Julio Godoy

BERLIN, Nov 18 2009 (IPS) – Africa, the continent already most affected by hunger and food scarcity, is likely to see its woes increased due to climate change and the changing rain patterns it provokes, experts and scientists say.
According to data gathered by the German Institute for Meteorology and Climate Research, variability in the rain patterns in Africa, especially in the Western region, has substantially increased since the early 1980s.

Harald Kunstmann, director of the institute, says that while in the Sahel region the drought that set in through the 1970s and 1980s has not radically changed, in the Volta delta region the yearly rain precipitation amount remains constant as a whole, but now follows erratic patterns.

For the Volga delta, we…

The Philippines has the highest incidence of leprosy of any country in the region – about 1,700 new cases have been identified in each of the last three years. Credit: moyerphotos/CC by 2.0

MANILA, Mar 2 2019 (IPS) – The stubborn challenge of diagnosis and treatment of leprosy among difficult to reach populations in the Philippines should soon become easier with the rollout of a mobile app connecting field health workers with physicians and clinics.

Officially launched at the end of January after years of testing, the app was created by Philippine developer MetaHelix in cooperation with the Department of Health (DOH) and pharmaceutical company Novartis…