Archive for October 21st, 2011

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21/10/2011

Haiti: Half a Million Cases of Cholera in One Year

Human Wrongs Watch

Geneva–Almost 470,000 cases of cholera, including 6,595 deaths, have been reported in Haiti since an epidemic of the disease erupted in the Caribbean country one year ago, according to UN figures. Haiti’s total population is estimated in less then 10 million inhabitants. The UN reports that only half of the aid promised for this year was received.

Credit: UN

Some 250,000 of the cholera patients had been hospitalized over the past year, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) reported on October 21. WHO spokesperson, Tarek Jasarevic, said told in Geneva that the disease could infect 75,000 another by the end of the year if the current trend continues, bringing the cumulative total number of cases to about half a million.

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Posted in Latin America & Caribbean, Mother Earth, Others-USA-Europe-etc., The Peoples | Leave a Comment »

21/10/2011

Bangladesh: Old, Unprotected, and Alone

Human Wrongs Watch

Dhaka–As their numbers grow and their family support weakens, elderly people in Bangladesh are not getting the social protection they need, say campaigners and researchers.

Image: Balaram Mahalder | Wikimedia Commons

Government payments for the elderly are inadequate, critics say, and only one in four elderly are getting them, according to a study by HelpAge International. 

Meanwhile, adult children and younger relatives, who traditionally served as a safety net for older generations, are being pulled away, often for work.

The sight of an elderly person begging on the street was unusual five years ago, but it is increasingly common, said Shashwatee Biplob, a social protection and policy manager with HelpAge International in Bangladesh.

“More and more elderly Bangladeshis are being left alone,” she said.

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Posted in Asia, The Peoples | 1 Comment »

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