Health

Yemen Records 400,000 Cholera Cases

By Roshni Majumdar
The directors of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), World Food Programme (WFP) and World Health Organization (WHO) released a joint statement today shedding light on a deadly cholera epidemic engulfing war-torn Yemen.

Alcoholism Cannot Explain Russian Mortality Spike

By Vladimir Popov and Jomo Kwame Sundaram
The steep upsurge in mortality and sudden fall in life expectancy in Russia in the early 1990s were the highest ever registered anywhere in recorded human history in the absence of catastrophes, such as wars, plague or famine. The shock economic reforms in the former Soviet economies after 1991 precipitated this unprecedented increase in mortality, shortening life expectancy, especially among middle-aged males.

No Justice, No Peace for Yemeni Children

By Tharanga Yakupitiyage
Human rights groups are urging the UN Secretary-General to include the Saudi-led Coalition (SLC) in a child rights’ “shame list” after documenting grave violations against children.

Pope Francis Donates to FAO for Drought, Conflict-Stricken East Africa

By IPS World Desk
As an unprecedented gesture, Pope Francis has donated 25,000 euro to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation's efforts supporting people facing food insecurity and famine in East Africa.

WHO Urges Govt’s to Raise Taxes on Tobacco

By Roshni Majumdar
Seven million people die each year from tobacco-related deaths, according to a new report published by the World Health Organisation today.

Educating Children One Radio Wave at a Time

By Tharanga Yakupitiyage
Nigeria’s conflict has displaced more than a million children, leaving them without access to education. However, an innovative radio program aims to transform this bleak scenario.

East Africa’s Poor Rains: Hunger Worsened, Crops Scorched, Livestock Dead

By IPS World Desk
Poor rains across East Africa have worsened hunger and left crops scorched, pastures dry and thousands of livestock dead, the United Nations food and agriculture agency has warned in a new alert.

Digitizing Family Planning: The Way of the Future

By Stella Paul
Online shopping may have its pros and cons, but when it comes to buying products that have an invisible morality tag, it’s the safest possible option, believes Franklin Paul.

2 Billion People Don’t Have Access To Clean Water, Opens up Fissures of Inequality

By Roshni Majumdar
More than two billion people lack access to clean and safe drinking water, according to a new report released by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Promoting Sustainable Population Growth, Key to Raising Human Rights Standards

By Dr. Hanif Hassan Al Qassim
The world population has witnessed a remarkable growth during the recent decades. In 1965, it stood at 3.3 billion people. In 2017 –52 years later-- the global population reached a staggering 7.5 billion people corresponding to more than a doubling of the Earth’s residents over the last half-century.

For India’s Urban Marginalized, Reproductive Healthcare Still a Distant Dream

By Stella Paul
In a semi-lit room of a southern Chennai neighborhood, a group of women sit in a circle around a table surrounded by large cardboard boxes of "Nirodh" – India’s most popular condom.

Will the UN “Leave No One Behind” and Improve LGBTI Health and Well-Being?

By Dr Felicity Daly
While there has been progress in researching the health and well-being of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) people and responding to certain emerging health threats in high-income countries - elsewhere in the world such research is inadequate and incomplete.

Three-Zone Biosecurity Offers New Hope to Indonesian Farmers

By Kanis Dursin
Poultry farmer Bambang Sutrisno Setiawan had long heard about biosecurity but never gave serious thought to it, even when the highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 forced him to cull thousands of his layer chickens in 2003 and 2009.

Is Religion the New Colonial Frontier in International Development?

By Azza Karam
A decade ago, it was difficult to get Western policy makers in governments to be interested in the role of religious organizations in human development. The secular mind-set was such that religion was perceived, at best, as a private affair. At worst, religion was deemed the cause of harmful social practices, an obstacle to the “sacred” nature of universal human rights, and/or the root cause of terrorism. In short, religion belonged in the ‘basket of deplorables’.

Progress on World Hunger Has Reversed

By Tharanga Yakupitiyage
World hunger has increased, reversing years of progress, said a UN specialised agency.During its biennial conference held in Rome, Italy from 3-8 July, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) noted that the world is facing it’s worst food crisis since World War II.

Ending Child Marriage Could Add Trillions to World Economy

By Roshni Majumdar
The benefits of ending child marriage are many—boosting a young girl’s morale and increasing her chances of education and work, and by that virtue, curbing high population rates in developing economies and boosting growth.

More Bang for Your Buck: Saving Lives by Investing in the Poorest

By Tharanga Yakupitiyage
Investing in the health of the poorest communities saves almost twice as many lives, according to a UN agency’s analysis.

Working Toward a World Without Parkinson’s Disease

By John L. Lehr
As one expert recently noted, if Parkinson’s were an infectious disease, we would call it an epidemic. Worldwide, 10 million people live with Parkinson’s disease, a number expected to double in the next 20 years. While there is no cure for Parkinson’s and no proven way to slow its progression, there is new reason to hope for a world without Parkinson’s.

The High Cost of Ageing

By Veena S. Kulkarni, Vani S. Kulkarni and Raghav Gaiha
Evidence shows that health systems must be recast to accommodate the needs of chronic disease prevention.

UN Response Teams Underfunded as Costs Hit Staggering $23.5 Billion

By Roshni Majumdar
UN response teams that help the most vulnerable people in the world are still largely underfunded, a new status report has revealed.The funding available to the teams is no match for the record number of people—141 million—who need assistance today.

“Big Reflection” Needed on Opioid Crisis

By Tharanga Yakupitiyage
Opioids are among the most devastating drugs and are creating a crisis of epidemic proportions, said the UN drug agency.
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