Tanzania Passes Law on HIV Self-Test to Tame the Deadly Virus
By Kizito Makoye
DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania (IDN) – Perched on a plastic chair at his shop in the bustling Sinza suburb in Dar es Salaam, Abdul* is anxiously looking at a small kit containing liquid and a stick.
“I want to know my HIV status,” says Abdul while glancing at his watch.
A moment ago, the 28-year-old trader briskly swiped a plastic swab across his upper gum to draw some fluid and slotted it into the kit for testing. After a few minutes, one or two lines would be displayed to confirm the test’s results. ARABIC | JAPANESE | KOREAN
Urgent Health Challenges Facing the World
By Sean Buchanan
GENEVA (IDN) – A list of urgent, global health challenges released by the World Health Organisation (WHO) at the beginning of 2020 reflects deep concern that leaders are failing to invest sufficient resources in core health priorities and systems. This, says the Geneva-based UN agency, is putting lives, livelihoods and economies in jeopardy.
Recommending that countries spend one percent of their gross domestic product on primary health care, to give more people access to the quality essential services they need, close to where they live, WHO has identified a series of priorities for the decade, covering a wide range of issues affecting people across the planet. ARABIC | HINDI | JAPANESE
UN Concerned About Haiti 10 Years Since Disastrous Earthquake
By J Nastranis
NEW YORK (IDN) – Hundreds of thousands of Haitians lost their lives, including 102 UN personnel, and millions were gravely affected by the devastating earthquake that struck the Caribbean nation ten years ago on January 12.
The incident ranks among the top 10 deadliest earthquakes in human history, according to a recent OCHA report. Nevertheless, $126 million humanitarian plan for Haiti, launched in February, was only 32 per cent funded. CHINESE | JAPANESE | PORTUGUESE
Fear, Greed and Hate as We Enter the 2020s
Viewpoint by Roberto Savio*
ROME (IDN) – In a world in which the institutions that govern us are rapidly losing their moral compass, it is difficult not to realise that in 2020 we are now entering – or have already entered – a new low point in the history of humankind.
Today, for example, we face an unprecedented existential threat brought about by the climate crisis. According to scientists, we have until 2030 to stop climate change, after which the writing is on the wall for the planet. Yet, we have just had a world conference in Madrid on climate change, which ended in nothing. FRENCH | JAPANESE
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