Suvendrini Kakuchi
TOKYO, Jun 15 2011 (IPS) – Slackening awareness and deep-rooted social discrimination are behind the latest figures that show Japan with a record number of HIV-positive and AIDS patients, officials and experts say.
Yorimasa Nagai, director of the Japan Foundation for AIDS Prevention, said the climbing figures are a wake-up call for the government, which has announced it is slashing budgets for organisations working on the issue.
Last month, the Health and Welfare Ministry reported 1,075 new HIV-positive cases for 2010, an increase of 54 from 2009. The number of new patients with full-blown AIDS also rose to an unprecedented 469, with the highest numbers recorded among homosexuals.
The upward trend in HIV-positive and AIDS cases has been obse…
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (centre) speaks with a tuberculosis (TB) patient during his visit to the Institute of Respiratory Medicine in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Credit: UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe
WASHINGTON, Oct 17 2012 (IPS) – The next several years could see either the elimination of tuberculosis in some regions or millions of otherwise preventable deaths, according to released in Washington Wednesday by the World health Organisation (WHO).
The outcome, experts are warning, rests on a three-billion-dollar gap in funding needed to fully address TB next year as well to ensure the proper introduction of new drugs.
“On the one hand we have existing as well as n…
Australia has set a target to cut emissions by 26 to 28 percent of 2005 levels by 2030 but aggressive coal mining could hamper those plans. Credit: Neena Bhandari/IPS
SYDNEY, Sep 2 2015 (IPS) – Rowan Foley has spent many years as a ranger and park manager, caring for Uluru–Kata Tjuta National Park Aboriginal lands in the spiritual heart of Australia’s Red Centre in the Northern Territory. He has been observing the effects of soaring temperatures and extreme weather events on his people, residing in some of the hottest regions of the country.
“There are hotter and more frequent fires. Salt water intrusion is leading to less fresh water. This is impacting on indige…
No cause to celebrate as COVID-19 has created setbacks on the aims of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. It’s been 25 years since the declaration was signed. Credit: Markus Winkler / Unsplash
NEW YORK, Nov 30 2020 (IPS) – This year, the world commemorated the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, instead of celebration; however, its progress has been impeded by the COVID-19.
The so-called ‘new normal’ where people have been forced to stay at and, if possible, work from home has resulted in the pushing back of the Gender Equality and Women Empowerment targets.
Earlier this year Alia El-Yassir, the Unit…