HEALTH-MALI: Community Also Has a Role in Preventing TB

Soumaila T. Diarra

BAMAKO, Aug 2 2011 (IPS) – Tuberculosis remains a leading cause of death in Mali despite the availability of free treatment. The resurgence of the illness, linked to poverty and HIV infection, could be reduced by changing behaviour, doctors say.
I know people who have died of tuberculosis, Ramata Guindo told IPS.

In this market, a vendor of kitchen utensils died of it last year. He didn t go to a health centre in time. When they discovered what was wrong with him, it was too late, says the vegetable vendor at Bamako s Lafiabougou market.

This teeming market of hastily-constructed wooden sheds perfectly illustrates the overcrowding that supports the transmission of contagious diseases like TB. Between the merchants stalls, shoppers trample …

EUROPE-DEVELOPMENT: Mapping Out the EU’s Harmful Projects

BRUSSELS, Feb 5 2012 (IPS) – Dozens of European Union-funded projects across several countries are ‘environmentally or socially unsound’, according to a map created by a joint effort between CEE Bankwatch Network and Friends of the Earth Europe.
Released Feb. 2, the counted 33 ventures backed by the EU s either projects already funded or under consideration for funding totalling 16 billion euros.

The map highlighted projects in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Macedonia, Poland and Slovakia, which have been found to be particularly damaging to local biodiversity, to the future possibility of sustainable efforts and to human communities.

Twelve of the 33 projects studied were found in the Czech Republic, the highest number of harmful projects in …

Cancer a Heavy Burden for Cash-Strapped Cuban Families

Patients at a chemotherapy session in the Civil Hospital in the province of Cienfuegos, Cuba. Credit: Jorge Luis Baños/IPS

HAVANA, Nov 12 2013 (IPS) – The meagre budgets of Cuban families are put to the test when one of the members is diagnosed with cancer. Although treatment is free of cost, only extended networks of support help alleviate the economic impact of the disease, which is now the number one cause of death.

“The most expensive thing is the diet. We have to buy fruit, vegetables, chicken and fish, which are costly and hard to get,” said Adolfo (not his real name), who changed jobs four times in his efforts to help his wife through her 11-year battle w…

Global Warming Threatens Europe’s Public Health

Parched olive groves in northern Croatia, where West Nile Virus has already claimed one victim this year. West Nile Virus infections have sharply increased in Europe this year, the World Health Organisation says, largely due to a longer transmission season in the region which this year saw high temperatures and extended rainy spells followed by dry weather, helping mosquito breeding and propagation. Credit: Ed Holt/IPS

VIENNA, Sep 13 2018 (IPS) – Climate change and health experts are warning of the growing threat to public health in Europe from global warming as rising temperatures help potentially lethal diseases spread easily across the continent.