Inter Press Service | News and Views from the Global South | Special Issue: World Health Day

Inter Press Service | News and Views from the Global South

How the COVID-19 Pandemic is Affecting Women's Sexual and Reproductive Health Samira Sadeque A little over half of women across the globe are able to freely make choices about their sexual and reproductive health, according to a latest report based on data from 57 countries. However, as much of the world has gone into lockdown because of the coronavirus pandemic, with countries ... MORE > >

Women in Africa Most Vulnerable to COVID-19 Pandemic Linda Eckerbom Cole We are living in uncertain times. All of us are experiencing the Corona pandemic in various ways. For most it means quarantine and physical isolation. We worry about family members, loss of income and not knowing what the future will look like- or how long this will continue. While the spread ... MORE > >

The Economic Impact of COVID-19 on Developing Countries - Part 2 Daud Khan and Leila Yasmine Khan What is likely to be the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on developing economies? In the first of this two part article we looked at possible short term disruptions and discussed actions by the private sector and Governments. These included mobilizing available public resources to augment what ... MORE > >

Human Rights and Compassion Must Guide Enforcement of COVID-19 Mitigation Siddharth Chatterjee Covid-19 infections continue to rise, bringing normal life to a virtualstandstill and causing countries to shut themselves off from the rest of the world. Increasingly, governments are turning to ever more stringent measures including curfews and lockdowns, with police and military being used ... MORE > >

Latin America Has Weak Defences Against the Pandemic Humberto Márquez Health systems in Latin America, already falling short in their capacity to serve the population, especially the poor, are in a weak position and face serious risks when it comes to addressing the COVID-19 pandemic. Low levels of health spending and a relative scarcity of hospital beds are ... MORE > >

Coronavirus: Country Comparisons are Pointless Unless We Account for These Biases in Testing Suppose we wanted to estimate how many car owners there are in the UK and how many of those own a Ford Fiesta, but we only have data on those people who visited Ford car showrooms in the last year. If 10% of the showroom visitors owned a Fiesta, then, because of the bias in the sample, this would ... MORE > >

U.N. Releases Report on Socio-economic Effects of Coronavirus Samira Sadeque As the number of coronavirus cases continues to grow, concerns are simultaneously growing about the current and long-term effects this will have on certain demographics -- specifically, women, the youth, migrant workers, and many employees around the world. This week, the United Nations ... MORE > >

What More than COVID-19 to Jolt G20 into Collective Action? Inge Kaul My recent study on “The G20@10: Time to shift gears” 1 shows that, during the past decade, the main joint, collective action of the G20 has been to issue communiqués and other types of statements. As a group, G20 Leaders have expressed concern about all kinds of challenges, recommitted ... MORE > >

The Gaza Strip and COVID-19: Preparing for the Worst The coronavirus is now present in Gaza, the populous Palestinian enclave blockaded by air, land and sea since 2007. An epidemic would be calamitous. Hamas should tighten public health measures; Israel should loosen restrictions so that medical supplies can enter and afflicted Palestinians can ... MORE > >

Coronavirus Proves Need for Free Healthcare for All-- Now Winnie Byanyima The multi-layered crisis of the Coronavirus epidemic has been a dramatic shock to everyone. But, to communities affected by HIV and AIDS, the crisis has not only brought a further shock to already vulnerable people, it has brought other reactions too – a troubling sense of déjà vu, and a ... MORE > >

Surviving Domestic Violence in times of Covid19 Fairuz Ahmed “I come from Baglung District, a part of Dhawalagiri Zone in Nepal. My house overlooks the river. Do you know, our district is known for the suspension bridges?”, her eyes glimmer for a fraction of a second and then she breathes a heavy sigh! Her right hand is still wrapped in a scarf, while with ... MORE > >

The Economic Impact of COVID-19 on Developing Countries Daud Khan and Leila Yasmine Khan What is likely to be the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on developing economies? It is difficult to make predictions, because much will depend on the spread of the disease, especially in Africa, Latin America, Asia and the Middle East, and the measures various Governments will take in the coming ... MORE > >

Neglected Diseases Kill More People than COVID-19 – It’s Time to Address Them Ifeanyi Nsofor and Adaeze Oreh As COVID-19 surges globally and leaves fear and panic in its wake, global efforts are underway to find a cure. Yet, the same level of response is lacking for several other infectious diseases that kill millions annually. These kinds of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are a broad group of ... MORE > >

Slums, Camps, Terrorism: Experts Worry about Coronavirus Hitting South Asia Samira Sadeque As coronavirus makes its way through different continents, countries, and communities around the world having claimed more than 23,000 lives, experts are ringing alarm bells about the implications of the disease as it hits South Asia, which hosts almost 2 billion of the world’s ... MORE > >