New research on the high prevalence of kidney disease in Sri Lanka’s farming areas mentions a possible link to heavy metals in the water, associated with fertiliser and pesticide use. Credit: Amantha Perera/IPS

COLOMBO, Aug 21 2012 (IPS) – A new report links the high prevalence of chronic kidney disease in Sri Lanka’s main agricultural production regions with the presence of heavy metals in the water, caused by fertiliser and pesticide use.

Over the past two decades, dozens of studies have been conducted on the large number of kidney patients in Sri Lanka’s agro-rich north-central region. However, none had conclusively identified a clear cause.

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Greeks citizens protesting against the public spending cuts that have accompanied the austerity package. Credit: Bego Astigarraga/IPS

ATHENS, Oct 10 2012 (IPS) – Like a person on life support whose vital functions are failing, the Greek economy is slowly but surely shutting down as radiation from the so-called ‘austerity plan’ erodes public institutions.

When German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrived here on Tuesday morning for an economic assessment of the debt-ravaged country, she did not see the things that, for thousands, have become commonplace: cancer patients dying outside clinics, unable to access the treatment they need, or kindergart…

A Salafi rally in Cairo. Islamist leaders are pushing to reduce Egypt’s legal marriage age for girls, some arguing for as low as nine. Credit: Cam McGrath/IPS.

CAIRO, Nov 14 2012 (IPS) – An ultraconservative Salafi cleric recently sparked outrage among Egypt’s liberal circles when he attempted to justify his opposition to a proposed constitutional article that would outlaw the trafficking of women for sex.

Speaking on privately-owned Al-Nas satellite channel, Sheikh Mohamed Saad El-Azhary said he feared the proposed article could conflict with the local practice of child marriage. He explained that in Egypt, particularly in rural areas, there is a culture of …

BAMAKO , Dec 28 2012 (IPS) – In the southern Senegal village of Kael Bessel, female genital mutilation is no longer a taboo subject. Sexagenarian Fatoumata Sabaly speaks freely about female circumcision and girls rights with her friends.

We ve found it necessary to abandon cutting – abandoning the practice has advantages for women, she told IPS. Female circumcision has consequences such as haemorrhaging and it can even lead to death.

In Senegal, like other West African countries, grandmothers like Sabaly are generally the ones who decide girls should be circumcised. A 2008 survey in Vélingara, also in the south of Senegal, found nearly 60 percent of older women supported female genital mutilation. But a 2011 survey carried out by the Grandmother Project found fully …

Maize is a food staple in Guatemala’s “Dry Corridor,” which has been hit by both drought and flood. Credit: Danilo Valladares/IPS

WASHINGTON, Mar 16 2013 (IPS) – The world’s food security remains “vulnerable”, new data suggests, with some 870 million people experiencing sustained hunger and two billion suffering from micronutrient deficiencies.

The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), a Washington think tank, says such numbers are “unacceptably high”, and warns that anti-hunger programmes have been “piecemeal”.

In an influential annual report on the , released Thursday, the organisation said there were some positive achievements m…

There are 135 million live births every year, with only 11 million benefitting from quality care. Credit: Photo stock

UNITED NATIONS, May 8 2013 (IPS) – The story goes like this: a young mother lies quietly in a dimly lit room having just given birth to her baby. For the next seven days she watches over the child with caution, nursing and swaddling it patiently. Fearful that the infant will not survive past a few days, she refuses to give it a name.

Unfortunately, this scenario remains the reality for many women across the globe. There are 135 million live births every year, with only 11 million benefitting from quality care a divide not only between rich and …

A Wyoming Air National Guard C-130 Hercules equipped with a Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System drops a water and fire retardant slurry on a fire on the Indonesian island of Sumatra on Nov. 17, 1997. Credit: U.S. Air Force

UNITED NATIONS, Jul 10 2013 (IPS) – Indonesia s forest fires, a predictable annual ritual, will continue to have serious implications for health and the environment in Southeast Asia unless the government strengthens forest protection, warn environmental groups.

The government claims it is doing its best, including implementation of existing protection measures against recurring forest fires. But environmental groups say Indonesia s b…

This story is the final installment of a three-part series on the challenges faced by people living with disabilities in a world where intense storms and other natural disasters are expected to become the “new normal”.

Disaster Risk Management Project (DRM). An elderly person with a disability goes down the stairs of the Cyclone shelter in Mohanagar, Sitakunda, Bangladesh. Credit: Brice Blondel/Handicap International

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 20 2013 (IPS) – Upon first glance, the emergency checklist distributed in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake looks like any other. Organised into key categories like water, sanitation and hygiene, and psychosocial support, the inform…

MOSCOW, Nov 4 2013 (IPS) – Healthcare systems in Eastern Europe and Central Asia remain woefully unable to cope with HIV/AIDS as the region’s raging epidemic – the fastest growing in the world – takes on a new dimension, a senior UN official has told IPS.

Until now the Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA) epidemic had been driven by injection drug use. But data and anecdotal evidence has shown a strong rise in the spread of the disease through heterosexual transmission as well as via men who have sex with men – potentially throwing up a new set of challenges for governments and healthcare ministers.

But, says the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy on HIV/AIDS in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Michel Kazatchkine, until a new approach to treating the diseas…

WASHINGTON , Dec 12 2013 (IPS) – The U.S. government is being urged to roll back a longstanding policy that has banned foreign aid funding from being used for health care services for victims of sexual violence in conflict situations.

A group of leading U.S. and African NGOs gathered here Wednesday to launch a global campaign that, if successful, would provide millions of women and girls in crisis and conflict areas around the world with post-rape access to comprehensive health care.

The (CHANGE), an advocacy group, was joined by the U.S.-based Human Rights Watch in calling on the administration of President Barack Obama to clarify or repeal four-decade-old legislation, known as the Helms Amendment, that forbids U.S. foreign aid recipients from using this funding to per…