Dec 2, 2009

AIDS takes increasing toll on women’s lives

AIDS is posing an increasing threat to women, especially in developing countries. According to the World Health Organization, AIDS is the leading cause of death and disease among women of reproductive age in low- and middle-income countries, particularly in Africa. While in 1985 there ...

Nov 2, 2009

How the U.S. can clear Guantanamo’s name

TUCUMAN, Argentina — The U.S. Senate decision allowing terror suspects held at the U.S. Navy’s Guantanamo Bay facility to be brought to the United States for trial is a significant development toward resolving the human rights issue surrounding their detention. If this facility is ...

Sep 30, 2009

Too soon to view HIV vaccine as a solution

NEW YORK — The results of a new HIV vaccine trial in Thailand, although encouraging since they show a lowered rate of infection among those vaccinated, should be treated with cautious optimism. The hope of a breakthrough is, nonetheless, excellent news, considering that every ...

Sep 22, 2009

Face up to civilian casualties in Gaza

NEW YORK — The long-awaited United Nations report on the conflict in Gaza is strongly critical of both Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups. Both sides are said to have committed war crimes and possible crimes against humanity. The report recommends that Israel start ...

Sep 9, 2009

A Spanish medical doctor’s African epiphany

I was visiting Rio Muni, the continental half of Equatorial Guinea with some medical colleagues. We were assessing the health situation in the country and we had arrived at Niefang, a small, sparsely populated, neglected town in the interior. The high humidity made the ...

Aug 24, 2009

Afghan health crisis defies aid efforts so far

NEW YORK — Afghanistan is going through a serious public health emergency, exacerbated by the unstable political situation in the region. Food shortages could leave 8 million Afghans — 30 percent of the population — on the brink of starvation, unless more effective aid ...

Aug 18, 2009

Corporate greed versus Americans’ health

NEW YORK — The health care discussion in the United States increasingly has revealed evidence of how corporations and politicians hinder the provision of adequate health care to the majority of Americans. The result is that the U.S. has one of the worst health ...

Jul 27, 2009

Threats against Iran feed off modern myths

NEW YORK — Several myths regarding Iran stand in the way of the United States and other nations reaching a peaceful relationship with that country. Much of the concern that Iran may attack Israel, if Iran successfully develops nuclear weapons, rests on the statement ...

May 28, 2009

Words alone won’t end torture

“We are going to smash your hands to pulp like the Chileans did to Victor Jara.” Those were the words of the torturers in a Uruguayan prison spoken to my friend Miguel Angel Estrella, a pianist from Argentina. They were referring to the fate ...