MSF Releases 12th Annual "Top Ten" List

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Releases 12th Annual List

Civilians attacked, bombed, and cut off from aid in Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), along with stagnant funding for treating HIV/AIDS and ongoing neglect of other diseases, were among the worst emergencies in 2009.

Continuing crises in north and south Sudan, along with the failure of the international community to finally combat childhood malnutrition were also included on this year's list. The list is drawn from MSF's operational activities in close to 70 countries, where the organization's medical teams witnessed some of the worst humanitarian conditions. Read the full press release »

"There is no question that civilians are increasingly victimized in conflicts and further cut off from lifesaving assistance, often deliberately. In places like Sri Lanka and Yemen, where armed conflicts raged in 2009, aid groups were either blocked from accessing those in need or forced out because they too came under fire. This unacceptable dynamic is becoming the norm. Our teams on the ground are witnessing the very tangible human consequences of these crises directly, either in war zones or in the AIDS and nutrition clinics in which they work. We're therefore compelled and obligated to speak out.”

— Dr. Christophe Fournier
MSF International Council President

MSF began producing the “Top Ten” list in 1998, when a devastating famine in southern Sudan went largely unreported in U.S. media. Drawing on MSF’s emergency medical work, the list seeks to generate greater awareness of the magnitude and severity of crises that may or may not be reflected in media accounts. View the full "Top Ten" archive.....>>>>>

News Crawl 2-05-07

Vietnam unveils liberal policy on religion

HANOI - To be religious is now officially welcomed in Vietnam.

Yesterday, the ruling communist regime released a White Paper explaining a new liberal policy towards religion.

It marked the first time the communist government has published a formal document setting forth its stance towards the nation's 20 million religious believers.

For full text of the White Paper on Religion and Religious Policy in Vietnam, click title link


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Vietnam Expands Protection for People with HIV

Richard Knox, NPR
Sister Tue Linh and an AIDS orphan at the Mai Hoa AIDS Center in Cu Chi, about an hour outside Ho Chi Minh City.

A garden at the Mai Hoa AIDS Center. Until recently the center was a hospice where homeless people with AIDS died. Now it's a treatment center where nearly all patients return to health.

Morning Edition, February 5, 2007 · Vietnam is embarking on a campaign to end discrimination against people with AIDS and HIV. A new law will give new rights and protections to people with HIV, and the country is expanding the number of people getting treatment for AIDS.
About 6,500 people currently are receiving antiretroviral drugs. That's about one-quarter of the 25,000 Vietnamese that are estimated to need AIDS treatment now.

You Can Read The Rest and Listen To Report At Title Link

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New Pentagon Numbers Raise Health Care Worries

All Things Considered, February 4, 2007 · Last month, Harvard professor Linda Bilmes presented a paper at a meeting of social scientists about the cost of treating injured soldiers. She reported that 50,000 American troops had been wounded in Afghanistan and Iraq.
A few days later she got a call from a senior Pentagon official.
"The assistant secretary for Health of the DOD phoned me up asked me where I had found the numbers, and I faxed him his own Web site and that was the last I heard from them," Bilmes says.
Now both the Pentagon and the Department of Veterans Affairs have changed the number of wounded on their Web sites.

You Can Read Report And Listen To At Title Link


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The speech that made the U.S hate Saddam

This speech was delivered by Saddam Hussein to the Amman Summitt meeting on Feb. 24, 1990. Present were the heads of state of the key Arab allies of the United States: the president of Egypt and the kings of Jordan and Saudi Arabia. The president of Syria was also present. In its sweeping proposals for Arab unity against U.S.-Israeli domination, it was a blunt challenge to imperialism. It is this speech that was the flash point of the U.S.-U.N. aggression, not the Kuwait crisis which was engineered in response.

You Can Read The Speach At Title Link