News headlines for “Health Issues”, page 14
Four Years Later, Still No Clarity: WHO Report Highlights Gaps in Global Cooperation
- Inter Press Service

UNITED NATIONS, August 14 (IPS) - More than four years since Covid-19 upended the world, the question of how it began remains unanswered. Did SARS-CoV-2 originate from animals to humans naturally, or did it accidentally escape from a laboratory? The World Health Organization’s latest report offers little new clarity and raises serious concerns about international cooperation and scientific transparency.
From the Margins to the Courts: St Lucia Joins Caribbean Fight to Dismantle Anti-LGBTQI+ Colonial Laws
- Inter Press Service

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay, August 13 (IPS) - When Kenita Placide co-founded United and Strong, St Lucia’s first LGBTQI+ organisation in 2001, death threats were routine. Over the years, several friends were murdered for being gay. But 24 years on, Kenita’s Caribbean island nation has become the latest to overturn a colonial legacy that criminalised LGBTQI+ people.
Four Ways Asia Can Strengthen Regional Health Security Before the Next Pandemic
- Inter Press Service

MANILA, Philippines, August 13 (IPS) - In an interconnected world when infections can circle the globe in hours, cooperation in preparing for pandemics is essential. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted just how vulnerable countries are when surveillance is fragmented, laboratory networks are underfunded and underequipped, and vaccines are not dispersed equitably.
Malnutrition deaths mark ‘latest in the war on children’ in Gaza: UNRWA chief
- UN News

At least 100 children in Gaza have died from malnutrition and hunger, prompting humanitarians to underscore the need to speed up medical evacuations from the enclave while also allowing more food to enter.
Women in Sudan are Starving Faster than Men; Female-Headed Households Suffer
- Inter Press Service

UNITED NATIONS, August 12 (IPS) - The food crisis in Sudan is starving more day by day, yet it is affecting women and girls at double the rate compared to men in the same areas. New findings from UN-Women reveal that female-headed households (FHHs) are three times more likely to be food insecure than ones led by men.
Preparing for the next flood: Protecting women’s health in Bangladesh
- UN News

Climate change has worsened monsoon flooding in Bangladesh, putting women of child-bearing age at risk – but the UN reproductive health agency (UNFPA) is helping them prepare.
From Semei to Hiroshima: Astana Times Editor on Bringing Global Solidarity Through Journalism
- Inter Press Service

TOKYO / ASTANA, August 7 (IPS) - Eighty years ago, the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki left a lasting reminder to humanity of the inhuman nature of nuclear weapons. Kazakhstan, too, is a nation deeply scarred by nuclear tests conducted during the Soviet era. Having covered the activities of Soka Gakkai International (SGI) in Kazakhstan—including its support for exhibitions and documentary productions on nuclear abolition in Astana—, INPS Japan recently interviewed Zhanna Shayakhmetova, editor-in-chief of The Astana Times, a leading English-language newspaper in the country that continues to convey messages of disarmament and peace to the world. In the interview, Shayakhmetova spoke about the role of religious leaders who will gather in Astana from around the world this September, the importance of passing on memories to younger generations, and the responsibility journalism holds in this endeavor.
Global Supply Chain Failures are Causing Pharmaceutical Contamination
- Inter Press Service

NEW YORK, August 7 (IPS) - The contamination of pharmaceutical medicines through toxic excipients is killing many and harming others. The UN agencies for health and drugs and crime warn that systemic vulnerabilities in the global supply chain have been exploited to introduce industrial-grade toxic chemicals into medicines, harming thousands of people, including children.
Abuse during and after childbirth persists globally, WHO warns
- UN News

New evidence suggests mistreatment remains common in maternal and newborn care, with new research across four countries finding that 60 per cent of vaginal exams were done without consent, according to the UN World Health Organization (WHO).
UN Trade and Environment Agencies Target Plastic Pollution through Global Negotiations and Trade Measures
- Inter Press Service

NEW YORK, August 5 (IPS) - They are lightweight, cheap, and able to be used in every sector of every supply chain. Few materials have revolutionized manufacturing and the global economy as much as plastics have. They are essential in almost everything, however this comes at a cost. A cost of 1.5 trillion annually in environmental damage, and a 75 percent waste ratio of all plastic ever produced.
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