Women's Health

RIGHTS-US: Women Under Siege, At Home and Abroad

By IPS Correspondents
Efforts by the George W. Bush administration to undermine international gender equality initiatives - most recently ahead of a key United Nations (U.N.) World Summit - are part and parcel of a broader campaign to erode reproductive rights at home, say many U.S.-based activists.

POLITICS: U.N. Summit in Danger of Being a Political Fiasco

By Thalif Deen
A continued sharp division of opinion among the 191 member states - on politically-sensitive issues such as terrorism, war crimes, development aid, climate change and human rights - is threatening to make a mockery of the upcoming U.N. summit of world leaders in New York Sep. 14-16.

POLITICS: Condoms Lose Ground in HIV Prevention

By IPS Correspondents
Central America and Uganda this week became the latest targets for right-wing leaders to blast HIV/AIDS prevention efforts that stray from the George W. Bush administration's "abstinence-only" ideology.

POLITICS: USAID Sued Over Anti-Prostitution Policy

By IPS Correspondents
A U.S.-based family-planning charity is formally challenging Washington's "anti-prostitution" policy, calling it an unconstitutional infringement of speech that is undermining international efforts to stem the spread of HIV/AIDS.

HEALTH: Russians Abandon HIV-Positive Patients

By Kester Kenn Klomegah
Thousands of children born to HIV-positive mothers are being abandoned, new data shows.

RELIGION-US: Pizza Magnate Flees the Pagan Hordes

By IPS Correspondents
They may not become as ubiquitous as the Domino's Pizza outlets that dot the U.S. landscape, but Tom Monaghan, the man who founded that fast food giant, is hoping that the town he is building for orthodox Catholics in Florida will one day replicate itself across the country.

DEVELOPMENT: Africa Falters in Food Security Goals

By Thalif Deen
Sub-Saharan Africa is the only region in the developing world where the shortage of food has "substantially worsened" over the last three decades, a new study warns.

CULTURE-SWAZILAND: Sugar Daddies – The Bitter Truth

By James Hall
"People who don’t know me see this stylishly-dressed young woman driving a nice car, and they think, ‘Isn’t she lucky? She has a rich man as a lover to give her things’," says Angela Shabalala as she manoeuvres her blue BMW sedan onto a highway leading to the Swazi capital, Mbabane.

HEALTH-SOUTH ASIA: Booming Markets, Ailing Population

By IPS Correspondents
While South Asia's economy has never been healthier, the vast majority of its people cannot say the same.

RIGHTS-CAMEROON: When Husbands Become Pimps

By IPS Correspondents
Business at the numerous money transfer agencies in Cameroon's capital, Yaoundé, is typically a brisk affair. Of the many people who frequent the agencies, one group is of particular interest, however: the husbands of women who have gone abroad to earn money from prostitution.

HEALTH-SOUTH AFRICA: Two High-Profile Campaigners Tackle AIDS

By Moyiga Nduru
Former South African president Nelson Mandela and United States First Lady Laura Bush campaigned in two South African cities this week against the spread of AIDS.

HEALTH-SOUTH AFRICA: Keeping Mom Alive Is the Best Medicine

By Kristin Palitza
It is tempting to call it a "no brainer": the idea that attempts to prevent transmission of HIV from mothers to children should be matched by initiatives to keep these mothers alive after they give birth.

DEVELOPMENT: Rising Population Threatens Global Security

By Thalif Deen
The world's rapid population growth, predicted to rise from the current 6.5 billion people to about 9.1 billion by the middle of the century, could have "serious security consequences" not only for a country or region but for the entire world, a new report warns.

HEALTH: Asian Homemakers Now at High-Risk for HIV/AIDS Infection

By Suvendrini Kakuchi
Pheng Pharozin, 25, a soft spoken Cambodian woman was happily married with an infant daughter when she tested positive for HIV two years ago.

RIGHTS-INDONESIA: Protests Rise Against Draft Anti-pornography Bill

By IPS Correspondents
A planned anti-pornography bill is drawing protests from activists who fear that the legislation could end up infringing on human rights in this largely Muslim country of 216 million people.

REFUGEES-KENYA: Contraceptives – Both Needed and Scorned

By IPS Correspondents
As the international community marks World Refugee Day, a Somali woman's tale of how she helped fellow refugees terminate pregnancies has highlighted the shortcomings of reproductive health care in refugee camps.

HEALTH: A Wind of Hope in Kenya’s Desert

By IPS Correspondents
Madonna's 1980s hit song 'Like a Virgin' blasts incongruously from a giant silver speaker in the corner of a bar deep inside Isiolo - a dusty town on the edge of Kenya's northern Kaisut desert, filled with tough nomads and their herds of emaciated animals.

ARGENTINA: The Right to Give Birth Naturally

By Marcela Valente
An original media campaign in Argentina is aimed at raising women's awareness on their right to be accompanied in the delivery room, and to give birth in whatever position is most comfortable for them and without unnecessary medical interventions.

RIGHTS: EU Urged to Act Over Female Circumcision

By IPS Correspondents
The European Union must do more to address the problem of female genital mutilation, members of the European Parliament and leading health and development agencies say.

ARGENTINA: Promising Signs in Ongoing Struggle for Safe, Legal Abortion

By Marcela Valente
Twenty-year-old Romina Tejerina is scheduled to stand trial in June in Argentina, and could very likely be sentenced to life in prison for stabbing to death her newborn daughter.

HIV/AIDS-INDIA: Sex Workers Take On U.S. Holier-Than-Thou Bill

By Sujoy Dhar
A battle cry by thousands of sex workers in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal threatens to trigger a worldwide protest against the United States for passing a bill that requires groups receiving U.S. AIDS relief money to publicly condemn prostitution.
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