HEALTH: Tobacco Companies Have a Field Day in Indonesia

Marwaan Macan-Markar BANGKOK, Jun 12 2009 (IPS) – When it comes to smoking, Indonesia remains the last paradise for a puff in Southeast Asia. Those addicted to cigarettes…

HEALTH-AFRICA: Neglected Diseases Under the Microscope

Joyce Mulama NAIROBI, Jul 6 2009 (IPS) – Neglected diseases, neglected people. Marcel Tanner uses the phrase to emphasise the attitude of drug developers towards tropical diseases that…

ASIA: Stigma, Cash Crunch Undercut Gains in Access to HIV Treatment

Johanna Son and Lynette Lee Corporal* BALI, Aug 10 2009 (IPS) – The failure to reach the neediest, often the most stigmatised, people and the global financial crisis,…

INDIA: HIV-Positive Women Get User Rights to Till Land

Nitin Jugran Bahuguna THIRUNELVELI, India, Sep 8 2009 (IPS) – Till four months back, 33-year-old Mugil hardly ventured out of her parent s home, preferring to stay indoors…

VIETNAM: Water, Water All Around—Plus All the Risks It Brings

Helen Clark HANOI, Nov 19 2009 (IPS) – As Vietnam s big cities are increasingly deluged by floods, the infrastructure cannot keep up. At the end of October…

GENDER-AFRICA: Some Progress Amidst Continuing Challenges

Madi Ceesay BANJUL, Nov 21 2009 (IPS) – The Beijing Platform for Action in 1995 set out an agenda to address gender equality in priority areas, including poverty,…

Q&A: South Is No Longer a Peripheral Actor

IPS interviews AMBASSADOR NASSIR ABDULAZIZ AL-NASSER of Qatar WASHINGTON, Dec 15 2009 (IPS) – There are broad prospects for developing countries to build on complementarities and leverage South-South…

INDIA: Mobilised by Old Clothes, Poor Folk Stand Up, Take Action

Neeta Lal NEW DELHI, Jan 29 2010 (IPS) – Salidhana village, a mere blip on the vast and arid landscape of India s central state of Madhya Pradesh,…