HEALTH-BRAZIL: Yellow Fever – Epidemic or False Alarm?
Fabiana Frayssinet
RIO DE JANEIRO, Jan 14 2008 (IPS) – The Brazilian Health Ministry is fighting a war on two fronts. It is taking measures to prevent an outbreak of sylvatic (or jungle) yellow fever while countering speculation in the press about an imminent epidemic of the disease. There have been no cases of urban yellow fever in the country since 1942.
In all, 24 cases of yellow fever have been reported to the ministry since December. Two have been confirmed by laboratory tests, and five have been ruled out, leaving 17 suspected cases, according to the Health Ministry.
In the first two weeks of 2008, three patients have died. One of the victims was confirmed to have contracted yellow fever, and the others are suspected to have died of the illness on the basis of c…
GHANA: Stigma Surrounding Breast Cancer Stymies Prevention Efforts
Paul Carlucci and Henrietta Abayie
ACCRA, Oct 26 2011 (IPS) – Mary Mingle thought she had a boil on her breast, so she bought some medication and tried to treat it at home. Two months later, bothered by persistent pain, she went to the doctor.
Mary Mingle has kept her double mastectomy secret for 20 years, due to fear of stigma. Credit: Paul Carlucci/IPS
There were eleven lumps in her breasts. She had first stage cancer, and her breasts,…
And Now This Filthy Flood
A Palestinian family evacuating home on Nafaq street in Gaza City after the flood. Credit: Mohammed Omer/IPS.
GAZA CITY , Dec 20 2013 (IPS) – Wearing tattered shoes and hopping between dirty puddles, 14-year-old Sabeh manages to find his way to the market at the Al Shati refugee camp, one of Gaza’s most heavily populated and poor areas.
He asks a man selling socks if he can buy a pair for one shekel (29 cents). Sabeh looks despondent when the salesman says, “three shekels and no less.”
The boy protests and says his feet are freezing, but the salesman is adamant. Sabeh tries aga…