Languages
Tuesday, June 30, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
Women's Health
HEALTH-RUSSIA: More Funding, But HIV/AIDS on the Rise
Russia's HIV infection rate continues to rise - most notably in the heterosexual and non-drug-using populations - despite steady increases in funds to fight the disease. Experts and medical researchers say dramatic changes in sexual attitudes and behaviour are essential if the trend is to be reversed.HEALTH-ARGENTINA: Abortion – No Longer a Taboo Subject
Capitalising on a more favourable public opinion, an alliance of civil society organisations in Argentina presented to Congress a draft law Monday for the legalisation of abortion in a country where illegal abortions are the main cause of maternal mortality.PAKISTAN: Cleric Turns Heat on NGOs
''These foreign agents are against our religion. How can we allow them to work here when we know they come with an American agenda and support Israel?" asked Maulana Fazalullah, the pro-Taliban cleric, referring to non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
Q&A: “Abstinence Is Not the Only Way to Go”
Few aid programmes have been as controversial among activists and public health experts as the George W. Bush administration's abstinence-based HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention initiative, called the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).HEALTH: HIV-Positive Women Activists in Latin America Stand Tall
Patricia Pérez, an activist from Argentina who was diagnosed HIV-positive in 1986, has been nominated for the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for her activism on behalf of women living with the AIDS virus. But her case is an exception to the rule.GUATEMALA: Indigenous Women Last in Line for MDGs
Guatemala is making slow, uneven progress towards meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), with maternal mortality and illiteracy remaining the most persistent problems, mid-way to the 2015 deadline.HEALTH-MEXICO: Abortion No Longer a Crime in Capital
The Mexico City legislature voted Tuesday to legalise abortion, after several weeks of heated debate in which conservative groups and the Catholic Church traded insults with pro-choice activists and threatened them with excommunication.POPULATION: Asia’s Falling Fertility Rates Threaten “Baby Bust”
A sharp drop in fertility rates in Japan, South Korea, China and Singapore is threatening a "baby bust", leaving most maternity wards in Asia in a state of near-emptiness.POLITICS: Wolfowitz Contradicted on Family Planning Claim
Despite denials by World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz Thursday, newly disclosed internal documents indicate that the Bank may have in fact reversed a longstanding policy of promoting family planning on his watch.POPULATION-JAPAN: Obstetric Care Hits Crisis Levels
Mayu Sasaki, 32, is expecting her second baby in May, but rather than making happy preparations the former economics researcher is filled with anxiety.POPULATION: U.S. Funding Cuts Undermine Terror War
A proposed 25-percent cut in U.S. international assistance for population in the upcoming 2008 budget threatens to undermine the war against terrorism, a Washington-based non-governmental organisation warned Wednesday.MEXICO: Legal Abortion No Longer a Distant Goal for Activists
Mexico could join Cuba and Guyana as the only countries in Latin America where abortion is legal in cases other than those involving rape or a threat to a pregnant woman's life.
DEVELOPMENT-MOZAMBIQUE: What To Do When a Cyclone Hits
Sandra Alberto (picture) was heavily pregnant when Cyclone Favio struck Mozambique earlier this month on 2 March, ripping the zinc roof off the house she and her two children had taken refuge in.HEALTH-AFRICA: Facing AIDS, Malaria Amidst Brain Drain
As though the decimating effects of HIV/AIDS and malaria were not enough to deal with, African countries also have to battle with the continuing exodus of health professionals leaving the continent for greener pastures.DEVELOPMENT-AFRICA: MDGs Depend on Power Relations Changing
‘‘The people of Nigeria's oil-rich Niger Delta are poor not because they do not have resources but because they do not have political power. Those who wield power in Nigeria are building skyscrapers in Lagos and Abuja while there is nothing in the Niger Delta. It is the same at the global level.''JAPAN: ‘Baby Hatch’ Plan Still on Hold
Three months after a private Japanese hospital proposed the setting up of a ‘baby hatch' to save unwanted infants, conservative officials continue to resist its launch in what critics say illustrates indifference to female reproductive rights in this tradition-bound country.POPULATION: Aging Nations Need Shift in Resources
The world's population continues to age and is on track to surpass nine billion people by 2050, according to the United Nations' latest statistical projections released Tuesday.INT’L WOMEN’S DAY-INDIA: Two Steps Forward, One Backward
A government report released as part of an extensive national family health survey has come as a rude shock for a state long regarded as progressive. It placed Tamil Nadu high on a list of states where wife-beating is common.TRINIDAD: Abortion Debate Takes a Strange Turn
In 1999, the U.S. economists John Donohue and Steven Levitt argued that the sharp decline in murder rates in the United States in the 1990s could be traced back to the legalisation of abortion by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1973.DEVELOPMENT-ZIMBABWE: A Herculean Effort Is Needed
‘‘You cannot talk of halving poverty when our country is going in the opposite direction. We are totally lost,’’ says Maxwell Tambarare, a teacher in Chiredzi, a region to the south east of Zimbabwe.HEALTH-CHILE: Teen Pregnancy Bucks Global Downward Trend
She is only 24 and has already had three children. The first was born when she was 14, the second when she was 20, and the third, who she gave in adoption, was born just a few weeks ago. Her story is a reflection of teen pregnancy and early motherhood, which are on the rise in Chile.« 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.
The Week with IPS
NEXT STOP - SDGs
Tracking global progress towards a sustainable world
Tracking global progress towards a sustainable world
