Stories about Health from November, 2010
Cambodia: Lessons from the Water Festival stampede
Cambodians are still mourning the death of 347 people in the stampede tragedy which happened last week at Koh Pich Bridge in Phnom Penh. Cambodian netizens share their reactions and recommendations on how to improve disaster management in the country
Haiti: Election Results?
“So the big election day in Haiti happened. However, the whole process seemed horribly dysfunctional to me. How many voters were left out just due to logistics? And what about fraud and intimidation?”: Dying in Haiti is convinced that “the results of the election, whenever they will be determined, will...
Africa: Glasses for Africa
afroklectic blogs about ‘Glasses for Africa” initiative: “Nyt Syn collected optical frames from more than 70, 000 people across Denmark. With 6 optometrists (opticians) and a nurse, they travelled to areas in Gambia and Senegal to perform eye tests and fit people with much needed glasses.”
East Timor: Rains threaten food shortage and disease
Without a dry season and heavy rains all year in East Timor, crops have been destroyed and farmers have planted less, threatening a scenario of food shortage. In addition, rains can cause an increase of disease in the country.
China: ‘Ditch oil’ floods restaurants
An economic investigation team detained a Hubei oil refiner Nov. 10 who pumped more than 60 tons of “ditch oil” into the local restaurant industry during the past three years, Hubei’s Jingzhou News reported. Concern over the prevalence of the second-hand oil in restaurant kitchens has increased sharply since an investigative report...
Haiti: Election Day
Today, Haiti goes to the polls in an election that has been fraught with controversy and affected by the ongoing cholera epidemic. With the country's most popular political party being barred from contesting, some bloggers can't help but feel that today's process is really more of a “selection” than an election.
Iraq: A Visit to Sumawah
IraqiDentist shares with us snippets of his visit to Sumawah here.
Haiti: Cholera & Elections
HAITI, Land of Freedom notes that several human rights groups have expressed concerns about the country's upcoming elections in the midst of the cholera epidemic.
Bermuda: The Marijuana Issue
“Truth be told, there is no way to stop people from smoking weed”: bermudashorts suggests that if politicians want to have “a meaningful conversation with young people about weed”, they will need to understand that most of them “don’t want to be fed a bunch of lies about marijuana’s ill...
East Timor: Ministry of Health reviews conditions
The Ministry of Health published extensive notes from field visits to its facilities in 8 of East Timor's 13 districts on the Ministry blog [Tet]. The notes reveal challenges like lack of running water, medicine supply, transport and basic equipment. Citizens comment on the findings, mostly anonymously.
Thailand: Two Thousand Dead Fetuses in Buddhist Temple
More than 2,000 illegally aborted fetuses were discovered in a Buddhist temple in Thailand and this has reinvigorated the debate on whether it is already time to update the country’s abortion laws. Netizens share their opinion
Haiti: Anti-UN Protests Escalate Over Cholera Epidemic
Three days after the first case of cholera was diagnosed in Haiti, The Life and Times of the Mangine Many posted on its blog: Seriously? Cholera? I literally thought cholera ended with westward expansion. And now, of all places it is here in Haiti. So far 138 dead. The outbreak...
Haiti: Saving Lives
“The current count of patients treated in 10 days is 227″: real hope for haiti shares some of their experiences as they help to battle the cholera epidemic.
Haiti: Elections, Cholera & Aristide
“As the date for Haiti holding its General Elections approaches, more political leaders speak out over the credibility of the upcoming Elections”: Wadner Pierre explains.
Cambodia: Unofficial health service fees
Vutha from Cambodia blogs about the problem encountered by hospital and clinic patients in relation to the collection of unofficial health service fees.
Mozambique: Anger at multinational pollution in Maputo
An aluminum smelter near Maputo owned by multinational company BHP Billiton began today a “bypass” operation. Campaigners say this means that polluting emissions from the Mozal Plant will go unfiltered for 4-5 months, near a metropolitan area of over 2 million. Blogger JPT at Ma-schamba blog [pt] called this “corporate...
Uganda: Being Gay and HIV Positive
Being gay and HIV positive in Uganda: “Double closeted, that is what my gay friends who are positive have to be. They cannot tell members of our community that they are HIV positive. And, they cannot disclose outside the community that they are gay.”
Haiti: Cholera & Protests
Mediahacker reports on the cholera outbreak in Haiti and anti-UN protests that have ensued as a result.
Haiti: Will Elections Proceed?
Wadner Pierre says that as “Haiti prepares to hold controversial elections, natural disasters and disease may force the Haitians authorities to reschedule…”
Haiti: Cholera Challenge
The Livesay Haiti Weblog is “praying for mercy and miracles” with the country's cholera epidemic.
Taiwan: The Na'vi in “Avatar” Join the Fight against Petrochemical Plant
The native blue giants “Na'vi” who fought with colonization armies from the earth in the blockbuster movie “Avatar” has become the spiritual symbol of young environmentalists and students in Taiwan who stand against the Kuo-Kuang Petrochemical project in Changhua County. A march against Kuo-Kuang will take place on 11/13, and...