Julio Godoy
PARIS, Mar 17 2011 (IPS) – Until the nuclear crisis started unfolding in Japan last week, most French citizens did not doubt that the country s 58 nuclear reactors were safe enough to continue operating for scores of years to come.
They ignored the evidence gathered by a handful of anti nuclear activists, who despite general public indifference, keep digging into the unfathomable intricacies of French energy bureaucracy to find out the truth about the frailty of the country s nuclear power plants.
But now, in the face of a looming nuclear catastrophe in Japan, even the most stoic French citizen would question whether this country is not living on the brink of a nuclear disaster.
Although no new representative opinion polls have been carried out sin…
Kristin Palitza
ABIDJAN , Mar 14 2012 (IPS) – One-year-old Angama Ouattara lies on a rusted hospital bed, a drip attached to her tiny, left foot. Her mother, Minata, sits on the edge of the mattress, smoothing out the sheets she had to bring from home.
Dr. Tenedia Soro-Coulibaly (right) with patient Angama Ouattara, and her mother Minata (left). Credit: Kristin Palitza/IPS
Six days ago, Angama was admitted to the paediatr…
In Papua New Guinea, most people live in rural areas with poor access to health services, increasing the challenges of fighting infectious diseases, such as tuberculosis. Credit: Catherine Wilson/IPS
CANBERRA, Australia, Mar 23 2015 (IPS) – Rising multi-drug resistance in patients suffering from tuberculosis, a debilitating infectious lung disease which mainly impacts the developing world, has led to a public health emergency in the southwest Pacific Island state of Papua New Guinea, according to state officials.
While efforts to combat the disease worldwide have produced results, with the global death rate dropping by 45 percent since 1990, the annual n…
WALLINGFORD, CT, US, Sep 24 2019 (IPS) – Last year, the United States introduced a new asbestos rule that was received both positively and negatively and Canada banned the mineral altogether. Countries like the U.K. and Australia continue to struggle with the health implications of historic asbestos use, despite both having bans for several years. In contrast, nations like Russia and Vietnam continue to manufacture and use the mineral frequently.
Asbestos is a substance that was used throughout history as an additive in many products to provide heat and fire resistance. It fell out of favor around the world starting in the 1970s when US court documents showed that co…
Patients outside the Mycetoma Research Center in Sudan. Credit: DNDi
NAIROBI, Apr 7 2023 (IPS) – The disease burden and distribution of mycetoma—a neglected tropical disease—are not very well understood. However, it is known to affect people in Sudan, Senegal, Mauritania, Kenya, and Niger, as well as people in Nigeria, Ethiopia, India, and Cameroon. Cases have also been reported in Djibouti, Somalia, and Yemen.
“It is currently unknown what the incidence, prevalence and the number of reported cases per year per country is,” observes …
Dr Michelle Belisle is the Director, Education Quality and Assessment Programme at .
NOUMEA, New Caledonia, Aug 10 2020 (IPS) – School as we all know it hasn’t changed that much in over a century. However, in the face of new threats to health and wellbeing, the future of those familiar structures that bring teachers and students together is starting to be questioned.
Large numbers of people in crowded spaces for long periods – it all runs contrary to what the experts advise to keep us safe from contagious diseases like COVID-19. Class size is no longer an academic debate over quality of instruction versus budgetary restrictions, but rather a life and death disc…