Environment and Health

By Nantiya Tangwisutijit*

BAN NAM KHEM, Thailand — Travel down the Andaman Coast and you can't miss them — the 20-metre-tall steel towers with sirens on top, the evacuation directions signs, even standalone weather bureau offices, all built in the past three years as the country's first-ever tsunami warning network.

There's just one problem, no one's clear on who's supposed to push the alarm button.

African migrants in the UK are among the most vulnerable to HIV infection, accounting for the greatest number of new diagnoses in recent years. Being HIV positive can intensify experiences of stigma and marginalisation, apparent in inadequate living conditions, limited employment opportunities, and lack of visibility in policy decisions.

By Lynette Corporal

BANGKOK, Nov 6 (Newsmekong/IPS) - It may look like everything is going against them but with a little bit of luck and lots of hard work and creativity, small poultry farmers who have been affected by avian flu outbreaks have a good chance of economic survival, say experts here.

By Tangpua Siamchinthang

IMPHAL, India, Jul 26 (ZNN) — India's government has reported that it has started to cull tens of thousands of birds in the north-eastern state of Manipur after an outbreak of bird flu among poultry, the first outbreak since it declared itself free of the disease last August.

By Lynette Lee Corporal

BANGKOK, Jun 11 (IPS Asia-Pacific) - Reduced prices of AIDS drugs and increased global funding will be useless if countries do not get their acts together in implementing prevention programmes for the pandemic properly and efficiently.

By Marty Logan

KATHMANDU, Feb 9 (IPS) - Hiring a private firm to manage the drinking water system in Nepal's capital violates the right to health guarantee in the country's interim constitution, activists are set to argue before the Supreme Court.

Jakarta's plan was confirmed this week, prompting the WHO to express ''concern.'' Indonesia wants to work in tandem with the U.S.-based Baxter Healthcare to develop a vaccine to inoculate its nationals from bird flu and secure additional benefits that would emerge from such treatment.

By Marwaan Macan-Markar

JAKARTA, Sep 25 (IPS) - On a recent evening, Muhammad Farhan worked the crowd in an up-market café with the banter that has earned him fame as one of Indonesia's popular talk show hosts. A new book by a local author-- In Bed with Models'-- set the tone for this off-the-air performance.

African and Asian media outlets could play a bigger role in mitigating the HIV/AIDS epidemic but are not giving the topic enough coverage.

   By Sonny Inbaraj

MEDAN, North Sumatra, Jun 23 (IPS) - ''I really feel strongly that the issue of health and safety of reporters covering avian flu must be addressed by the management of news organizations,'' said Daenk Haryono of the North Sumatra-based 'Harian Global' daily.