Kulsum Mustafa – CNS Wednesday and Saturdays are Routine Immunization days in Uttar Pradesh. From morning one witness rural women with infants in arms making a beeline for primary health centres. But June and December are more special months for little children in India’s most populous state with very poor development indicators. It is in [...]

(CNS): The 4th Open Forum Conference was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on 18th and 19th August to address key issues in developing new drugs for tuberculosis, which kills nearly 2 million people every year and is becoming increasingly resistant to the current drugs. The conference, with a special focus on Africa, brought together regulators, [...]

Shimla: A meritorious student, an aspiring engineer and a child determined to chase her dreams; Seema Sood had got what it takes to achieve one’s goal. But a severe attack of rheumatic arthritis changed the course for this engineering student of BITS Pilani (Rajasthan). The Gold medallist who would have been earning big bucks in [...]

(CNS): Despite of AIDS programmes prioritising men-who-have-sex-with-men (MSM) and transgender people as high risk communities, not only the existing services are reaching appalling low numbers of MSM and trangender people, but also the funding for programmes targeting these communities is shockingly, namesake. “Funding for programmes that address sexual health needs of MSM people in Asia [...]

(CNS): It was one of those defining moments in history of legendary AIDS activism at the International AIDS Conferences when the TB cough-in/coffin March began at the penultimate day of the XVIII International AIDS Conference (IAC) in Vienna, Austria. At least half a thousand people had assembled, with t-shirts, placards, cardboard coffins (no more TB [...]

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) released a study analyzing evidence in Asia-Pacific on how punitive and discriminatory laws and human rights violations limit access to HIV prevention and care services for men-who-have-sex-with-men (MSM) and transgender people. The study report “Legal environments, human rights and HIV responses among men who have sex with men and [...]

(CNS): The criminalisation of illicit drug users is fuelling the HIV epidemic and has resulted in overwhelmingly negative health and social consequences. Injection drug use (IDU) is one of the main modes of HIV transmission in parts of Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America. “Apart from medical harms associated with drug use, all other harms [...]

(CNS): Tuberculosis (TB) is a major killer of children in poor countries. Over 250,000 children develop TB and every one minute two children die of TB worldwide. It has been estimated that as many as one third of the world’s population is infected with TB, and an estimated 20-50% of children who live in households [...]

Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) officials in the government of Mohamed Abbas often complain they spend more time negotiating with American rather than Israeli governments. This has been particularly true of late. Since Israel’s all-out assault on Gaza nearly a year and half ago, Palestinian officials have discontinued all direct talks with the Israelis and have [...]

(CNS): Just a week before the world’s largest AIDS Conference opens in Vienna, Austria, yet another woman has committed suicide on being told of her HIV positive status. The XVIII International AIDS Conference (XVIII IAC) will open next week on the theme of “Rights Here, Rights Now.” Wish if this yet another death due to [...]

(CNS): It’s called the express of hope. After completing a successful run through 100 districts in the state of Tamil Nadu educating and sensitizing over 75000 people about HIV/AIDS and health, The Red Ribbon Express is now Uttar Pradesh bound. As the World’s largest AIDS Conference opens in Vienna, Austria next week (XVIII International AIDS [...]

V. Mohan Rao writes:  “Every One Counts” is the theme of World Population Day 2010. Which falls on 11th of July. This is an annual event, which seeks to raise awareness about global population issues. This year’s theme is about encouraging people to participate in their official census and other methods of collecting data on populations. The [...]

Roads are a fore runner of economic growth in hilly areas like Himachal Pradesh where other modes of transportation are limited. Keeping in view this, road construction has been accorded top priority in the State Government. A perspective plan is under way to provide all weather connectivity to all the villages having population of 250 [...]

By B. I. Saini New Delhi, July 1 (ANI): No end appears to be in sight of the trouble brewing in the Kashmir valley. Protests against the killing of youth in firing allegedly by the Central Reserve Police Force have escalated, leading to more incidents and more deaths. In the latest incident, three youth were [...]