Also in Global Health News: Asia-Pacific reproductive health; developing country medical waste disposal; draft bill in Uganda; diarrhea deaths in China

Oct 19 2009

"China has called on Asia-Pacific countries to attach greater importance to population and family planning and put more funds into the reproductive health and family planning programmes," the Daily Times reports (10/19). Senior Chinese legislator Chen Zhili Sunday at the Fifth Asia-Pacific Conference on Reproductive Health said countries in the region should increase investment in reproductive health and increase cooperation on this issue, according to Xinhua (10/18). A coalition at the conference also warned, "Few young people receive adequate preparation for their sexual lives. This leaves them potentially vulnerable to coercion, abuse and exploitation, unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections, including HIV," Xinhua writes (10/19).

Improper Waste Disposal Poses Health Threat To Developing Countries

"Half the world's population could be at risk from exposure to mounting volumes of improperly disposed medical waste, according to a review published this month in Tropical Medicine and International Health," an Emerging Health Threats News article reports. According to the study authors, "The documented growth in and poor disposal of health care waste appears to represent a real threat to the health of at least 40 … low and middle income nations." The researchers suggest that burning waste in an incinerator is not a good solution and that a better solution "lies in changing the way health care is delivered, so that less dangerous waste is generated in the first place," Emerging Health Threats writes (10/16).

PlusNews examines HIV/AIDS advocates' reaction to a draft bill before the Ugandan parliament that "proposes a seven-year jail term for anyone who 'attempts to commit the offence' or who 'aids, abets, counsels or procures another to engage in acts of homosexuality.'" According to advocates, "stricter sanctions on homosexuality would drive men who have sex with men [MSM] further underground, making it even more difficult for them to access HIV services'" (10/16).

Christian Science Monitor Examines High Numbers Of Diarrhea Deaths In China

Christian Science Monitor's "Global News Blog" reports on the findings from a recent UNICEF report, which shows that "on the list of the top 15 countries that account for nearly three-quarters of the [diarrhea] deaths, is China." Despite, "Beijing's new influence at the top table of international diplomacy," it is on the list of high childhood deaths, "just behind Bangladesh and just ahead of Uganda." According to the blog, "China owes its place on UNICEF's list [in part] to the country's enormous population: There are so many children under 5 here that even a small proportion of them works out to a large absolute number" (Ford, 10/15).