HARARE – In March, 27-year-old Jemitius Gangata succumbed to malaria in Mahombokombe village in Zimbabwe’s Mashonaland West Province, becoming part of the country’s growing malaria statistics. By mid-April, the country had recorded over 65,000 malaria cases and 174 deaths, almost double the numbers from the same period last year, when 36,000 cases and 85 deaths […] Continue reading ->
ISRAELI-OCCUPIED WEST BANK – The oxygen mask slipped from three-month-old Ahmad Zaid’s face. He was in his father’s arms, in front of a closed Israeli military gate blocking the road between Deir Ammar refugee camp, northwest of Ramallah, where the family lives, and the city of Ramallah, with a hospital the family was desperate to […] Continue reading ->
Thousands of people displaced by conflict in Yemen are at risk of cholera, measles, malaria and dengue as the El Niño season approaches, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Eastern Mediterranean region warned this week. A four-year ceasefire between Iran-backed Houthi forces and the Saudi-based Yemeni government collapsed in August after Houthi forces attacked Saudi Arabian […] Continue reading ->
The world has ridden fast to rescue DRC from Ebola. But four months on, nobody can say for sure how many agencies are responding, how many people they employ, how much money has arrived, or what it bought. There are, however, coordinators galore. But the virus is still outwitting them. Time and again, we learn […] Continue reading ->
“We have better tools now. We can, if we work together and work better, we can conquer AIDS.” For Dr. Magda Robalo, a public health physician and former Minister of Health of Guinea-Bissau, the science behind the HIV response has advanced dramatically, but the social and political environment surrounding the disease may be moving in […] Continue reading ->
Millions of people in Southeast Asia are currently exposed to hazardous levels of air pollution as the large-scale haze caused by Indonesian wildfires crosses boundaries, leading to cancelled outdoor activities and school closures. Indonesia alone has recorded 50,000 cases of respiratory infections linked to land and forest fires between July and August this year, according to […] Continue reading ->
Two sets of dogmas contend in Afghanistan: those of the Taliban and the West. Neither side pays the real price for their beliefs. Ordinary Afghans do with their lives. Some aid agencies labour quietly to bring help and hope through a dozen practical ways that bypass competing doctrines. They deserve support. In March last year, […] Continue reading ->
Five years after the Taliban returned to power, Afghanistan’s health system is being squeezed from two directions: shrinking healthcare services and restrictions that are making it increasingly difficult for women to reach them. The consequences are particularly acute for Afghan women. Taliban-imposed restrictions on their movement, employment and education have narrowed access to healthcare, while […] Continue reading ->
More than 650,000 refugees and asylum seekers in South Sudan risk losing access to lifesaving food, nutrition and other assistance due to critical funding shortfalls, leaving families who fled war and hunger with nowhere else to turn, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Friday. Without a […] Continue reading ->
Over 4,000 Ebola Bundibugyo cases and 1,800 deaths have been recorded so far in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) – numbers so alarming that health experts intend to research whether the virus is mutating to become more infectious. This was revealed by Dr Jean Kaseya, the Director General of Africa Centres for Disease Control […] Continue reading ->