Stephen Leahy* – IPS/IFEJ
BROOKLIN, Canada, Sep 25 2006 (IPS) – A green chemical revolution is underway that promises to be environmentally sustainable and profitable while reducing the risks of industrial disasters like the Bhopal, India gas leak in 1984.
Green chemistry has already turned maize into biodegradable plastics, developed non-toxic solvents and dramatically reduced the toxic byproducts from the manufacture of popular pharmaceuticals like ibuprofen. It is vital to the production of Toyota s new electric cars, made in part from kenaf, an annual grass plant.
Green chemistry is about developing new products and processes which actually fit the triple bottom line of environmental, economic and social sustainability, said Robin Rogers, a researcher and direct…
Emilio Godoy
MEXICO CITY, Jul 31 2008 (IPS) – Anuar Luna was diagnosed with HIV 17 years ago. I had to overcome feelings of guilt, fear and shame before I became a leader in the HIV-positive community, she said Thursday at the opening of Living 2008: The Positive Leadership Summit, in the Mexican capital.
Luna is now one of the leading activists in defence of the rights of people living with HIV and the fight against AIDS in Mexico.
But despite the influence and visibility gained by the movement over the last decade, people living with HIV continue to face discrimination, isolation, and criminalisation for HIV transmission.
Although success has been achieved in terms of access to medicine and treatment, stigma and discrimination continue to tarnish these accom…
Stephen Leahy
LIVERPOOL, Apr 28 2010 (IPS) – Poor intervention in Injecting drug use (IDU) is driving the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Eastern Europe and is also largely responsible for the tuberculosis epidemic in parts of Russia, says a new study.
Shockingly, a mere three US cents a day per injecting drug user are being invested to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS and TB, according to the study released at the opening of the Harm Reduction 2010 conference this week in this English port city.
Our report shows that just 160 million US dollars a year are being used in total for all the harm reduction programmes to prevent the spread of HIV around the world, says Gerry Stimson, executive director of the International Harm Reduction Association.
Harm reduction involves pr…
Fabiana Frayssinet
RIO DE JANEIRO, Apr 6 2011 (IPS) – Scientists in Brazil have created the first map of clusters of antibiotic resistance in Brazil, linking the phenomenon to abuse of the drug and opening doors to guide public policies for antibiotic prescription and sales.
Superbug carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumonia (CRKP) Credit: Public domain
The map of probability of risk of resistance to the ciprofloxacin antibiotic in Escherichia coli was produced by the EUREQA (the acronym for epidemiology of use…
BRUSSELS, Jul 14 2014 (IPS) – Hopes are high that the 10th Asia-Europe Meeting – or ASEM summit – to be held in Milan on October 16-17 will confirm the credibility and relevance of Asia-Europe relations in the 21st century.
ASEM has certainly survived many storms and upheavals since it was initiated in Bangkok in 1996 and now, with ASEM’s 20th anniversary in 2016 approaching rapidly, the challenge is not only to guarantee ASEM’s survival but also to ensure that the Asia-Europe partnership flourishes and thrives.
Talk about renewal and revival is encouraging as Asians and Europeans seek to inject fresh dynamism into ASEM through changed formats and a stronger focus on content to bring it into the 21st century.
ASEM’s future hinges not only on whether gov…
This article is part of a series of stories and op-eds issued by IPS on the occasion of this year’s World Autism Awareness Day
Children’s Cultural Program / Town Hall Meeting. Dec 14, 2015. Shilpakala Academy. Organized by Parents Forum for the Differently Able. A short play by nearly 30 children and youth with NDDs. Over 100 parents took part in the meeting askin…
A performance at a photo show in El Fasher, Sudan, 2018. The new transitional government of Sudan criminalized female genital mutilation this spring, but the practice has not ended. Credit: MOHAMAD ALMAHADY/UNAMID
Aug 18 2020 (IPS) – Just four months ago, Sudan took the monumental step to , a painful, unnecessary and dangerous procedure that leaves lasting scars. Generally carried out on girls before they reach puberty, genital mutilation is now punishable in Sudan by up to three years in prison and subject to a fine.
In a country where 88 percent of women between 15 and 49 years old have undergone some form of genital mutilation, according to the Unite…
Jennie Lyn Reyes is the author of the 2020 Asian Tobacco Industry Interference Index and the Monitoring and Evaluation Manager of SEATCA.
BANGKOK, Thailand, Nov 20 2020 (IPS) – While the COVID-19 pandemic has elevated public health to a top priority in every country in the world, it has left many poorly resourced governments receptive to any and all aid that can provide immediate assistance to help their people.
The pandemic pandemonium has provided unprecedented opportunities for the tobacco industry to boost its corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities to get closer to health and senior government officials.
Using charity to gain access to senior officia…