MAE SOT, Thailand, Jul 17 2012 (IPS) – From a wooden, weather-beaten building on the edge of this border town, Mahn Mahn charts dangerous missions deep Myanmar (also Burma) for the 2,000-odd health workers under his wing.
These tours, through the mine-infested stretches of eastern Myanmar, include supplying basic maternity kits for pregnant women from the country’s ethnic minorities.
Beneficiaries of these humanitarian forays by the Back Pack Health Worker Team (BPHWT), the non-profit group that Mahn Mahn is secretary of, include the Karen, Karenni, Mon and Shan communities.
In staying its course, this group, which began its mission over a decade ago, implies that little has changed on the ground despite ceasefire agreements signed over the past 10 months betwe…
Kenyans register Huduma-Namba. Credit: Reuters/Goran Tomasevic
NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 3 2020 (IPS) – A recent opinion piece in the New York Times titled, “” raises an issue that the UN is passionate about: that the pursuit of sustainable development should leave no one behind.
In seeking inclusivity of all in the development narrative. Kenya is making important gains in making the invisible, visible.
The court ruling that gave the Government the green light to continue with digital civil registration- if implemented in an inclusive and non-discriminatory manner, could assist many citizens who have come to be known as ‘invisible’ people – including state…
SYDNEY and KUALA LUMPUR, Apr 28 2020 (IPS) – The Covid-19 pandemic is now widely considered more threatening than any other recent viral epidemic. Most believe that many more have been infected or even died than officially confirmed.
Despite available information, some national leaders believed that the epidemic would not affect them. Others believed that promoting ‘’ would protect populations by exposing them to the virus, triggering human immune systems to produce antibodies.
Flattening the curve?
The principal strategy adopted by most governments is to ‘flatten the curve’, so that countries’ health systems can cope with new infections by tracing, t…
. Credit: Hope And Homes for Children.
LONDON, Jun 22 2020 (IPS) – As the world continues to struggle with the Covid-19 pandemic, the situation in institutions like priso…
Due to demographic pressures of growing elderly populations and the relative decline of workers paying taxes, governments are increasingly facing the need to adjust budgetary expenditures. Credit: K. S. Harikrishnan/IPS
PORTLAND, USA, Feb 23 2022 (IPS) – With the unprecedented of populations worldwide, countries are struggling with the critical questions of who should be for caring for the old and what should be the extent of care provided to women and men in old age.
Many believe that the government should be responsible for covering the costs and providing care, support and assistance to the old. In contrast, others, in particular social conservativ…
NEW YORK, Aug 10 2020 (IPS) – Even during the best of times, unfortunately members of the global community who have special needs are marginalized and often treated as social outcasts. The COVID crisis which has been raging for over the better part of the year 2020 has posed additional barriers and challenges for these already disenfranchised individuals.
Padmini Murthy
These people are at a higher risk for contracting COVID -19 with reduced access to health care services, personal protective equipment such as masks, basic hygiene facilities and sanitation .Many of these people with physical and mental disabilities may not be able to wash their hands not only beca…