HEALTH-ZIMBABWE: Running Errands of Mercy in the Age of AIDS

Priscilla Ndlovu feels like she has seen it all. She works as a member of one of myriad community home-based care groups, the prevalence of which shows the extent of HIV/AIDS in Zimbabwe, highlighting the country’s struggle to control the pandemic.

DEVELOPMENT-TANZANIA: More Women Dying Preventable Deaths

"I began walking when I felt contractions. I delivered on the roadside five kilometres from the hospital," says the 22-year-old Veronica Joseph.

DEVELOPMENT-ZIMBABWE: Maternal Deaths, The Neglected Tragedy

''It is a nasty experience which I do not want to be reminded of. But if you try to keep it to yourself it will remain a shock for a long time. I cannot even explain the pain I felt after being told that I was carrying dead bodies in my womb,’’ said Sesedzai Manzanga, a Harare teacher, as she recounted giving birth to a dead set of twins two years ago.

HEALTH-MOZAMBIQUE: Enter Malaria, Another Companion of HIV/AIDS

Anita Elena looks frail after months of chronic diarrhoea. ‘‘I prefer this illness to malaria because malaria kills you rapidly,’’ says Elena, sitting on a reed mat in front of her makeshift two-roomed stick and mud home, which she shares with her husband and three children. ‘‘My older brother died of malaria five years ago. He went rapidly.’’

AFRICA: Child Bride Symbolises Reasons Why MDGs Will be Missed

The woes of the child bride in many ways illustrate the conditions underlying the failure of African countries to achieve many of the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

WORLD POPULATION DAY: Enlightened Men Prescribed for Maternal Health

What is a common factor in ensuring that women do not marry too young, do not have more children than they can cope with, do not die giving birth - and contract HIV in smaller numbers? Men.

DEVELOPMENT-MOZAMBIQUE: An MDG Temperature Check Gives Mixed Results

Only about 30 percent of Mozambicans think that their quality of life has improved since 2000, the year when the international community agreed on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), while about 42 percent believe life has not changed.

COTE D’IVOIRE: A Shot in the Arm for the Northern Livestock Sector

As Côte d'Ivoire tries to pick up the pieces after five years of civil war, efforts are getting underway to deal with a notable casualty of the conflict: the health of livestock in the north, formerly under rebel control.

HEALTH-ZIMBABWE: Fighting the Spread of Polio – Again

Richard Chirew’s prominent stoop makes him look older than his 30 years. He is a resident of Kambuzuma, a dusty and poor Harare suburb where he survives as a street vendor.

DEVELOPMENT-BOTSWANA: Even More Children Are Dying

While Botswana has succeeded in decreasing its poverty rate, it is unlikely that the country will achieve the United Nations' fourth Millennium Development Goal of decreasing child mortality rates by two-thirds by 2015. Figures have shown an increase in child mortality between the 1990s and the 2000s.

HEALTH-SOUTHERN AFRICA: One Million People Need AIDS Treatment

About one million people in need of anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment are yet to receive it in four southern African states, according to Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF), a global nongovernmental organisation specialising in medical services.

HEALTH-AFRICA: ”Brain Drain Is Killing People”

A shortage of health care workers is paralysing the health system in Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique and South Africa, and threatens the lives of millions, particularly in rural areas, warns Medecins Sans Frontieres, a global nongovernmental organisation specialising in medical services.

RIGHTS-BOTSWANA: ”We Will Die Like the Grass” – San

‘‘Eviction is like removing grass from its roots. We will die like the grass,'' said Jumanda Gakelebone, spokesperson of the First People of the Kalahari, the group that represents the rights of the San community in Botswana.

ENVIRONMENT-AFRICA: Getting Most of the Heat From Global Warming

Nobody will escape the effects of climate change but the poor in Africa will suffer the most because of decreasing food production and the heightened prevalence of diseases such as malaria, warn environmentalists, church leaders and researchers.

HEALTH-SOUTH AFRICA: Pulling Stunts To End AIDS Ignorance

For six weeks, Andre van Zijl has been pumping petrol around the clock at a gas station in the picturesque seaside town Knysna on South Africa's south coast. Why? To raise awareness about HIV/AIDS.

DEVELOPMENT-BOTSWANA: ”Will the MDGs Help Me Find a Job?”

Batswana are divided about the viability of the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In random interviews, IPS found some arguing that the MDGs are elitist ideas unattainable in reality while others contend that the MDGs can be used to address socio-economic problems.

DEVELOPMENT-TANZANIA: MDGs a ”Bright Idea” or Scam of the Rich?

While the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are a ‘‘bright idea'', the ‘‘hidden agenda'' of western countries makes it impossible for African states like Tanzania to achieve the goals, expounds actor Rashid Mkwinda.

DEVELOPMENT-AFRICA: The Arrival of ”Homo Urbanus”

The year 2007 marks the birth of a new ''species'': Homo Urbanus. For the first time in history there will be as many city dwellers as rural inhabitants in the world.

ECONOMY-MALAWI: Being a ”Good Pupil” Can Be Bad for You

Five years after the famine in which more than 1,000 Malawians died and 8 million of the country's 12 million people suffered from hunger, the bitter memory of bad policy advice still lingers on.

HEALTH-AFRICA: Beef up Budget Allocations to Achieve MDGs

African states should put in place sufficient budget allocations and the right policies if the continent is to meet the global and regional health care targets that governments have committed themselves to, say campaigners.

KENYA: New Health Rules a Challenge to Implement – More Costly to Ignore

Just two months remain before the international community is scheduled to take a critical step forward in addressing global health threats, marked by the entry into force of the updated 'International Health Regulations'.