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Joyce Mulama

NAIROBI, Mar 21 2007 (IPS) – Kenya s capital, Nairobi, takes its name from a Maasai word meaning place of cool waters . In parts of the city, however, this term is less descriptive than ironic as demand for water is outstripping supply.
Kenya s capital, Nairobi, takes its name from a Maasai word meaning place of cool waters . In parts of the city, however, this term is less descriptive than ironic as demand for water is outstripping supply.

The Athi Water Services Board (AWSB), a governmental body that manages water provision in Nairobi and surrounding areas, says demand for water currently stands at 337,487 cubic metres daily, while only 248,000 cubic metres is reaching consumers.

Worse, demand is set to increase to 573, 871 cubic metres per day …

Helen Clark

HANOI, Sep 29 2009 (IPS) – At a tra da (iced tea) stand in Hanoi s Truc Bach area, men in baggy white singlets sit on low plastic stools drinking strong green tea poured from a chipped porcelain tea pot.
A hissing squeal cuts over the revving of a motorbike one street down as one of the men pulls smoke through his thouc lao , a traditional bamboo water pipe. It is popular mainly with older men and farmers, not the city s trendy youth.

The stall owner sells bags of rough tobacco for 2,000 Vietnam dong or less than 10 U.S. cents.

In Vietnamese tobacco is called thouc la , which means medicinal leaves . Given a reported 40,000 die each year from lung cancer, it is not the most apposite name.

Huong who only gave one name has been smoking more t…

Matthew O. Berger

WASHINGTON, Aug 27 2010 (IPS) – As regulators traced the U.S. salmonella outbreak spread by infected eggs back to the hen feed used at two Iowa farms Thursday, many groups are pointing the blame at the factory farm system from which the eggs and bacteria came.
So far, over 550 million shelled eggs have been recalled after an estimated 1,300 cases of salmonella poisoning across 10 states.

While salmonella may not be the most deadly or dangerous bacterium out there no deaths have so far been tied to the current outbreak its symptoms do include diarrhea, fever and vomiting.

And, as food safety groups are pointing out, the speed at which and distance across which salmonella from eggs has spread in this outbreak are symptoms of a food system overl…

Thelma Mejía

TEGUCIGALPA, Oct 14 2010 (IPS) – All too aware of the Honduran public health system s shortcomings and the great vulnerability of the country s poorest people, women who have beaten breast cancer are stepping up to share their experiences and knowledge in an effort to save more lives.
We are all survivors of this disease, and we decided to organise in order to help other people who have limited resources. Imagine that someone who doesn t have 300 lempiras (about 16 dollars) cannot get a mammogram, and could die as a result, Ingrid Castellanos, president of the Honduran Foundation Against Breast Cancer, told IPS.

For three years, the Foundation has led educational campaigns, forums and walks to bring attention to the issue and raise public awareness abou…

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, Jul 6 2012 (IPS) – Experts say that underfunded pilot universal healthcare sites to be set up by South Africa as part of its proposed national health insurance may be doomed to fail as debate rages about how the move to more equitable healthcare will be funded.

In March, South Africa announced 10 districts across the country that will pilot universal healthcare under its proposed national health insurance (NHI).

Pilot sites have only been allocated an additional R11 million (or 1.3 million dollars) to implement the NHI, according to Di McIntyre, professor at the School of Public Health and Family Medicine at South Africa’s University of Cape Town.

“The NHI is actually about comprehensive reform of the healthcare system…you can’t d…

This article is part of a series of stories and op-eds launched by IPS on the occasion of this year’s International Women’s Day on March 8.

Displaced women at the Simba Mosala Site in Kikwit, Democratic Republic of Congo.
Credit: Badylon Kawanda Bakiman/IPS

KIKWIT, DR Congo, Mar 4 2018 (IPS) – The numbers are hard to fathom. Nearly two million people driven from their homes in 2017 alone. The worst cholera epidemic of the past 15 years, with over 55,000 cases and more than 1,000 deaths. Countless others killed, maimed or sexually assaulted.