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Monday, June 29, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
Women's Health
POPULATION: Where’s Family Planning on Climate Change Radar?
Are climate change and reproductive health two disparate subjects?
MOZAMBIQUE: Building Awareness to Reduce Maternal Mortality
In the Niassa province of northwest Mozambique, one doctor has been working with local communities to overcome the delays responsible for three-quarters of maternal deaths each year.
MALAWI: Questions Over Water Stats
A set of new research data contests the Malawian government's claims that nearly all of the country’s urban citizens have access to clean water and sanitation.POPULATION: 'Time to Shelve the ICPD Plan of Action’
At least 1.5 billion people aged 10 to 25 — the largest generation of young people in history — will need sexual and reproductive health services, says the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).HEALTH-KENYA: A Glove To Save a Mother’s Life
The need for gloves for health workers assisting with childbirth may be obvious, but in Yala Sub-District Hospital in western Kenya, obvious does not mean available.
SOUTH AFRICA: Redouble Efforts to Reduce Maternal Mortality
For Katriena Anthony, being four months pregnant comes with hazards particular to her living conditions.DEVELOPMENT: Dying at Childbirth Every Minute
Fifteen years after 179 nations agreed to implement a plan of action on sexual health, a woman still dies every minute because of inadequate pregnancy and birth services, according to the World Health Organisation.HEALTH-NIGERIA: Maternal Mortality, a Rural Community’s Example
Women, their children strapped to their backs, defy the mid-morning sun and converge on the Primary Healthcare Centre, located on the outskirts of Farasinme village, the Badagry West Council Development Area of Lagos State.SWAZILAND: Bringing Men on Board to Reduce Maternal and Child Mortality
Swazi men have very little involvement in caring for newborns and mothers, yet they are critical partners in ensuring their well being.CHILE: Activists Demand Humane Treatment for Women Who Abort
Some 30 members of the Chilean Health Ministry's Consultative Council on Gender and Women's Health have asked the government to enforce a directive ordering humane and compassionate treatment for women who have had an abortion.
INDONESIA: 'Safe' Abortion Could Put a Brake on Women's Mortality Rates
Women's rights groups who are campaigning for widening the scope of abortion in Indonesia are calling for an amendment to a colonial era law that puts poor women at risk.SPORTS: Women Carry a New Punch
Thanks to Clint Eastwood's blockbuster film 'Million Dollar Baby', his heroine Hilary Swank helped raise significantly the profile of women who climb into the boxing ring.MEXICO: States Tighten Already Restrictive Abortion Laws
Alejandra Gómez is facing prosecution in the southern Mexican state of Puebla for having an abortion. The 20-year-old's case is symptomatic of a wave of anti-abortion legal reforms adopted by a number of states in this country.
DEVELOPMENT: Soaring Population May Swamp Anti-Poverty Goals
The U.N.'s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), already undermined by the global financial crisis, are expected to take another hit - this time from rising population growth.HEALTH: Why Is Viagra Popular and the Condom Controversial?
Why is the popular drug Viagra so praised for its virtues, while the condom is vilified by conservative religious groups among others the world over?ARGENTINA: Safe Shortcut to Sidestep Illegal Abortion
Tired of calling for the decriminalisation of abortion - the leading cause of maternal death in Argentina - a network of women's rights activists launched a telephone hotline to inform women on a safe abortion method that requires no medical intervention: the use of a pill to terminate pregnancy.POPULATION: UNFPA Partners With Faith-Based Groups
The United Nations has realised that if it wants to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, it will have to partner with like-minded faith-based organisations (FBOs).ASIA: Prescription for HIV/AIDS Pandemic – Social Justice
The prescription that thousands of participants effectively issued at a just- ended AIDS conference here was clear: It is time to fight social and political inequities so that the medical gains in curbing HIV and AIDS can work with maximum efficacy.
HEALTH-ASIA: Where Are the Religious Leaders?
"Thank God for condoms!" Donald Messer of the U.S.-based Centre of Church and Global AIDS declared during one of the many sessions at an AIDS conference for the Asia-Pacific, which ended here Thursday.
HEALTH: Go Away With Your Spray
Zinaldina dos Reus, Zizi for her friends, is washing clothes by a stream near the airport in São Tomé. Her toddler plays nearby. Zizi, 21, can't remember the last time she or her husband had malaria, years ago. She credits the free bed nets and anti-mosquito home spraying regularly supplied countrywide since 2004.
BRAZIL: Bringing Community Mental Health to the Poor
Zilá Ferreira and Juraci Lisboa were in the grip of depression since 1996 – the former over the death of her mother, and the latter because she was "abandoned with seven children under 14."« Previous Page — Next Page »
Worldwide, women’s health is a serious issue. The result of a wide diversity of factors, most notably insufficient access to education, women’s health issues must be addressed. Without access to proper schooling, many girls grow up without the necessary understanding of reproductive health. Due to this, reproductive issues and sexually transmitted infections plague women in developing countries. Women struggle to battle infections such as HIV. The lack of relevant services, coupled with the lack of women’s rights pertaining to their own health, are some of the serious issues that these stories seek to explain.
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