Malaria outbreak in Pakistan: 37 times more cases in 2010 than 2009

Karachi, April 30 (The News International) – Over 4.7 million malaria cases reported in Pakistan in 2010, compared to just 125,000 in 2009. Of the total 4.7 million, only 50,000 were reported from the flood-affected areas of the country. “These figures show the severity of the situation with regards to the mosquito-born disease that has […]

25 years after Chernobyl, we don’t know how many died

By Roger Highfield 21 April 2011 A quarter of a century after the world’s worst nuclear accident, experts still can’t agree how many people it killed. Two people died immediately as a result of the blast at the Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine – then part of the Soviet Union – on 26 April 1986. […]

Pesticide exposure in womb reduces IQ: study

By Liz Szabo, USA TODAY21 April 2011 Children exposed to high pesticide levels in the womb have lower average IQs than other kids, according to three independent studies released today in Environmental Health Perspectives. The studies involved more than 400 children, followed from before birth through ages 6 to 9, from both urban and rural […]

Somalia: ‘Worst drought in a lifetime’

NAIROBI, 20 April 2011 (IRIN) – Officials and aid workers in Somalia’s Middle Shabelle region have raised the alarm over the plight of drought-stricken villagers urgently needing food and water. “We are experiencing the worst drought we have seen in decades; since the beginning of March, we have buried 54 people who died from the […]

Mystery illnesses plague Louisiana oil spill crews

By Kerry Sheridan 17 April 2011 RACELAND, Louisiana (AFP) – Jamie Simon worked on a barge in the oily waters for six months following the BP spill last year, cooking for the cleanup workers, washing their clothes and tidying up after them. One year later, the 32-year-old said she still suffers from a range of […]

Kenya: Livestock dying as drought deepens

ISIOLO/MANDERA, 6 April 2011 (IRIN) – Thousands more heads of livestock have died in Kenya’s arid Northeastern province as La Niña drought conditions worsen and water shortages become more acute. Drought monitoring and assessment reports indicate that the hardest-hit areas are Marsabit, Moyale and Mandera. Livestock farmers in the three regions have lost more than […]

Water crisis looms in Pakistan

By Ismat Sabir1 April 2011 Pakistan has drawn up a National Water Strategy to meet the millennium development goals (MDG) target before 2025 and has launched a scheme to provide clean drinking water for its people by the end of 2007. But the scheme, which was launched in September 2005, shows no positive results, due […]

Graph of the Day: Survey of Health Effects in Plaquemines Parish Caused by BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, 2010

Points of View from Buras to Venice, Plaquemines Parish Perspectives on how the community has changed since the oil spill Katrina brought everyone together and the oil spill has split everyone apart. (Restaurant Owner: 9.29.10) Afraid for the health, to lose BP jobs. Can’t fish, shrimp, crab or swim anymore. Aggravated by all the lying, […]

Gulf spill sickness wrecking lives

Nearly a year after the oil disaster began, Gulf Coast residents are sick, and dying from BP’s toxic chemicals. By Dahr Jamil 9 March 2011 “I have critically high levels of chemicals in my body,” 33-year-old Steven Aguinaga of Hazlehurst, Mississippi told Al Jazeera. “Yesterday I went to see another doctor to get my blood […]

Iraq wastes 50 percent of water: UNICEF

Baghdad (AFP) March 21, 2011 – Fifty percent of water resources are wasted in Iraq, where six million people have no access to clean water, the United Nations said on Monday, the eve of World Water Day. “Iraq faces difficulties in meeting the target of 91 percent of households using a safe drinking water supply […]

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