Stephen Leahy

BROOKLIN, Canada, Aug 9 2006 (IPS) – The world s largest gathering of HIV/AIDS experts and activists will meet in Toronto starting on Sunday with renewed hopes of halting the spread of this devastating disease, which an estimated 40 million people are currently living with.
Their hope arises from better treatment and prevention programmes, huge increases in funding, and data released earlier this year that the global proportion of people infected with HIV is thought to have peaked in the late 1990s and to have stabilised today, according to UNAIDS.

And so the mood of the more than 24,000 delegates to the six-day International AIDS Conference, which starts Aug. 13, may well be one of cautious optimism.

This is one of the conferences that is going…

Cam McGrath

CAIRO, Nov 22 2010 (IPS) – Civil society has warned of adverse social and health consequences after the Egyptian government ordered the removal of content related to male and female anatomy, reproductive health and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) from the school curriculum.

Sex education is expelled from Egyptian schools. Credit: Victoria Hazou

We know most of this material wasn t being taught, but removing it from the curriculum is a big step backwards, says Noha Roushdy, researcher at the Egyptian Initiative…

Outside the New York federal courthouse on Oct 15, 2013, Ecuadorians and their supporters gather to protest the Chevron lawsuit. Credit: Samuel Oakford/IPS

WASHINGTON, Mar 5 2014 (IPS) – In the latest twist in a 21-year-old environmental pollution case, a U.S. federal judge Tuesday ruled that the victims of massive oil spillage and their U.S. attorney could not collect on a nine-billion-dollar judgement by Ecuador’s supreme court against the Chevron Corporation.

In a racketeering case brought by the U.S. oil giant, the judge found that the lawyer, Steven Donziger, and his associates had used bribery and falsified evidence to prevail against Chevron in Ecuador’s c…

Social distancing in a Macau Hospital waiting room. Human Rights Watch has expressed concern about human rights abuses being carried out under the guise of COVID-19 public health lockdowns in China. Photo by on

UNITED NATIONS, Jan 14 2021 (IPS) – China must end its campaign against individuals seeking redress for COVID-19 linked abuses and the human rights lawyers and activists who help them, Human Rights Watch…

Residents survey the damage after Cyclone Ana triggered winds and floods in Malawi. There has been a call following the latest flooding for climate-resilient approaches to WASH because damaged infrastructure, especially water infrastructure, has serious health consequences. Credit: Charles Mpaka/IPS

Blantyre, Malawi, Feb 22 2022 (IPS) – On the night of January 24, 2022, as Cyclone Ana-triggered rains incessantly rattled on the rusty roof of her house, amid intervals of gusty winds, a thud woke up Josephine Kumwanje from her sleep.

Her heart leapt as she thought thieves had broken into the house.

She summoned some courage, tiptoed to the door of her bedroom, and peered into t…

Sustainable Agriculture Management Team, FAO

ROME, Apr 6 2020 (IPS) – Together with medical services and transportation, farming and food production have been correctly identified as ‘essential services’ by all countries under lockdown. The Covid-19 pandemic has not yet made a dent in the food supply and so far, there are no reports of shortage of essential food and agricultural goods. All cities and towns are actively coordinating with government agencies, farms, businesses and transport companies to maintain the supply chain and ensure full availability of food for the population,

Kakoli Ghosh

However, despite the efforts, farm gate prices have crashed, there …