UNFPA in the News: Week of August 16-22, 2003

ASIA: Billions of Condoms Needed in Asia to Stop HIV/AIDS Spread

Bangkok Post (Thailand) reported August 18 that billions of condoms are needed to stop AIDS escalating in Asia, according to the World Health Organization. It also mentioned that UNFPA said the need for condoms for HIV prevention would more than double over the next 15 years. Read: Bangkok Post

JAPAN: Goodwill Ambassador Wins Race

The Daily Yomiuri (Japan) reported marathon runner, Yuko Arimori, won her first race in two years on August 20. It also mentioned that in 2002, Arimori became a goodwill ambassador of the United Nations Population Fund and addressed the General Assembly.

MALAWI: BLM Sponsors Youth Tennis

The Nation (Malawi) reported August 20 that Banja La Mtsogolo (BLM), a non-governmental health care organization, donated a check worth K74,750 to the Lawn Tennis Association of Malawi (LTAM) to be used for organizing a junior tennis tournament from August 30 to 31 at Country Club Limbe. Presenting the check at the organization’s headquarters, BLM’s marketing and public affairs manager Andrew Chikopa said BLM has chosen to support the junior tennis tournament as part of the strong youth program that BLM runs under UNFPA. Read: The Nation

NIGERIA: Bauchi State Government Signs Agreement

An August 18 story by This Day (Nigeria) reported that Bauchi state government has signed memoranda of understanding with UNFPA on the prevention and eradication of child and maternal mortality in the state. The state acting governor, Alhaji Abdulmalik Mahmoud signed on behalf of the state government while the Deputy Executive Director of UNFPA who is also the Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations, Imelda Henkins, signed on behalf of her organization. In her speech, the Deputy Executive Director said that the state has been ranked as one of the highest in terms of maternal and child mortality in the country. Panafrican News Agency also reported on this story on August 18. Read: This Day

SUDAN: Mothers Risk Lives During Childbirth

An August 20 story by UN IRIN recounted Nyanut Deng’s experience while giving birth in a rural area of northern Bahr-al-Ghazal in Sudan where there were no doctors to turn to. She had to endure the excruciating pain caused by a prolonged obstructed labor, and as a result suffered an obstetric fistula, a debilitating pregnancy-related condition. The story mentioned that according to the UNFPA, fistula usually occurs when a woman is in obstructed labor for days on end without medical help. The prolonged pressure of the baby's head against the mother's pelvis cuts off the blood supply to the soft tissues surrounding her bladder, rectum and vagina. The injured tissue soon rots away, leaving a perforation, or fistula. In some of the worst cases, women who remain untreated can suffer a slow, premature death from infection and kidney failure, UNFPA says. Read: UN IRIN

UNITED STATES: Town Hall to Focus Attention on International Family Planning

Seattle Times (WA) reported August 20 that PLANet Northwest, a campaign working to focus attention on international family planning and its benefits to women, children and the environment, will host a free community Town Hall forum with Rep. Adam Smith, D-Tacoma, who represents Washington's 9th District, and Dr. Nafis Sadik, former head of UNFPA, on the University of Washington's Tacoma campus.

Back to top