incurred by former corrupt regimes, and lack sufficient funds to address the health and educational requirements of their large populations.
Indonesia and the Philippines spend three times more on debt repayments than on health and education. Karen Iles, co-director of AID/WATCH said: Indebtedness harms the country s economic prospects by hindering foreign investment and encouraging indebted gove…
Darío Montero* – Tierramérica
MONTEVIDEO, Jun 19 2006 (IPS) – Quickly and decisively, Matilde, a hyperactive 12-year-old girl with Down syndrome, seems to bond with a horse at the equine therapy ranch run by Uruguayan physiatrist Néstor Nieves.
The interaction with the horse acts as a source of stimulation for Matilde in a number of areas. Guiding her is an expert in psychomotricity, one of the seven children of Nieves and his wife, educator Ana María Reyes. This calming human-equine experience takes place at a rented ranch, just 30 minutes by car from bustling downtown Montevideo.
Therapeutic riding is based on taking advantage of the horse s natural qualities to work towards integral rehabilitation of an individual with one or more disabilities, to harmonically …
Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK, Aug 4 2006 (IPS) – Having succeeded in producing cheap generic drugs to help people with HIV/AIDS enjoy longer lives, Thailand is now ready with generics capable of helping its citizens fight the onslaught of another deadly virus bird flu.
The announcement by Thai scientists that they now have a generic version of Tamiflu, the only known anti-viral drug capable of stopping an epidemic of avian influenza, could not have been better timed. It offers hope for cheaper treatment just as the country is grappling with a virulent outbreak of the H5N1 strain of the virus in its poultry population, after a seven-month lull.
It will not be for commercial purposes. This is for our security, to have the tablets available, Dr. Sirirerk Songsivilai, de…
Marcela Valente
BUENOS AIRES, Sep 6 2006 (IPS) – In an unprecedented move, Argentina s Supreme Court held a public hearing with the aim of securing commitments from the State and private companies to live up to the clean-up plan for the Matanza-Riachuelo basin, a byword for pollution in this South American country.
When exactly will the last remaining sewage drains be ready? asked the president of the Supreme Court, Enrique Petracchi, interrupting from the dais, when the secretary of the Environment and Sustainable Development, Romina Picolotti, was detailing aspects of the comprehensive project for the recovery of the Matanza-Riachuelo river, which runs across the city of Buenos Aires and into the Río de la Plata (River Plate) estuary.
Picolotti said that in 15 yea…
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Michael Deibert
KINGSTON, Sep 26 2006 (IPS) – When Jamaica s Health Ministry recently launched an anti-HIV stigma campaign titled Getting on with Life prominently featuring two HIV-positive Jamaicans speaking publicly about their experiences living with the disease, it was something of a watershed moment for groups like Jamaica AIDS Support, formed in 1991 to combat the spread of AIDS and HIV.
There is a general acceptance now that HIV affects everybody, said Anne Marie Dobson, the organisation s public education coordinator The government has enormously supported HIV programmes And overall, there has been improvement in the way people think and feel about HIV.
For those among the 25,000 Jamaicans that the Ministry of Health estimates are living with HIV, an estimat…