Irfan Shahzad

KARACHI, Oct 2 2007 (IPS) – Unlike his neighbours in the opposite lane, Muhammad Salam lets his children play out in the street without the slightest worry.
That is because Salam, a resident of Ghaziabad locality in the big Orangi informal settlement in this port city, is happy for the concrete paving along the street he lives on. Beneath the concrete is a sewerage line that efficiently collects wastewater from all 24 houses in the area.

Not all the streets in this mega slum, however, enjoy the same privilege. Quite a few of the lanes are difficult to pass through due to streams of reeking water, thanks to the lack of an adequate municipal sewage system, a common problem in the cities of this South Asian country.

I have no worries that my kids w…

Aaron Glantz

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct 19 2007 (IPS) – U.S. Army Specialist James Eggemeyer injured himself before he even set foot in Iraq, jumping out of a C-130 gunship during training at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

James Eggemeyer in Iraq. Credit:

I jumped out and the jumpmaster who was holding that line that was wrapped around my arm had to cut the line because I was pretty much being dragged behind the airplane, the 25-year-old Florida native told IPS as he drove a donated truck through the streets of his hometown of Port Saint Lucie, a two-hour drive north of Miami, Florida.

I hit the…

Philip Rouwenhorst

NEW YORK, Nov 26 2007 (IPS) – An international campaign to eradicate polio received a major boost Monday with the announcement that the Bill Melinda Gates Foundation would give 100 million dollars to support intensified immunisation in the handful of countries where the virus remains active.
The grant went to the Rotary Foundation, an organisation of service clubs with over 1.2 million members worldwide, and its PolioPlus Programme.

It #39s a very large grant for us. Certainly not the largest we #39ve ever made, but on the other hand this is perhaps one of the largest possibilities we #39ve had to deal with: ultimate eradication of this horror from the lives of children. There #39s almost no figure that is too high to invest in that possible end, W…

Abid Aslam

WASHINGTON, Jan 7 2008 (IPS) – U.S. environmentalists took Shell Oil Co. and several of its affiliates to court Monday in a bid to stop pollution from a refining and chemicals plant in the southwestern state of Texas.
The Sierra Club and Environment Texas want a federal judge to order Shell to cease alleged violations of the Clean Air Act at its 1,500-acre Deer Park complex, located 20 miles east of downtown Houston. The sprawling metropolis is home to Shell and much of the U.S. oil industry.

The U.S. unit of Royal Dutch Shell Group faces possible civil penalties of up to 32,500 dollars per day for each of about 1,000 violations that the groups allege took place between 2003 and 2007.

The case seems destined to draw attention because it involves the…

Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS, Feb 11 2008 (IPS) – The world #39s 2.2 billion children are under siege battling poverty, hunger, military conscription, sexual abuse, labour exploitation and HIV/AIDS, according to the United Nations.
The world body estimates that over 600 million children live in absolute poverty worldwide; about 218 million suffer the worst forms of child labour; over 2.5 million are infected with HIV/AIDS; and more than 250,000 to 300,000 are forcibly pressed into military service as soldiers.

The U.N. children #39s agency UNICEF says that nearly half the estimated 3.6 million people killed in military conflicts since 1990 were children.

Despite continuing efforts by governments, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and humanitarian organisati…

Miriam Mannak

CAPE TOWN, Mar 8 2008 (IPS) – The need for a global effort to address the shortage of anaesthesiologists in Africa was highlighted over the past week during the World Congress of Anaesthesiologists which took place in Cape Town, South Africa.

Bisola Najin Obembe of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, Nigeria. Credit: Miriam Mannak/IPS

This event, which is held every four years, drew over 7,000 international delegates. It was organised by the World Federation of Societi…

Milagros Salazar

LIMA, Apr 23 2008 (IPS) – The U.S. company running a large multi-metal smelter in the Peruvian city of La Oroya, one of the most polluted places on earth, is facing sanctions for violating air quality standards.

Credit: Courtesy of La República newspaper.

Mining and metallurgical company Doe Run Peru overran emission limits to such an extent that on Mar. 11 the German independent auditing firm TÜV Rheinland withdrew their ISO 14001 environmental certification, issued in 2006.

In a document seen by IPS, the state Technical Committee on A…

Keya Acharya

BANGALORE, Jun 3 2008 (IPS) – The People s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), a 32-year-old Indian human- rights group, has decried India s judiciary for refusing bail to jungle doctor and human rights activist Binayak Sen. Sen is widely-respected for his 30 years of healthcare work among tribals in the central Indian State of Chhattisgarh, and has criticised the State for the mass-eviction of thousands of tribal villagers.
Sen, who received the 2008 Global Health Council s Jonathan Mann award for his work in health and human rights, was jailed one year ago on charges of hatching a conspiracy and abetting terrorism. Sen denies the government s allegations, and was refused bail in a high-profile case that has reached the Supreme Court.

Human rights activist…

Kristin Palitza

DURBAN, Jul 1 2008 (IPS) – Refugees and migrants do not have adequate access to health care services in South Africa, aid organisations and NGOs say. This is particularly detrimental for those who are HIV-positive and in need of continuous antiretroviral (ARV) medication: interrupted treatment can mean illness, development of drug-resistance and ultimately death.

Migrants are at elevated risk for HIV/AI…

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…