Stories about Health from February, 2011
Pakistan: Dog Fight In Abbottabad District
Adil Najam at All Things Pakistan reports about the practice of dog fight sport near the village of Lora in Abbottabad District, which is cruel and horrific.
Uruguay: Growing Support for Decriminalizing Marijuana for Personal Use
Erwin C. reports: “Political support has reportedly been growing in favor of decriminalizing the use of marijuana. Legislator Sebastián Sabini told the local press that he would introduce a bill this week that would allow individuals to legally have 25 grams of marijuana for personal use.”
Haiti: Preventable Suffering
“The earthquake did not kill people. Bad buildings killed people. Lack of medical care killed people. Lack of infrastructure killed people. Lack of caring government officials kill[s] people”: Dying in Haiti is convinced that “most Haitian suffering is not necessary and is preventable in the first place.”
Singapore: Doctor charges patient with $24.8 million bill
Anonymous_X gathers news reports about a doctor in Singapore who charged her patient from Brunei with a $24.8 million bill
Cuba: The Day Zapata Died
Iván's File Cabinet remembers the day that hunger striker and prisoner of conscience Orlando Zapata Tamayo died.
Philippines: Village Ordinance Requires Prescriptions for Condoms
Ayala Alabang briefly became a global twitter trending topic this week. It is one of the richest villages in the Philippines which recently made headline news for passing an ordinance requiring medical prescriptions for the buying of condoms.
Bangladesh: Clinical Trial Of A Cholera Vaccine Raises Questions
The world's largest trial of a cheap oral cholera vaccine made by an Indian pharmaceutical company is being conducted in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. Bloggers notice the information blackout in local media and raise several questions regarding the clinical trial.
Macedonia: Reactions to Government’s Anti-Abortion Campaign
The Macedonian government’s campaign for “explaining the consequences of abortion,” re-started during the winter holidays, incited reactions by bloggers and civil society organizations, which mainly interpret it as an attempt to take Macedonia back to the Middle Ages.
Cuba: Zapata Vive
“The fact that Zapata’s death came about through starvation is one more piece of the hunger we have endured for over half a century”: Crossing the Barbed Wire explains why Orlando Zapata Tamayo's death “was not in vain”.
Cuba: Psychiatric Hospital Trial Over
Laritza's Laws is still haunted by the trial for the deaths at the Psychiatric Hospital, describing the proceedings as “a bad theater set painted by the official press.”
Haiti: Can News Ever Be Impartial?
“We have to remember that news – that holy, sacred source of information – is biased”: Throwing Down the Water reminds us to ask a few pertinent questions – “Whose story is being told? Through which eyes? For whose benefit?” – when sifting through the news.
Cuba: The Memory of Zapata
“Sometimes the end of person cements his name in history forever”: Generation Y blogs about Orlando Zapata Tamayo on the first anniversary of his death.
Guyana: Journalist Sharief Khan Dies
Guyanese bloggers acknowledge the passing of veteran journalist, Sharief Khan.
Jamaica, Haiti: Insensitive Treatment?
“The Haitians are clearly hurt and humiliated” over the treatment of its youth football team, writes Active Voice, some of members of which were found to be suffering from malaria.
Cuba, Trinidad & Tobago: The Gay Agenda
Could prioritizing the gay agenda be diverting attention from more pressing issues? Iván's File Cabinet explores the possibilities, while gspottt says the Trinidad and Tobago government “has its priorities on GLBT issues wrong.”
Bhutan: More On Tobacco Ban
“Now smoking has become one fear and guilt -ridden expensive habit,” thus explains Penstar the impact of the tobacco ban in Bhutan.
South Korea: Dead livestock draws a flocks of vultures
South Korea's citizen media, Wiki Tree posted Twitter @Photomaker79's image of a flocks of vultures circling over a burial ground in Kyunggi Province, where dead livestock have been dumped. To slow down the country's worst foot-and-mouth disease outbreak, the government culled near a quarter of its herd and buried them...
Jamaica: Malaria Cases
YardFlex.com reports that the Ministry of Health has identified three imported cases of malaria.
Bahrain: Protests Erupt at Salmaniya Hospital
Chaos has hit Bahrain's Salmaniya Hospital, the country's largest public hospital, after Thursday pre dawn police raid on protesters in Lulu Roundabout. Doctors had to protest to be able to provide emergency care to those injured. Read on to see what happened there.
Russia: Recreating a Traditional Village Hospital
Mikhail Shlyapnikov (LJ user michael-077) writes in detail (RUS) about plans to set up a communal village hospital – old-style, but functional – in Kolionovo, Moscow region: “This, perhaps, is a rare case in contemporary history of rural Russia when, contrary to the general tendency, a village hospital is not...
South Korea: Blood exuding from the ground where culled animals are buried.
South Korea had lost a quarter of the herd from its worst foot-and-mouth disease outbreak. Fears among Koreans grow as experts anticipated the blood from culled animals may contaminate nearby underground water and soil. Twitterer @Hyeyounga posted a gruesome photo of blood exuding from the burial ground and running over...
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