Weekly Round-Up - IRINAS-198: 19-Oct-08
U N I T E D N A T I O N S
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Asia
IRIN-AS Weekly Round-Up 198
13 - 19 October 2008
CONTENTS:
AFGHANISTAN: Medical waste poses health risk in urban areas
AFGHANISTAN: Crossed wires in military-humanitarian relations
AFGHANISTAN: WFP urges development of new nutritional foods
AFGHANISTAN: Attacks force aid agencies to scale down operations
ASIA: Countries lagging in flu pandemic plans, UN warns
BANGLADESH: Initiatives to tackle monga
BANGLADESH: Hand-washing saves children's lives
MYANMAR: Every village should have one midwife - UNFPA official
NEPAL: Madhesi armed groups ready for peace talks
NEPAL: Poorest struggling to rebuild after floods
PAKISTAN: Militants cause gastroenteritis in Swat Valley
PAKISTAN: IDPs in the spotlight
PAKISTAN: New polio cases cast shadow on vaccinations
PAPUA NEW GUINEA: Seismic monitoring gets a boost
PAPUA NEW GUINEA: Addressing the epidemic of domestic violence
PHILIPPINES: Mindanao IDPs too scared to go home
PHILIPPINES: "Humanitarian crisis" risk in Mindanao
SRI LANKA: Tens of thousands of IDPs hit by monsoon rains
THAILAND: UN joins government in anti-poverty drive
TIMOR-LESTE: Boost for food security
VIETNAM: Dengue fever warning as prevention programme phased out
AFGHANISTAN: Medical waste poses health risk in urban areas
Solid waste produced by the health-care system in Kabul and other major
cities is not being properly managed and poses a serious public health
risk, according to health experts.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80902
AFGHANISTAN: Crossed wires in military-humanitarian relations
Differing accounts of a reported attack on a food aid convoy in
Afghanistan have, whatever actually happened, highlighted the delicate
relations between NATO-led military forces and humanitarian actors in
the conflict.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80925
AFGHANISTAN: WFP urges development of new nutritional foods
New kinds of nutritional food, preferably made from local produce,
should be developed to reduce malnutrition among young children, the UN
World Food Programme (WFP) said in Kabul on World Food Day.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80958
AFGHANISTAN: Attacks force aid agencies to scale down operations
Security incidents involving non-governmental organisations (NGOs) all
over Afghanistan have reached unprecedented levels and some aid agencies
have been forced to scale down programmes, according to an aid groups'
safety organisation.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80935
ASIA: Countries lagging in flu pandemic plans, UN warns
Most Asia-Pacific nations are making progress on avian flu control, but
are lagging in plans to tackle the social and economic fallout of a
human flu pandemic, a senior UN influenza specialist has warned.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80878
BANGLADESH: Initiatives to tackle monga
The government of Bangladesh is stepping up its efforts to address
monga, the seasonal food shortage that affects millions, particularly in
the flood, drought and erosion-prone north.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80898
BANGLADESH: Hand-washing saves children's lives
More than 16 million children in 73,000 primary and secondary schools in
Bangladesh will mark the first global hand-washing day on 15 October
with a vow to keep themselves free of diarrhoea and pneumonia - two
major killers of children spread mainly via dirty hands.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80915
MYANMAR: Every village should have one midwife - UNFPA official
Almost five months after Cyclone Nargis claimed five of her six
children, Thein Thein faces having her seventh baby without any proper
care. Thein Thein, 38, has few safe delivery options as there is no
midwife in her village, Waboegone, comprising 100 people in about 20
households, which can only be reached by a five-hour boat journey and a
30-minute walk.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80946
NEPAL: Madhesi armed groups ready for peace talks
Peace talks are likely to be held soon with armed Madhesi groups that
have been fighting for a separate province in the Terai, the flat
southern region of Nepal, according to senior government officials.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80896
NEPAL: Poorest struggling to rebuild after floods
The floodwaters in west Nepal have receded but the poorest communities
who were the hardest hit are still suffering, according to local NGOs.
The heavy rainfall between 19 and 21 September caused flash floods and
landslides in several districts of the far west and mid-west regions,
displacing about 180,000 people.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80963
PAKISTAN: Militants cause gastroenteritis in Swat Valley
Militants blow up a an electricity sub-station, causing tube wells and
the water supply to be disrupted; people resort to using dirty water and
then fall sick. This, in a nutshell, is what has happened in parts of
Swat Valley in North West Frontier Province.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80916
PAKISTAN: IDPs in the spotlight
The plight of tens of thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs)
from conflict-hit Bajaur, on the country's western border with
Afghanistan, has begun to attract increasing local and international
attention.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80938
PAKISTAN: New polio cases cast shadow on vaccinations
Confirmation that three children in Punjab Province, the most developed
in the country, have contracted polio takes the total number of cases
detected this year to 80.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80994
PAPUA NEW GUINEA: Seismic monitoring gets a boost
Because Papua New Guinea lies within the "Pacific ring of fire" - an arc
of intense seismic activity due to shifting tectonic plates stretching
from the eastern edge of Asia to the coast of North and South America -
it is prone to natural disasters, especially earthquakes.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80923
PAPUA NEW GUINEA: Addressing the epidemic of domestic violence
The 38-year-old woman first arrived at the Family Support Centre at Port
Moresby General Hospital in August 2008. "The violence has been going on
for years," she told IRIN. "In July my husband gave me a black eye and
bruises." She was referred to a local NGO for help in drafting a
restraining order but the process takes time and she ultimately returned
home. By early September she was back at the centre, this time with a
broken arm.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80966
PHILIPPINES: Mindanao IDPs too scared to go home
Fear is the dominant factor preventing thousands of internally displaced
persons (IDPs) on Mindanao from returning to their homes. The southern
island has witnessed an upsurge in fighting between government forces
and the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) since 10 August.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80880
PHILIPPINES: "Humanitarian crisis" risk in Mindanao
The troubled island of Mindanao is at risk of a full-scale humanitarian
crisis unless immediate contingency efforts are made, warn humanitarian
agencies. "An external shock could turn a difficult humanitarian
situation which is currently under control into a humanitarian crisis
which is not under control," a senior UN official told IRIN in Manila.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80918
SRI LANKA: Tens of thousands of IDPs hit by monsoon rains
The onset of the north-eastern monsoon in Sri Lanka is accelerating the
need to provide adequate shelter to more than 220,000 internally
displaced people (IDPs) in areas controlled by the Liberation Tigers of
Tamil Eelam in the north, UN and government officials said.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80944
THAILAND: UN joins government in anti-poverty drive
The UN and Thai government went walking in support of the International
Day for the Eradication of Poverty on 17 October, with the deputy
interior minister, Preecha Rengsomboonsuk, and the representative of the
UN Children's Fund Thailand country office, Tomoo Hozumi, joining more
than 2,000 people in Ayutthaya Province to raise poverty awareness.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80970
TIMOR-LESTE: Boost for food security
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) is helping the government of
Timor-Leste to boost food security by giving two warehouses a facelift
and building a third, to be operational by December.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80940
VIETNAM: Dengue fever warning as prevention programme phased out
Even though more than 50,000 Vietnamese contracted dengue fever in the
first nine months of this year, the government's programme to prevent
such epidemics has been phased out, health officials say.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80901[END]
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