Fabiana Frayssinet
RIO DE JANEIRO, Jun 1 2009 (IPS) – Handed down from generation to generation, traditional knowledge about medicinal plants has reached state laboratories in Brazil through a programme that has already identified 71 native and exotic species for producing herbal medicines.
The National Programme of Medicinal Plants and Phytotherapeutics was created around the time when the World Health Organisation (WHO), in 1978, recognised the use of medicinal plants for prophylactic, curative, palliative and diagnostic purposes, and recommended that public health policies include them.
According to the Health Ministry, Brazil is the country with the greatest plant genetic diversity in the world, with close to 55,000 classified species out of an estimated total of …
Marcela Valente
BUENOS AIRES, Jun 26 2009 (IPS) – Doctors at the forefront of the battle against the H1N1 influenza virus in Argentina point out that the number of cases is far larger than the official figures reflect. But they also stress that the mortality rate, as a proportion of the much higher number of cases, is lower than people assume.
The Health Ministry is still issuing a daily report on the number of cases of what is popularly known as swine flu, and the number of deaths. The latest statistics are 1,488 confirmed cases and 23 deaths, representing a mortality rate of 1.3 percent.
The media seize on these numbers with alarm, comparing them with the statistics from other countries.
As of 20:32 on Jun. 24 there are already 21 cases of H1N1 flu, said th…
Natalia Ruiz Díaz
ASUNCIÓN, Aug 4 2009 (IPS) – Nicolás, a 14-year-old disabled boy, was finally able to open up and begin expressing himself thanks to Open Wings, a project in Paraguay that uses modern dance as a tool to help youngsters with disabilities develop on both the physical and psychological level.
He was a very introverted boy, withdrawn, who expressed practically no emotions, Estela Maris Rolón, Nicolás s mother, told IPS. But now thanks to dance he is more open, more expressive, and has incorporated that in his life.
The Open Wings (Alas Abiertas) project emerged in 2007 from workshops carried out with institutions that work with people with disabilities.
The kids came, and we started to work, said Mercedes Pacheco, head of Open Wings. And …
Mercedes Sayagues
SAO TOME, Aug 24 2009 (IPS) – If you live in São Tomé, a good investment in your health is to plant a po-sabom tree (Dracaena aroborea) in your backyard. Leave space: it can grow up to 20 metres high, with sword-shaped leaves.
Sum Gino at his market stall: We don
The local stiljon, or traditional healer, has many uses for po-sabom. For toothache, drink tea of its bark and roots. For skin itches…
She moved from Namakkal to the state capital of Chennai with her uncle in 1997. Here, she joined an initiative called INP Plus (Indian Network for Positive People Plus) which disseminated information about HIV/AIDS. When INP Plus opened a separate wing for women and children PWN (Positive Women s Network) Plus Kousalya was chosen to helm it.
Even though HIV-infected people in India were ostracised as untouchables at that time, Kousalya acknowledged that she was HIV-positive and emerged as a national hero. She spoke at length about her predicament. She even let herself be photographed.
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PWN Plus that was launched in 1998 with just four founding members grew exponentially. It found a resonance amongst thousands of women living with HIV/AIDS (WLHA)…
PARIS, Oct 20 2009 (IPS) – The possibility that a vaccine could soon be developed to fight the deadly HIV virus has the scientific community brimming with hope and excitement, but there is also disagreement about how effective it could be in the global war against AIDS.
Michel Sidibé, executive director of the United Nations AIDS agency (UNAIDS), says the surprise announcement in Thailand last month of the first successful experimental test of an AIDS vaccine was a significant milestone despite some noise about how to interpret the data.
Speaking at the annual AIDS vaccine conference here Monday, Sidibé told more than a thousand scientists who had gathered from around the world that they should not lose sight of the big picture.
The efficacy results of the Thai …
Patricia Grogg
HAVANA, Nov 17 2009 (IPS) – Women in Cuba cite a variety of reasons to explain their decision to have only one child, ranging from the housing shortage to the rising cost of living and the many work responsibilities they have to shoulder. But many say that if things were different they would have a bigger family.
Expectant mothers in a Cuban maternity home. Credit: Jorge Luis Baños/IPS
In health matters we behave like the developed world, and now women only start to think ab…
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Jan 19 2010 (IPS) – On Tuesday, Jan. 12, a small story from the Associated Press came across the wires that an earthquake had hit Haiti. Almost instantly, phones began to ring as Haitian Americans started calling each other to find out if there was more to this story.
Facebook Haiti (above), with more than 277,000 members, is …