The skills of women who work as birth attendants in rural Uganda are extremely important to the well-being of both mothers and babies. Charity groups are trying to train many of these birth attendants as far too many still rely on traditional and outdated approaches to assisting labor. The Guardian (London))
Healthcare threatened by political crisis in Kenya – Health officials are concerned about the long-term impact of Kenya's political crisis on healthcare, especially in areas hardest hit by violence since the end of December 2007.
5 million at risk as meningitis death toll climbs in Burkina Faso – Overall 774 cases have been reported, with Mandogara district close to the Cote d'Ivoire border at epidemic levels and three other health districts on high alert.
In the DRC province of Katanga the cholera outbreak continues to spread, despite efforts, it has now claimed the lives of 97 people, and 4,029 have been infected since the first cases were reported in September 2007, according to François Dumont, spokesman for Médecins Sans Frontieres (MSF-Belgium). “Poor families are the most affected because they use water from wells and springs which are often contaminated,”(IRIN).
Leishmaniasis affecting children in southern Iraq – Over 180 children have been affected with Baghdad boil disease, or leishmaniasis, in Iraq's southern province of Qadissiyah, about 130km south of Baghdad, local officials said.
Government raps emergency response commission as winter death toll rises in Afghanistan – Latest figures compiled by the Afghanistan National Disasters Management Authority (ANDMA) show that over 650 people – mostly children and the elderly – have died since December as a result of sub-zero temperatures, snow and cold-related respiratory diseases.
HIV spreads among IDUs despite campaigns in Indonesia – Drugs are a major problem in Indonesia and injecting drug use is particularly rampant. In 2006 the Ministry of Health estimated the number of injecting drug users (IDUs) at between 190,000 and 247,000. Injecting drug use is also the primary cause of HIV infection: the health ministry estimated that nearly half the 10,384 HIV/AIDS cases reported by September 2007 were IDUs. In “hot spots”, like the capital, 72 percent of HIV/AIDS patients are IDUs; in West Java that number climbs to 80 percent.
Cooking with poison – Cut-price cooking oil used in most Malian households has been found to contain gossypol, a toxic substance that is known to cause sterility, cancer and inhibit growth.
Bracing for a humanitarian emergency – Tajikistan is bracing for a compound humanitarian emergency due to prolonged power outages, an unusually long period of extremely cold weather, and resultant emerging food insecurity, according to officials.
Whooping cough outbreak in West Darfur, Sudan – A dramatic rise in whooping cough cases has been reported near El Geneina, capital of the Sudanese state of West Darfur, but insecurity has made it difficult for medical personnel to reach the affected populations, according to an international NGO.
Manila women fight contraception ban – In the Philippines, twenty of Manila's poorest residents have filed a legal challenge against what they say is a ban on contraception.
