Marina Litvinsky
WASHINGTON, Jun 5 2009 (IPS) – The World Health Organisation (WHO) urged Friday that rotavirus vaccines be included in routine immunisation schedules of countries around the world in order to provide global protection against the most common and lethal form of diarrheal disease.
The rotavirus is responsible for more than 500,000 diarrheal deaths and two million hospitalisations annually among children. More than 85 percent of these deaths occur in developing countries in Africa and Asia.
This new policy will help ensure access to rotavirus vaccines in the world s poorest countries.
This is a tremendous milestone in ensuring that vaccines against the most common cause of lethal diarrhea reach the children who need them most, noted Dr. Thomas C…
Several of the children in Abala camp are visibly malnourished, and NGO workers are concerned about potential epidemics. Credit: William Lloyd-George/IPS
SEGOU, Mali, May 25 2012 (IPS) – Her neat, bright yellow headscarf matches the rest of her outfit, but contrasts with her weary expression. Sokona Soumounou sits a little apart from the crowd queueing for assistance from the World Food Programme in the southern Mali town of Ségou.
I m staying with my younger brother here, with four children whose parents are elsewhere, she told IPS.
This week was the first time there was assistance of any kind for Soumounou or any of the roughly 3,600 people w…
Jul 19 2016 – Kashmir is bleeding once again. Many innocent civilians have been brutally killed and many more injured by the Indian security forces. Surprisingly, there is a deafening silence in the local media. No views, no comments whatsoever have appeared. Strangely, the media, which is otherwise very active and springs into action on the slightest violation of human rights, kept mum as if Kashmiris are not human, their blood carries no importance and is cheaper than water. Many nowadays are voicing serious concerns about the rights of drug addicts killed by the police but not a single word for Kashmiris.
Views and opinions apart, there was a complete blackout in the local print media about the recent incidents of human rights violations in the Indian-occupied Kashmir by the …
A cigarette vendor in Manila sells a pack of 20 sticks for less than a dollar. Credit: Kara Santos/IPS
UNITED NATIONS, Jan 13 2017 (IPS) – Low and middle-income countries have far fewer tobacco regulations than high-income countries and are paying the price with bigger health and economic impacts.
Yet, according to new wide-ranging research published by the World Health Organization (WHO), tobacco companies are misleading governments, telling them that tobacco regulations will potentially harm their economies.
The research was compiled in a new monograph titled , published jointly by the WHO and the National Cancer Institute of the US-based Nat…
Credit: UNICEF
HAMILTON, Ontario, Canada, Jul 29 2021 (IPS) – In 1995, a highly-respected water expert in South Africa, , in very concise terms illustrated that the country, already battling a growing lack of water then, would likely run out in 25 years if it did not increase its supply.
Twenty-five years have now passed and the country is thirstier than ever. The recent is just one manifestation of the nation’s chronic water scarcity. And there is likely more water trouble ahead.
Water scarcity issues have been vexing experts for decades. Scientists developed and debated various, essentially saying that it is a global issue with strong local specifics. World…