CARACAS, Apr 4 2020 (IPS)* – 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.
Congestion in public hospitals is frequent in Latin America even without epidemics. Long waits and the need to resort to out-of-pocket spending to obtain medical assistance are common in the region. CREDIT: Courtesy of Integralatampost
Low levels of health spending and a relative scarcity of hospital beds are indicators that most countries in the region do not guarantee universal access to healthcare and risk being overwhelmed by the wave of the new coronavirus.
3 April 2020 (Wall Street International)* — The Coronavirus (COVID-19) global pandemic has revealed that there are certain human beings more susceptible to heightened risks of infection, serious illness and death. You hear terms to describe this group of people like the elderly, those with compromised immune systems, impaired respiratory systems, pre-existing conditions, and those whose health is frail etc.
Mexico need external assistance to cope successfully with the forthcoming Coronavirus effects | Image from Wall Street International.
COPENHAGEN, 30 March 2020 (IWGIA)* — As the spread of COVID-19 continues, Indigenous Peoples worldwide are in increasing danger of losing their lives and having their rights strippedaway.
Indigenous Peoples at increased risk due to coronavirus
Geronimo Stilton author to kickstart exclusive children’s book reading initiative amid COVID-19 pandemic
UNICEF/UN0319172
NEW YORK/GENEVA, 2 April 2020 (UNICEF)* – Much-loved children’s authors are joining an initiative to read extracts of their books to millions of children and young people currently living in isolation amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
We need to reform our teaching of history so that the emphasis will be placed on the gradual growth of human culture and knowledge, a growth to which all nations and ethnic groups have contributed.
A New Freely Downloadable Book
I would like to announce the publication of a book which presents an historical anthology of the poems of some of the world’s great poets, from very early times until the present, and from many countries and cultures. The book may be freely downloaded and circulated from the following link:
UNITED NATIONS, New York/BAMAKO, Mali/PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, 1 Aprol 2020 (UNFPA)* – Out of nine pregnancies, Kadiatou experienced five tragic stillbirths, all at her home in rural Mali. Each time, she gave birth without the assistance of a skilled attendant. She never received antenatal care.
1 April 2020 (Wall Street International)* — The body is the temple of our soul. It does a great job for us, even though we very often take it for granted.
As I write in my book The Power of Women’s Thought, for centuries women have structured their identity around their physical appearance, so it is not surprising that many of us still feel insecure or not loving their bodies or totally dependent on the judgment of others.
(UN News)* — COVID-19 will be responsible for pushing a further 8.3 million people in the Arab region into poverty, according to a new policy brief issued on Wednesday [1 April 2020] by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA).
WFP/Wissam Nassar | Food insecurity is on the rise in Gaza as the COVID-19 pandemic threatens a steep spike in poverty throughout the Arab region.
And the pandemic could also bump up the number of undernourished people there by some two million. Current estimates show that there are some 101.4 million in the region who already live in poverty, according to official criteria, and around 52 million undernourished.
The number would be “more than three times worse than the peak of the Great Recession,” which in 1929 peaked at 25 percent unemployment.
Lockdown in major cities and self-isolation has forced millions of business to close down. | Photo: EFE | Phoo posted here from teleSUR’s article
31 March 2020 (teleSUR)* — United States economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis warned Tuesday [31 March 2020] that if the current rate of U.S. job losses continues the country’s unemployment rate could reach 32.1 percent, the highest in nearly a century.
UNITED NATIONS, Apr 1 2020 (IPS)* – The deadly, fast-spreading coronavirus which upended three key UN conferences—on the empowerment of women, on nuclear disarmament and on indigenous rights—claimed another casualty last week when a commemorative meeting on the transatlantic slave trade was postponed.
Credit: UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 