Health & Well Being

Photo: Portrait of Pardhi tribal community members, Maharashtra, India (7 June 2019). Credit: UNICEF | Sri Kolari

World Population Expected to Reach Nearly 10 Billion by 2050

Yet Another Challenge to Global Goals

By Jaya Ramachandran

NEW YORK (IDN) – Compared to 7.7 billion today, around 8.5 billion people are expected to inhabit the planet Earth within little more than a decade, and almost 10 billion by 2050, with only a few countries accounting for most of the increase, says to new United Nations report.

The World Population Prospects 2019: Highlights, published by the Population Division of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), provides a comprehensive overview of global demographic patterns and prospects. The study concludes that the world’s population could reach its peak around the end of the current century, at a level of nearly 11 billion.

: Jaya Ramachandran; UN INSIDER; 17 June 2019

Photo: Parents visiting her 15-year-old daughter, who is suspected of being infected by Ebola, at the Ebola Treatment Center in Beni, DRC (January 2019). Credit: World Bank /Vincent Tremeau.

UN Appoints ‘Ebola Chief’ As the Menace of Deadly Virus Grows

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – “We have no time to lose.” That’s the new mantra at the United Nations as the spread of the deadly Ebola virus in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo now appears almost unstoppable.

In a move to bolster efforts to contain the growing outbreak that has killed more than 1,200 people in 10 months, the United Nations on May 23 named David Gressly as the Emergency Ebola Response Coordinator (EERC).

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 28 May 2019

Child Hunger Threatens Africa’s Social and Economic Future

By Ronald Joshua

ADDIS ABABA (IDN) – Africa’s future economic and social progress is under threat from alarmingly high levels of child hunger, and the severity and scale of the problem is such that it requires nothing short of a radical and transformative political and economic agenda, according to a new study released at the Eighth International Policy Conference on the African Child.

The report pleads among others for: (i) political commitment at the highest political level; (ii) a constitutional or legal commitment to ensure that no child goes hungry and to make it obligatory for governments to provide universal access to a minimum acceptable amount of food for all children; and (iii) provision of targeted social safety nets and school-feeding programmes across regions and communities.

: Ronald Joshua; THE WORLD; Africa; 23 May 2019

The Controversy about Massive Ebola Outbreak in DR Congo

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – The risk of Ebola spreading in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) remains “very high”, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said on May 20. This warning follows a recent spike in the number of infections due to the virus in the unstable north-east of the country.

Since January, there have been dozens of attacks on health facilities in North Kivu, and on April 19, 42-year-old Dr. Richard Valery from Cameroon was killed in Butembo.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 21 May 2019

Photo: An ad of a skin whitening cosmetic product in Kumasi, Ghana. Source: Africa Renewal.

Huge Risks Accompany the Desire for Fair Skin in Africa

By Pavithra Rao*

NEW YORK (IDN-INPS) – "I’ve been dark skinned for many years and I wanted to experience the other side. I wanted to see what it would be like to be white and I’m happy," says South African singer Mshoza, whose real name is Nomasonto Mnisi.

Mshoza is famous for her music – and now for her bleached skin. She initially sought to bleach her hyperpigmentation (dark patches on the skin) but then decided to maintain a light complexion overall.

: Africa Renewal; THE WORLD; Africa; 22 April 2019

WHO Forum on Medicines Calls for Fair Prices

By Ronald Joshua

JOHANNESBURG (IDN) – Ensuring healthy lives and promoting the well-being at all ages is essential to sustainable development, according to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) scheduled to be realized by 2030. Goal 3 cannot however be achieved as long as people have to pay for medicines out-of-pocket and fall into poverty. This happens to 100 million each year.

With this in view, Dr Mariângela Simão, Assistant Director General for Medicines and Health Products at the World Health Organization (WHO) says: “Medical innovation has little social value if most people cannot access its benefits,” adding: “This is a global human rights issue – everyone has a right to access quality healthcare.”

: Ronald Joshua; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 17 April 2019

Photo: Photo: Many associated biodiversity species, such as bees, are under severe threat. Credit: FAO/Zinyange Auntony

Shrinking Biodiversity of Plants Cultivated for Food Poses Severe Threat

By Jaya Ramachandran

ROME (IDN) – In the first-ever report of its kind FAO, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, has presented surging and perturbing evidence that the biodiversity that underpins our food systems is disappearing – putting the global population’s health, livelihoods and environment under severe threat.

FAO’s State of the World’s Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture report, launched on February 22 warns that once lost, biodiversity for food and agriculture cannot be recovered.

: Jaya Ramachandran; SUSTAINABILITY; Food security, nutrition & sustainable agriculture; 24 February 2019

Photo: African First Ladies. Credit: African Union Commission.

Africa's First Ladies Launch Strategy to Promote Health

By Ronald Joshua

ADDIS ABABA (IDN) – The Organization of African First Ladies for Development (OAFLAD) has launched a New Strategic Plan (2019-2023) which envisions “a developed Africa with healthy and empowered children, youth and women”. The plan will make a significant contribution to the health and well-being of children, youth and women in Africa.

OAFLAD, which traces its roots to the Organization of African First Ladies against HIV/AIDS (OAFLA), has officially announced its new name – OAFLAD – during the 22nd Ordinary General Assembly in Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia.

: Ronald Joshua; THE WORLD; Africa; 13 February 2019

Photo: José David Dominguez, 9 years old, is accompanied by his mother, Yenni Dominguez, to get his vaccine at UNICEF's health point in Ipiales, Colombia. UNICEF has launched a regional response effort to support Venezuelan children and families, as well as children in host communities. © UNICEF/UN0253234/Moreno Gonza.

UN Committed to Providing Humanitarian Aid to Venezuelans

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – In view of the increasingly critical situation for ordinary Venezuelans, the United Nations remains committed to providing humanitarian support, based on “need, and need alone”, according to a senior aid official.

But the oil-rich country is not only suffering from food and medical shortages. The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) noted that dozens of opposition politicians continue to face ongoing harassment in the South American country.

: J Nastranis; THE WORLD; Latin America & the Caribbean; 11 February 2019

Oxfam India Highlights 'Morally Outrageous' Inequality

This article is the second in a series of joint productions of South Asian Outlook and IDN-InDepthNews, flagship of the International Press Syndicate. This article first appeared on NDTV on 21 January 2019. – The Editor

By Press Trust of India

DAVOS (IDN-INPS) – Indian billionaires saw their fortunes swell by Rs. 2,200 crore (about $309.86 millions) a day last year, with the top 1 per cent of the country’s richest getting richer by 39 per cent as against just 3 per cent increase in wealth for the bottom-half of the population, according to an Oxfam study.