Stories about Health from March, 2009
Brazil: On the Vatican's condemnation of raped-child's abortion
A 9-year-old girl several times raped and made pregnant by her stepfather was guaranteed the right to have an abortion legally in Brazil. After the operation, the Roman Catholic Church excommunicated the mother, the doctor and the whole medical team responsible for the operation. This has sparkled a great debate in Brazil: What is the Church's role in society?
Angola: Where is clean water?
Nina, blogging from Luanda, discusses the problem of access to clean water in Angola.
Puerto Rico: Limited Thinking
Is Puerto Rico poor? Gil the Jenius has his say.
Haiti: Responding with Love
“Who is to blame? To me that is an irrelevant question. The question should be, how can I respond with love?”: The Livesay [Haiti] Weblog is shocked by “how ignorant many people in the developed world still are about AIDS.”
From Bangladesh with Love
BRAC Blog informs that BRAC, the largest non-profit (NGO) development organization in Bangladesh, has set up an office in Liberia and deployed its trained and experienced staffs to carry out development activities which includes helping rural farmers grow better crops to feed their families and sustain their livelihoods. It will...
Guatemala: Will the New Anti-Smoking Law be Enforced?
Claudia Navas of Ordinaria Locura [es] is pleased that the new anti-smoking law is now in effect in Guatemala, but lists some of the arguments by some why it won't be effective such as that no one will follow the law and that the police and other public officials will...
Russia: “Unsent Letter” on Health Care
Below is a partial translation of a post on health care in Russia - a caustic "unsent letter" to the Russian president, written by LJ user sobe-panek on Feb. 22. The post has made it into the Top 30 at Yandex Blogs portal and was picked up by some Russian media.
Africa: Using New Media To Fight For Essential Medicines
Stop Stock-Outs is a campaign that intends to use new media to fight for essential medicines in Africa. The campaign has just launched a multimedia website.
Kenya: Video game teaches youth to avoid AIDS
Pamoja Mtaani (Together in the Hood) is a video game that teaches Kenyan youth how to avoid contracting HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
Blogging Positively: Live Chat about HIV/AIDS on March 6
Rising Voices and Global Voices are holding a live online chat for bloggers and activists on Friday March 6, 2009 (5 pm Nairobi time) on how to use blogging to help improve awareness and information about HIV/AIDS.
Bird Flu in Laos
Lao veterinary authorities have sent a report to the World Organisation for Animal Health about a bird flu outbreak in the northern part of the country. The virus has affected more than 3,000 village poultry.
Bolivia: Health Official Demonstrates Lack of Knowledge About HIV/AIDS
The blogger at A Pesar de Ser Abogado [es] writes about the the fired public health official in Sucre, Bolivia, who demonstrated his lack of knowledge about HIV and AIDS during a media interview, including saying that one can contract the virus through the use of a public telephone.
Virus scare hits Southeast Asia
Rising cases of dengue fever, chikungunya, bird flu and ebola viruses were reported in several Southeast Asian countries in the past two months. Relax, there are no pandemic threats. Not yet, anyway.