Entries from The WIP Contributors tagged with 'health'
India Discovers the Vagina
by Charukesi Ramadurai -India- First they promised to lighten and then they promised to tighten. Corporate India has suddenly discovered the vagina and cannot seem to stop talking about it. It all started about ten months ago with a cleanser...
Screenless Sundays: Almost Amish Tips for Taking A Technology Fast
by Nancy Sleeth -USA- Something is wrong, terribly wrong, about our time. We feel it like a splinter in our hearts. There is no room for margin: we Twitter while we drive, talk while we text, and surf until we...
When Breast Implants Are Ticking Time Bombs: The PIP Scandal
by Aralena Malone-Leroy -France- In late December 2011, while most Europeans were doing last-minute holiday shopping and preparing for gargantuan meals and family festivities, hundreds of thousands of women spent achingly sleepless nights, worried that their breast implants might be...
Why are Women Dying from a Preventable Disease?
by Dr. Carmen Barroso -USA- Diseases such as diabetes and cancer cause tens of millions of deaths each year, many of which are premature. Once the burden of rich countries, these non-communicable diseases are increasingly affecting individuals in low- and...
A Matter of Life and Health: Villagers in Kazakhstan Fight Big Oil
by Leanne A. Grossman -USA- The noxious smell of rotten eggs regularly blows over the rural village of Berezovka, Kazakhstan. The fumes come directly from the Karachaganak Oil and Gas Condensate Field only five kilometers away, which emits toxic hydrogen...
So That's What They're For: Breastfeeding, The Baby Friendly Way
by Janelle Weiner -USA- One of my favorite mothering “manuals” is a book called “So That’s What They’re For: Breastfeeding Basics.” I was raised in a culture that prefers to see a baby with a bottle over a baby at...
Veteran Suicides: The Toll of Service and Search for Answers
by Melissa Hahn - USA - In the USA, Memorial Day is to honor America's war dead. In recognition of Memorial Day, The WIP is re-featuring Melissa Hahn's February article on veteran suicides. These very brave men and women should...
Half the Sky: Why You Must Join the Global Movement to Emancipate Women
by Katharine Daniels Executive Editor, The WIP - USA - For me and my colleagues, Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn’s new book Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide is exhilarating. Already in its 17th printing, Half...
Advance Directives, Not “Death Panels”:
Moving Beyond the Hysteria
by Deborah K. Cruze, JD MA - USA - Kareem lays silently, hooked up to a ventilator and numerous other machines in the Intensive Care Unit. His family surrounds him, anxiously discussing what the next step should be. Yesterday he...
The International Violence Against Women Act: What Are We Waiting For?
by Patricia T. Morris, Ph.D. - USA - “After the abuse I suffered during the genocide in 1994, I was 16 years old, hopeless and traumatized,” says Marie Chantal Nimugire of Kigali, Rwanda. “I asked God, ‘Why was I left?’...
More than Olives and Sunshine: Spain’s Carte de Salud
by Handan T. Satiroglu - Europe/USA - Spaniards enjoy one of the world’s longest lives: A girl born today can expect a lifespan of 84 years, a boy 78 years. In 2000 the World Health Organization used a variety of...
À votre santé: Socialized Healthcare in France
by Aralena Malone-Leroy News Editor, The WIP - France - In 2006, my husband and I decided to move from San Jose, California to Paris, France. The choice between Silicon Valley and the City of Light may seem like a...
Fighting Kidney Tourism in Pakistan
by Zubeida Mustafa - Pakistan - A few years ago, Pakistan’s newspapers and magazines were awash with pictures of shirtless men displaying scars on their torsos indicating they were organ donors. There were villages where practically every male adult claimed...
Say Hello to Yellow: State-Sponsored Healthcare in Denmark
by Brittany Shoot - Denmark - Danes are often dubbed “the happiest people in the world” by the U.S. media, and this may be due in part to Denmark’s advanced state-managed, single-provider healthcare system. Every citizen – as well as...
Girls with Autism Face the Challenges of Womanhood
by Emily Rose Herzlin - USA - Katie’s eyes twinkle mischievously from across the classroom, sparkling from behind her red hair falling over her face. I wave at her, and her gaze never totally meets mine. She raises her hand...
Brazil’s Homeless: Employed and on the Streets
by Melissa Costa - USA / Brazil - Regina sings to loud Brazilian country music while her skillful hands turn old Santa Claus hats into dresses and pieces of beverage cans into ornaments. Immersed in nostalgia, Regina relives her difficult...
"Fat Activists" Seek Law Banning Weight Discrimination
by Mridu Khullar - India / USA - In December 2008, Binghamton, New York, became one of just six cities in the United States to enact laws protecting against weight discrimination. The others are San Francisco and Santa Cruz (California),...
Comment Allez-vous? By bike, of course!
by Alice Alech - France - When the Tour de France started in 1903 as a stunt to promote a sports newspaper, no one realized then that this bicycle race would turn out to be the biggest annual sporting event...
Africa Steps Up the Fight Against Maternal and Child Deaths
by Pilirani Semu-Banda - Malawi - The very survival of women and children in Africa may depend on the newly-launched Campaign on Accelerated Reduction of Maternal Mortality in Africa (CARMMA). According to latest estimates by the African Union (AU), over...
The Battle to Stay Alive: Surviving in Zimbabwe by the Mercy of God
by Constance Manika - Zimbabwe - It has been a year since I last wrote for The WIP and it’s really good to be able to share what has been happening in our country. Every weekend for the past eight...
Lonely in an Electronic Wilderness: “the great emotional sickness of our era”
by Handan T. Satiroglu - USA/Turkey - “Technology allows us to separate ourselves from reality – moving people away from the real to the imagined, from the emotional to the controlled,” observes Derek V. Smith in an email interview. The...
“Promoting self-help, not sympathy”: Kashmir’s She Hope Disability Centre Provides Support for a New Life
by Nusrat Ara - Indian-administered Kashmir - “Keep Guns Outside, Please.” The brightly-colored sign on the gates of She Hope Disability Centre is a reminder of Kashmir’s ongoing conflict. Sami Wani, the young manager, smiles when asked about the instruction....
Protection Around My Heart: Living as a Whole Person with Multiple Sclerosis
by Marin - USA - As I rode my scooter to an epic line of folks who had clearly been waiting for several hours to buy discount theater tickets, I was approached by a gentleman who led me to the...
Transcending Stereotypes: Parenting with a Disability
by Mary Grimley Mason - USA - When do the children of a mother with a disability discover that the outside world sees her as different or odd? Nair says her daughters hadn’t noticed her disability until her youngest, at...
Cultural Stigma and Myth: Disabled Women in Kenya are Vulnerable to Sexual Violence
by Rosemary Okello - Kenya - In the face of escalating of sexual violence in Kenya, women with disabilities are more vulnerable than ever. A recent study by the Federation of Women Lawyers in Kenya (FIDA-K) - a women’s rights...
Living “One Day at a Time” in the Economic Crisis:
The New Face of America’s Middle Class
by Rose-Anne Clermont - Germany - The irony of Pierrette’s troubles could be seen, from one viewpoint, as tragic: She’s a pediatrician but got lost within the maze of the medical system once her son became ill; she once treated...
Paying for the Bailout: How Unnecessary Medical Procedures Are Taxing the System
by Nora W. Coffey - USA - As we tighten our belts at home and abroad, we are all accountable for the burden of national debt we pass along to future generations. Local and international relief efforts for the poor...
American Foreign Policy and Women’s Global Health:
The WIP hosts an online chat with Americans for UNFPA
by Katharine Daniels Executive Editor, The WIP - USA - Though the USA has typically been a leader in women's rights, the policies of the Bush Administration have taken us backwards in terms of women's issues, especially policies regarding the...
Students in India Take Social Change into Their Own Hands
by Zakeer Fehmida - India - Not long ago, a young man named Srinivas and his friends had just planted saplings along one of Chennai's busy thoroughfares and stood wondering how they could ensure the plants' survival amidst the sidewalk...
In the Family: Preventing Breast and Ovarian Cancer with Genetic Testing
by Jessica Mosby - USA - If you could know that you were at risk for a terminal illness, would you want to know? And then what would you do next if the news confirmed your worst fears? At the...
Kashmiris Seek Closure and Justice for the Missing on the International Day of the Disappeared
by Afsaana Rashid - Indian-administered Kashmir - As the world observed the International Day of the Disappeared last month on August 30th, Asima Mohi-ud-Din attended a silent protest rally organized by the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP). For...
Violence Touches “each family living in Kashmir”
by Afsaana Rashid - Indian-administered Kashmir - Kashmir’s ongoing armed conflict over the past two decades has had physical, cognitive, emotional and behavioral consequences for everyone living in the valley. Although no official figures exist, everyone agrees there has been...
Poor Kenyans Still Grapple with Jigger Infestation
by Joyce J. Wangui - Kenya - Young Kamau carries a heavy bucket of water on his head. Clad in tattered clothes that barely conceal his ill-nourished body, the young boy is aware that the cameras are focused not on...
Despite Modernization, Faith Healers Remain Popular for Treating the Effects of Kashmir’s Conflict
by Afsaana Rashid – Indian-administered Kashmir - While the world has progressed by leaps and bounds in technological advancement, the Kashmir valley remains rooted in cultural tradition. The state of Kashmir abounds in ancient literature, language, religion, arts, crafts, dance,...
How to Solve the Food Crisis: Cut trade barriers and start a Green Revolution in Africa, says Jeffrey Sachs
by Eva Sohlman - Sweden - In Haiti people eat cakes baked with mud for lack of flour. In Bangladesh, Indonesia and across Africa, riots are spreading among the hungry. And in the world’s richest country, the United States, the...
Saving Mothers, Saving Children: The 2008 Mother’s Report
by Marianne Taflinger - USA - In Sweden, a doctor delivers Sari, and her family celebrates what will be the beginning of a long life, probably 83 years or more. She’ll attend at least 17 years of school and if...
A Current between Shores: On Children
by Rose-Anne Clermont - Germany - My sister doesn’t have any children. Neither does my female cousin, nor my sister-in-law. A close female friend of mine from college wants kids but her relationship woes and her career haven’t allowed for...
A Current between Shores: From Scarcity to Excess
by Rose-Anne Clermont - Germany - As a child, my parents told me almost every day to be grateful for the food on my plate. When I occasionally grimaced at the offerings, my father would say, “No problem, we can...
Corruption Reduces the Basic Need for Water and Adequate Sanitation to an Elusive Dream for Billions
by Tess Raposas - Philippines - In coastal communities all over the Philippines, it is ironic that seawater is abundant everywhere but effectively, there’s not a drop of clean water to drink. But the problem exists throughout the country, and...
King Corn: Changing What We Eat and How We Grow It
by Jessica Mosby USA • Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis become the kings of corn in their new documentary by exploring the factors that have led to America's obesity epidemic. Photograph by Sam Cullman, courtesy of Mosaic Films Incorporated. •Blaming...
Philippine Fertility Rate Is One of the Highest in Asia: Santa Clara, Segundina and Other Stories
by Tess Raposas Philippines • Thousands flock to Obando Bulacan for its annual fertility festival. Photograph by Darwin Go. •In this predominantly Catholic country, people often pray for divine intervention from Santa Clara (Saint Claire), the patron saint of the...
Women in the Philippines Demand a Solution: Lack of Clean Water and Sanitation Facilities Threatens Their Children and Their Lives
by Imelda V. Abaño Philippines • Women like this 70-year old landfill dweller in Baguio City must find water wherever they can. Photograph by Imelda V. Abaño. •For Edna Dela Cruz, water is life, but it's also backbreaking work. As...
Medical Community in Uganda Unites in Support of Pesticide Use to Eradicate Malaria - Environmentalists Still Protest
by Halimah Abdallah Kisule Uganda • A roadside billboard in Zambia encourages the community to spray. Photograph by Valentina Baj. •The numbers are staggering. Dr Myers Lugemwa, officer in charge of malaria research at the Ministry of Health’s Department of...
HIV/AIDS Epidemic Raging Among Men Having Sex with Men (MSM): amFAR Announces New Initiative in Sydney to Address the Crisis
by Imelda V. Abaño & Esther Nakkazi Philippines/Uganda Reporting from Sydney, Australia One of the greatest public health failures in the fight against AIDS is the world’s inability to prevent widespread HIV infection among Men who have Sex with Men...
Breast-feeding Rates Decline Across Asia and the Pacific Posing Health Risks to Infants and Children
by Imelda V. Abaño Philippines • Photograph courtesy of IRRI •Susan Luknas, is a 26-year old mother from a small village in Bontoc, Mountain Province in the Northern Philippines. All six of her children were breastfed and never tasted anything...
Will Sex with a Virgin Cure HIV/AIDS? - Why Zambian Children Are Being Defiled: The Courts Try New Measures to Stop the Record Number of Cases
by Delphine Zulu - Zambia - • Zambian school children. Photograph by Jennifer Milner. •The number of children being defiled in Zambia has continued to increase dramatically because of a widespread belief that having sex with a virgin will cure...
Our Bodies, Our Cells: An Interview with Dr. Joyce Whiteley Hawkes
“…a rare combination of rational scientist and enlightened healer”
by Hayward Hawks Marcus USA • Mast Cells. Photograph by Ed Uthman •Ten thousand could dance on the head of a pin - if they could dance. Invisible to the human naked eye, they are with us from conception, doing...
Orphaned by AIDS, Millions of Children in Asia Face an Uncertain Future
by Imelda V. Abaño Philippines Helena, from Hyderabad, India, lost her father when she was 13 and her mother when she was 15, both from AIDS-related illnesses. And now at age 18, she is the head of the household, looking...
AIDS Crisis in Zambia Weighs Heavily on Women
by Delphine Zulu - Zambia - The prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Zambia among adults aged 15-49 is currently at 16%. For every infected man, three women are infected with the virus....
The New Face of AIDS—Young Asian Woman
By Imelda V. Abaño, Philippines Philippines --- HIV/AIDS, like other life-threatening illnesses, can open a path of reflection for many, redeeming them from living in dread of death, allowing them to relish, instead, each day as a gift of life....
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