Topic: World Health Organization

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Roe v. Wade anniversary: Study says 'unsafe' abortions on rise

Roe v. Wade, the landmark legislation legalizing abortion in the United States, marks its 39th year this week. As Americans debate abortion rights in the midst of an election year, a new study indicates abortion rates are steadying worldwide, though the frequency of dangerous abortions is rising. Here are the answers to five questions related to abortion laws globally, and their effects on women.
Chernobyl disaster: four ways it continues to have an impact

Twenty-five years ago April 26, the Chernobyl power plant exploded in Ukraine. The disaster remains the world’s worst nuclear accident.
Japan earthquake: 5 ways the international community is helping

Japan has received offers of assistance from 14 international organizations and 102 countries (including a number of unexpected aid donors such as embattled Afghanistan and poverty-stricken Cambodia), according to the latest report from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Japan has accepted help, mostly in the form of search and rescue teams, from 15 countries. Here is an overview of some of the help pouring into Japan as it struggles to dig out from Friday’s 9.0-magnitude earthquake and resulting tsunami.
World Toilet Day: Top 10 nations lacking toilets

See a lot of people squatting in the open today? Don't be offended: It's the 10th annual World Toilet Day, an initiative to bring awareness to the need for adequate sanitary facilities.

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Modern Parenthood
Time mag breastfeeding cover doubletake: What about the stats?

The US ranks last among the 36 industrialized nations in support of breastfeeding. But the extended breastfeeding cover image – as in an elderly toddler suckling his mother's breast – is Time's angle into the American trend of attachment parenting.
Researchers tinker with bird flu: Are enough safeguards in place?

A new study and one to be published soon on Asian bird flu have prompted debate about safeguards during research and how much access others should have to research details.
New Jersey mother arrested for allowing toddler into tanning booth (+video)

Patricia Krencil, a New Jersey mother, was arrested for allegedly allowing her toddler into a tanning booth, in violation of state laws, said it was all one big misunderstanding. But school officials blew the whistle after observing burns on the young girl's skin.
Greek 'island of the blind'? More like 'island of welfare cheats'

On a Greek island, at least 600 are suspected of falsely claiming to be blind to get disability money. It's part of the rampant fraud that prompted Athens to halt payments to 200,000 last week.
Mad cow: Latest episode raises questions about cattle feed

The riskiest parts of rendered cows aren’t supposed to be fed back to other cows. But they are fed to chickens, whose waste can be fed back to cattle in what one critic calls ‘cow cannibalism.’
Mad Cow just one food safety risk

Experts say bacterial contamination like E. Coli poses a much greater threat of food-borne illness.
Mad cow disease: Big deal abroad. US? Not so much. (+video)

Mad cow disease has hit the US only four times since regulators took steps to control it 15 years ago. Although the latest announcement of mad cow disease may alarm American consumers, the biggest reaction may come from nations that decide to ban US beef.
Hey SCOTUS, we already have a federal mandate for health care

US law requires emergency rooms to treat patients regardless of their ability to pay. As a hospital CEO, I assure you, we already have a form of universal health care. We simply fund and supply it in an exorbitantly expensive way. Obamacare's individual mandate provides the solution.
Change Agent
Bloomberg donates $220 million to anti-smoking efforts worldwide

The charitable foundation of Michael Bloomberg, the New York mayor and anti-smoking activist, is giving $220 million to aid anti-tobacco efforts in low- and middle-income countries, where nearly 80 percent of the world’s smokers live.
Who is Jim Yong Kim, nominee for World Bank president?

The selection of Jim Yong Kim took many by surprise since he is not well known in Washington circles and wasn’t an expected candidate for the World Bank position.
Change Agent
Fast-track breeding could bring a second Green Revolution

Green revolution: Fast-track breeding is beginning to develop crops that can produce more and healthier food – without controversial genetic engineering.
The oystermen and the sea, one year after Japan's tsunami

Oystermen in the Japanese hamlet of Samurai-hama should be enjoying a profitable harvest this time of year. But the March 2011 tsunami destroyed much of their equipment and is testing their willingness to persevere.
Keep Calm
Millennium Development Goals: Clean water checked off list. Now back to work.

The Millennium Development Goal of sharply improving access to safe drinking water has been reached. But China drove a lot of the progress, skewing the data with its size and obscuring problems in Africa.
Mozambique takes first step against backroom abortions

Mozambique's legislature is expected to pass a bill to legalize abortions in March in an effort to reduce the country's high rate of unsafe backroom abortions.
Roe v. Wade anniversary: Study says 'unsafe' abortions on rise

Roe v. Wade, the landmark legislation legalizing abortion in the United States, marks its 39th year this week. As Americans debate abortion rights in the midst of an election year, a new study indicates abortion rates are steadying worldwide, though the frequency of dangerous abortions is rising. Here are the answers to five questions related to abortion laws globally, and their effects on women.
Coming slowly to 300 million Chinese puffers: smoke-free zones

Despite a new smoke-free zone at Peking University, China is making only half-hearted efforts to dissuade people from smoking.
Change Agent
How genetically modified mosquitoes could unlock Africa's wealth

Ending malaria could lift African nations out of poverty by spurring education, market productivity, and economic growth.
Somali Islamists ban aid groups, renewing famine concerns

Somalia's Islamist insurgency banned Western aid agencies from its territory, raising concerns that famine could return to parts of the northeast African nation.
Backchannels
After UNESCO Palestine vote, could US defund nuclear watchdog IAEA, too?

The US withdrew funding after UNESCO's Palestine vote yesterday. There's no reason that Palestinians won't be able to muster the votes for recognition in other UN agencies like the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Change Agent
'Mama Poo' brings simple sanitation to a Kenyan slum

A person's quest to bring simple sanitation to Kenyan slum where toilets are lacking, a disposable bag that transforms human waste into fertilizer may be an answer.
Contagion: movie review

'Contagion': a bio-thriller that comes off as a fright film, with a few quietly moving moments.
Latin America Monitor
Ecuador reels from worst alcohol-related tragedy ever

After 50 died in Ecuador this summer from consuming poisonous alcohol, critics say that the government response to buy back tainted products is insufficient and more education is needed.
The Interrupters: movie review

‘The Interrupters’ powerfully profiles the straight-talking ex-toughs who confront gang violence in Chicago.
Why Russia finally decided that beer is alcohol

Until Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed the new law today, beer was considered the same as soda and sold just about anywhere.
Kenyans can't afford the high cost of cheap booze

Kenyan men spend more on alcohol than on education for their children. As a deterrent to combat the high social and economic costs of this public-health problem, Kenya should raise its tax on alcohol.