The banana fiber used in the underwear is made from a bark weave from the banana plant and makes the underwear not only lightweight, but also very absorbent, he said. “Naturally you can’t really add anymore banana fiber than that because it might be a bit squishy,” said Jones, adding that wearers did not have to worry about real monkeys, as the underwear does not smell like a banana.

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6243V520100305

The pilot, whose name was not disclosed, was said to have expressed relief when confronted and taken off his pilot’s stripes.

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE62334620100304

During two previous visits to TODAY’s New York studios, the shy 12-year-old sat on a couch and sneezed and sneezed and sneezed. The achoos came at the rate of up to 12 a minute and 12,000 a day, pausing only when she fell into the deepest phases of sleep.

But Wednesday Lauren sat quietly, her hands clasped between her knees as she listened to her mother and two doctors talk with TODAY’s Natalie Morales about the strange disease she had that made her sneeze continuously for four months, and how it was brought under control.
“How are you feeling?” Morales asked.

“A lot better,” Lauren said politely.

Her mother, Lynn Johnson, took over from there.

“Two weeks ago, it stopped gradually over a two-day period,” she said.

No more ‘achoo’

For that, Lauren has Dr. Denis Bouboulis to thank. An allergist and immunologist, Bouboulis realized that Lauren had a rare and only recently identified condition called PANDAS. That’s not a reference to the cute Chinese bears; instead it’s a complicated acronym for pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infections.

What it means in layman’s terms is that in the process of fighting a strep throat infection, Lauren’s immune system went haywire, producing antibodies that ended up migrating to her brain and attacking her own tissue. The disorder can cause tics and obsessive-compulsive behavior — or, in Lauren’s case, nonstop sneezing.

Lauren’s sneezing started last October, and she was on TODAY in November. At the time, she had been seen by a half-dozen doctors and other health professionals and was in the process of undergoing virtually every test known to medical science.

But no one could put a finger on what was causing her sneezing. At the time, NBC’s chief medical editor, Dr. Nancy Snyderman, speculated that there could be a psychosomatic aspect to it.

‘Body turns on itself’

There is no clinical test for PANDAS; Bouboulis arrived at his diagnosis by running through a checklist of symptoms. The treatment for the syndrome is called IVIG, which stands for intravenous immunoglobulin. The treatment bolsters the victim’s immune system, allowing it to fight off the invaders.
“The underlying theme is a bacterial infection that triggers almost a hyperreaction in the body,” Snyderman explained. “And then the body sort of turns on itself when your immune system sees itself as foreign.”

“There is molecular mimicry,” Bouboulis agreed, expanding on Snyderman’s comments. “There are proteins on the strep that generate an immune response. These antibodies mistakenly think that certain brain tissue is actually strep.”

Bouboulis gave Lauren two days of IVIG treatments. After the first day, the sneezing diminished. After the second, it stopped.

But Lauren and her mother’s relief is tempered by the knowledge that there is no cure for PANDAS. The sneezing could return with a future strep infection.

“She’s not cured,” Lynn told Morales. “That’s the biggest problem with this disease. Parents live in fear because they can be reexposed to bacteria, including strep, and re-manifest again. Some children go years and some children go months. Some children never re-manifest again.”

Lynn said the reason she came on TODAY is to help educate others about this little-understood syndrome and to encourage medical investigation into it.

“We need to learn more about it,” she said. “We need more research.”

Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/35814608/ns/today-today_health/

At age 30, men have an average of 35 years of sexually active life remaining, compared with 31 years for women, researchers at the University of Chicago’s department of obstetrics and gynecology estimated in the study. By 55, men have an average sexual life expectancy of 15 years and women can expect 10 more years, they found, based on data from two separate surveys.

People in very good or excellent health were almost twice as likely to be interested in sex as people in poorer health, according to the study. Men lost more years of sexual activity as a result of poor health than women, the researchers said. That may motivate men to pursue healthier lifestyles, they said.

The team, led by Stacy Tessler Lindau, used data from a 1995-96 survey of 3,000 men and women ages 25 to 74 and a 2005-06 survey of 3,000 men and women 57 to 85. Men were more likely than women to be sexually active, report having a good quality sex life and be interested in sex, according to the study.

The gap was largest among 75- to 85-year-olds. About 40 percent of men in that group were sexually active, compared with 17 percent of women, the researchers found.

The study was funded by the University of Chicago and the National Institutes of Health.

Source: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/03/10/20100310SexLife0310.html

In many ways, the story of Pakistan is one of a failure of family planning. Although the Family Planning Association of Pakistan was set up as early as 1952, we have seen a five-fold increase in our population between 1951 and 2009, from 34 million to 171 million.

The urgent need for revamped family planning service delivery cannot be understated. Although 96 per cent of married Pakistani women are aware of at least one modern contraceptive method, only 22 per cent are currently using modern contraceptives, while another eight per cent use less effective traditional methods. One quarter of married women want to wait before having another child, or do not want more children, but are not using contraception. And 24 per cent of married women admit that their last child was mistimed or unwanted.

Many Pakistanis bemoan the prevalence of abortion here (a 2004 Population Council study estimates that there are 890,000 abortions annually), but this too should be understood as a shortcoming of our government’s family planning service delivery. According to the 2006-07 Pakistan Demographic Health Survey, 65 per cent of women who had an abortion were over the age of 30, while 80 per cent had more than three children. In this context, the population policy’s emphasis on family planning is a welcome paradigm shift.

The focus on birth spacing — up to 36 months from the current 33 — is also laudable. After all, the language of birth spacing, as opposed to birth control, will win over more Pakistanis to family planning initiatives. Women perceived the famous ‘do bachey hi achey’ campaign as the state’s attempt to dictate how many children they could have.

A call for birth spacing, however, does not have those implications. Beyond innumerable health benefits, an emphasis on intervals between pregnancies helps decouple family planning from other social and moral obligations — women who space births cannot be accused of absconding from maternal responsibilities, denying their husbands offspring, or shirking their religious duty to procreate.

No doubt, those who drafted the policy have the right idea about how to reduce the population growth rate. But implementation is another factor altogether. The policy calls for improved service delivery, increased availability of contraceptives and the expansion of service delivery from urban to rural areas.

Endless bureaucracy may, however, thwart these efforts. Family planning initiatives are overseen by both the ministries of health and population welfare in addition to social marketing and civil society organisations. Without robust plans for integrated service delivery and public-private partnerships, good intentions may never convert to action.

Moreover, the population policy does not include specific directives for the improvement of the Lady Health Worker programme, which is tasked with family planning service delivery, but has a high turnover, few resources, and is plagued with poor training and inefficiency.

The policy is also short on innovative solutions to address myriad shortfalls in service delivery. For example, little attention is paid to the fact that men must be included in all family planning initiatives. And while there is a call to engage religious leaders in spreading information about contraceptives, no concrete plans for training, outreach and counselling through mosques or madressahs is put forward. There can be no doubt, however, that such campaigns are necessary: one study states that ‘psychosocial’ issues, including a husband’s opposition and perceived religious condemnation, account for 50 per cent of barriers to contraceptive use reported by women.

Ultimately, even the most progressive and proactive policy document will not successfully reduce the population growth rate if women are not simultaneously educated. It has been well-documented that higher literacy rates for women result in increased female decision-making power, better awareness and understanding of health services, altered marriage patterns and renegotiated household dynamics — all of which are essential for family planning to become common practice. On a more practical level, too, contraceptives cost money; educated, working women will be better situated to access modern contraceptive methods. Given that Pakistan’s teeming population is the root cause of many problems — from unemployment to inflation, crime to militancy — one hopes that implementing the population policy registers high on the government’s to-do list.

Source: http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/columnists/huma-yusuf-population-policy-will-it-work-430

“I was surprised because it felt so comfortable and I wasn’t afraid to ask questions,” the 29-year-old said. “I mean, I’d finally met the right match.

“This gynecologist was exactly who I wanted.”

Call it speed dating for doctors. Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital, near Fort Worth, has launched a program called Doc Shop that invites prospective patients to casually meet and size up a lot of doctors in a short amount of time.

“It is about chemistry in some ways. Most of the time you have to rely on referrals from your friends and you really just don’t know what that first visit is going to be like,” said Preston. “Am I going to have wait three hours to see you? With the kind of doctor I was looking for — am I going to feel judged when I give you information about my lifestyle?”

Much like its romantic predecessor, speed dating, Doc Shop lets patients spend five minutes each with more than a dozen doctors. The physicians are seated at tables spaced far enough apart to insure privacy. The free event, sponsored by the nonprofit hospital, lasts about an hour and includes lunch.

Dr. Manisha Parikh, a 33-year-old OB-GYN, has drawn six new patients to her practice at Texas Health Harris by participating in four Doc Shop events since last fall when the program launched.

“There’s a new attitude in medicine where patients want to feel like their doctor is their friend,” she said. “They truly want to be listened to. They don’t want to feel like their doctor was there for two minutes and didn’t even look at them and had one hand on the doorknob the whole time.”

Notices about Doc Shop, the brainchild of a hospital marketing specialist, are sent to e-mail addresses in the hospital’s database, posted on its Facebook and Twitter accounts, and showcased on fliers posted at Fort Worth businesses. Four sessions have been held since last fall with OB-GYNs. Ten more are scheduled for 2010, expanding to include pediatricians on March 23.

Doc Shop appears to be one of a kind. The American Medical Association and the American Hospital Association don’t know of any similar programs across the country.
“People know that hospitals are places to go when they are sick, but many actions by hospitals are also about making sure patients and consumers have the tools and information they need to lead healthier and better lives,” said Matt Fenwick, AHA spokesman. “This hospital showcases one more way that this can be achieved.”

Still, the program isn’t without its critics. Five minutes is not enough time to get to know a doctor, said pediatrician Dr. Oscar Brown, who has practiced 30 years in suburban Longview, Texas, and has for years offered 30-minute free lunchtime sessions about prenatal care. “It seems fairly superficial because everybody can put on a good face for five minutes,” he said. “I wonder if the consumer is really getting everything they can out of the experience.
“But I see the good in this, too,” Brown added. “I could see this working in a larger community where you can get a lot more practitioners together, if there’s more time allowed. If I were a young doctor, I would probably be open to this.”

Physicians who’ve attended Doc Shop events say they’re worth it, if only to break the ice earlier with a new patient. “We’re in a field where people have partners who have cheated and they’re concerned they might have an STD,” said Dr. Rebecca Guinn, an OB-GYN at Harris Health who has acquired 11 new patients through the service.

“I’ll often go through an entire examination and be finishing up and then they’ll tell me the real reason that brought them there and I’ll have to begin again. If I can establish even a bit of a rapport with someone before they are in my office, it’s going to help.”

Guinn was impressed by the age range of people who attend Doc Shop. She talked to a pregnant teenager and the girl’s family who had not yet found a doctor they trusted. An older woman wanted to discuss her family’s history of cancer and hear what Guinn knew about the latest treatments.

“I want a doctor who is up on all the new studies,” said Ann Williams, a 52-year-old mother of three girls ages 18 to 22. She attended a session to find a doctor for herself and them.

It had never before occurred to her to research a doctor, she said. When she was pregnant with her first child, and throughout “baby life,” she just went to the “first old man” a friend recommended.

“Back then, I just didn’t even think I had control — many women probably felt that way — and I want my daughters to know they have it,” she said. “I don’t want them to experience what it’s like when you determine that you don’t like your doctor but you’re already in a, uh, compromised position and you can’t get up and walk out.”

“With this program, if my daughters think a doctor isn’t for them, they don’t have to reject that person, they just don’t choose them,” said Williams. “Like speed dating, no one’s feelings get hurt.”
source: http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/03/08/doctor.speed.dating/index.html

Although condoms are highly effective for reducing transmission of STDs, no method is foolproof. This is particularly true with certain STDs, such as genital warts and genital herpes.

STD symptoms aren’t always obvious. If you think you’re experiencing STD symptoms, see a doctor. Some STD symptoms can be treated easily and eliminated, but others require more involved and long-term treatment.

Either way, it’s essential to be evaluated, and — if diagnosed with an STD — get treated. It’s also essential to inform any partners so that they can be evaluated and treated. If untreated, STDs can increase your risk of acquiring another STD such as HIV. This happens because an STD can stimulate an immune response in the genital area or cause sores, either of which might make HIV transmission more likely. Some untreated STDs can also lead to infertility.
Don’t Miss

* Infectious Diseases
* Sexual Health
* Boomer’s Health

STDs often asymptomatic

You could have an STD and be asymptomatic — without any signs or symptoms. In fact, this happens with a lot of STDs. Even though you have no symptoms, you’re still at risk of passing the infection along to your sex partners. That’s why it’s important to visit your doctor on a regular basis for STD screening, so you can identify a potential infection and get treated for it before passing it along to someone else.
Chlamydia symptoms

Chlamydia is a bacterial infection of your genital tract. Chlamydia may be difficult for you to detect because early-stage infections often cause few or no signs and symptoms. When they do occur, they usually start one to three weeks after you’ve been exposed to chlamydia. Even when signs and symptoms do occur, they’re often mild and passing, making them easy to overlook.

Signs and symptoms may include:

* Painful urination
* Lower abdominal pain
* Vaginal discharge in women
* Discharge from the penis in men
* Pain during sexual intercourse in women
* Testicular pain in men

Gonorrhea symptoms

Gonorrhea is a bacterial infection of your genital tract. The first gonorrhea symptoms generally appear within two to 10 days after exposure. However, some people may be infected for months before signs or symptoms occur. Signs and symptoms of gonorrhea may include:

* Thick, cloudy or bloody discharge from the penis or vagina
* Pain or burning sensation when urinating
* Frequent urination
* Pain during sexual intercourse

Trichomoniasis symptoms

Trichomoniasis is a common sexually transmitted disease caused by a microscopic, one-celled parasite called Trichomonas vaginalis. This organism spreads during sexual intercourse with someone who already has the infection. The organism usually infects the urinary tract in men, but often causes no symptoms in men. Trichomoniasis typically infects the vagina in women and may cause these signs and symptoms:

* Greenish yellow, possibly frothy vaginal discharge
* Strong vaginal odor
* Vaginal itching or irritation
* Pain during sexual intercourse
* Painful urination
* Light vaginal bleeding

HIV symptoms

HIV is an infection with the human immunodeficiency virus. HIV interferes with your body’s ability to effectively fight off viruses, bacteria and fungi that cause disease, and it can lead to AIDS, a chronic, life-threatening disease.

When first infected with HIV, you may have no symptoms at all. Some people develop a flu-like illness, usually two to six weeks after being infected. Early HIV signs and symptoms may include:

* Fever
* Headache
* Sore throat
* Swollen lymph glands
* Rash
* Fatigue

These early signs and symptoms usually disappear within a week to a month and are often mistaken for those of another viral infection. During this period, you are very infectious. More persistent or severe symptoms of HIV infection may not appear for 10 years or more after the initial infection.

As the virus continues to multiply and destroy immune cells, you may develop mild infections or chronic signs and symptoms such as:

* Swollen lymph nodes — often one of the first signs of HIV infection
* Diarrhea
* Weight loss
* Fever
* Cough and shortness of breath

Signs and symptoms of later stage HIV infection include:

* Persistent, unexplained fatigue
* Soaking night sweats
* Shaking chills or fever higher than 100.4 F (38 C) for several weeks
* Swelling of lymph nodes for more than three months
* Chronic diarrhea
* Persistent headaches

Genital herpes symptoms

Genital herpes is highly contagious and caused by a type of the herpes simplex virus (HSV). HSV enters your body through small breaks in your skin or mucous membranes. Most people with HSV never know they have it, because they have no signs or symptoms. The signs and symptoms of HSV can be so mild they go unnoticed. When signs and symptoms are noticeable, the first episode is generally the worst. Some people never experience a second episode. Other people, however, can experience episodes over a period of decades.

When present, genital herpes signs and symptoms may include:

* Small, red bumps, blisters (vesicles) or open sores (ulcers) in the genital, anal and nearby areas
* Pain or itching around the genital area, buttocks and inner thighs

The initial symptom of genital herpes usually is pain or itching, beginning within a few weeks after exposure to an infected sexual partner. After several days, small, red bumps may appear. They then rupture, becoming ulcers that ooze or bleed. Eventually, scabs form and the ulcers heal.

In women, sores can erupt in the vaginal area, external genitals, buttocks, anus or cervix. In men, sores can appear on the penis, scrotum, buttocks, anus or thighs, or inside the urethra, the tube from the bladder through the penis.

While you have ulcers, it may be painful to urinate. You may also experience pain and tenderness in your genital area until the infection clears. During an initial episode, you may have flu-like signs and symptoms, such as headache, muscle aches and fever, as well as swollen lymph nodes in your groin.

In some cases, the infection can be active and contagious even when sores aren’t present.
Genital warts (HPV infection) symptoms

Genital warts, caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV), are one of the most common types of STDs. The signs and symptoms of genital warts include:

* Small, flesh-colored or gray swellings in your genital area
* Several warts close together that take on a cauliflower shape
* Itching or discomfort in your genital area
* Bleeding with intercourse

Often, however, genital warts cause no symptoms. Genital warts may be as small as 1 millimeter in diameter or may multiply into large clusters.

In women, genital warts can grow on the vulva, the walls of the vagina, the area between the external genitals and the anus, and the cervix. In men, they may occur on the tip or shaft of the penis, the scrotum, or the anus. Genital warts can also develop in the mouth or throat of a person who has had oral sex with an infected person.
Hepatitis symptoms

Hepatitis A, hepatitis B and hepatitis C are all contagious viral infections that affect your liver. Hepatitis B and C are the most serious of the three, but each can cause your liver to become inflamed.

Some people never develop signs or symptoms. But for those who do, signs and symptoms may occur after several weeks and may include:

* Fatigue
* Nausea and vomiting
* Abdominal pain or discomfort, especially in the area of your liver on your right side beneath your lower ribs
* Loss of appetite
* Fever
* Dark urine
* Muscle or joint pain
* Itching
* Yellowing of your skin and the whites of your eyes (jaundice)

Syphilis symptoms

Syphilis is a bacterial infection. The disease affects your genitals, skin and mucous membranes, but it may also involve many other parts of your body, including your brain and your heart.

The signs and symptoms of syphilis may occur in four stages — primary, secondary, latent and tertiary.

Primary
These signs may occur from 10 days to three months after exposure:

* A small, painless sore (chancre) on the part of your body where the infection was transmitted, usually your genitals, rectum, tongue or lips. A single chancre is typical, but there may be multiple sores.
* Enlarged lymph nodes.

Signs and symptoms of primary syphilis typically disappear without treatment, but the underlying disease remains and may reappear in the second (secondary) or third (tertiary) stage.

Secondary
Signs and symptoms of secondary syphilis may begin two to 10 weeks after the chancre appears, and may include:

* Rash marked by red or reddish-brown, penny-sized sores over any area of your body, including your palms and soles
* Fever
* Fatigue and a vague feeling of discomfort
* Soreness and aching

These signs and symptoms may disappear within a few weeks or repeatedly come and go for as long as a year.

Latent
In some people, a period called latent syphilis — in which no symptoms are present — may follow the secondary stage. Signs and symptoms may never return, or the disease may progress to the tertiary stage.

Tertiary
Without treatment, syphilis bacteria may spread, leading to serious internal organ damage and death years after the original infection.

Some of the signs and symptoms of tertiary syphilis include:

* Neurological problems. These may include stroke and infection and inflammation of the membranes and fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord (meningitis). Other problems may include poor muscle coordination, numbness, paralysis, deafness or visual problems. Personality changes and dementia also are possible.
* Cardiovascular problems. These may include bulging (aneurysm) and inflammation of the aorta — your body’s major artery — and of other blood vessels. Syphilis may also cause valvular heart disease, such as aortic valve problems.

If you suspect you have an STD, see your doctor

If you suspect you have these or other STDs or that you may have been exposed to one, see your doctor for STD testing. Timely diagnosis and treatment are important to avoid or delay more severe, potentially life-threatening health problems and to avoid infecting others.
source: http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/library/std-symptoms/ID00053.html

But one corner of the park is still recovering from the events of 10 days ago, when Afghanistan’s war arrived without warning in this neighbourhood.
An early morning car bomb was followed by Taliban suicide attacks and exchanges of gunfire which lasted for several hours.

Seventeen people were killed, one guesthouse was completely destroyed and many buildings and businesses were badly damaged. It was the worst attack in the capital for months.
‘Just talk’

A bricklayer is now at work just across the street from the crater left by the car bomb, rebuilding a broken wall. Slowly but surely they are putting things back together again.
A hundred metres down the road, the local kebab shop is getting ready for another busy day. Smoke from the barbecue is drifting through the air.

They cook chickens and 20 to 30 sheep a day here. The money the staff earn gets sent back to families around the country.

And understandably, bombs are bad for business.

“No-one gains from fighting,” says the shop’s owner, Farmanullah Shinwari, as he watches skewers of lamb sizzle on the fire.
“We should stop it, and just talk.”

“The government should share things out more and create jobs so we can carry on our business,” he adds.

“Fighting just kills ordinary people and destroys the country.”

Extremists

Around the corner next to the shattered front of the Safi Landmark Hotel, Ghulam Ali is gradually cleaning up his bakery. He has still got no mains electricity or water.

In a backroom they are cutting new plates of glass on one table, and icing cakes on the next.

Ghulam Ali says foreign military forces should stay in Afghanistan for now, but he wants them to take much more care not to kill civilians.

Page last updated at 16:49 GMT, Monday, 8 March 2010
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Afghans determined to get on with life

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The Shahr-e Naw attack left 17 people dead and damaged many buildings
By Chris Morris
BBC News, Kabul

On a sunny spring day in Kabul’s Shahr-e Naw park, people come out early, sitting and drinking tea, playing football or just chatting.

But one corner of the park is still recovering from the events of 10 days ago, when Afghanistan’s war arrived without warning in this neighbourhood.

It’s good to talk to moderate Taliban, but not to the extremists
Ghulam Ali

In pictures: Kabul attack
BBC witness to Taliban attack

An early morning car bomb was followed by Taliban suicide attacks and exchanges of gunfire which lasted for several hours.

Seventeen people were killed, one guesthouse was completely destroyed and many buildings and businesses were badly damaged. It was the worst attack in the capital for months.

‘Just talk’

A bricklayer is now at work just across the street from the crater left by the car bomb, rebuilding a broken wall. Slowly but surely they are putting things back together again.
Farmanullah Shinwari
Mr Shinwari says fighting kills ordinary people and destroys the country

A hundred metres down the road, the local kebab shop is getting ready for another busy day. Smoke from the barbecue is drifting through the air.

They cook chickens and 20 to 30 sheep a day here. The money the staff earn gets sent back to families around the country.

And understandably, bombs are bad for business.

“No-one gains from fighting,” says the shop’s owner, Farmanullah Shinwari, as he watches skewers of lamb sizzle on the fire.

“We should stop it, and just talk.”

“The government should share things out more and create jobs so we can carry on our business,” he adds.

“Fighting just kills ordinary people and destroys the country.”

Extremists

Around the corner next to the shattered front of the Safi Landmark Hotel, Ghulam Ali is gradually cleaning up his bakery. He has still got no mains electricity or water.

In a backroom they are cutting new plates of glass on one table, and icing cakes on the next.

Ghulam Ali says foreign military forces should stay in Afghanistan for now, but he wants them to take much more care not to kill civilians.
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Eyewitness Dr Mohammad Azizi: “The police tried to stop them”

He is waiting for peace - but not at any price.

“We can’t reconcile with the hard line Taliban because their condition is that foreign forces should leave the country. Right now, that’s not possible,” he argues.

“We can’t trust them because we remember what they did last time they were in power. It’s good to talk to moderate Taliban, but not to the extremists.”

Even here in Shahr-e Naw, there is a strong military presence. A convoy of Humvee military vehicles rumbles past as we walk back into the park.

But normal life goes on.
War weariness

Big military operations in Helmand, like Operation Moshtarak, may create headlines in the UK and the US, but in the rest of Afghanistan they make little news and have almost no impact.
After 30 years of surviving one conflict after another, it is hardly surprising that most Afghans wonder what the point of it all is.

On a bumpy concrete pitch still wet from overnight rain, a pick-up game of football is under way. There are players in Real Madrid and Barcelona shirts. Earlier we saw a Manchester United jacket.
But while foreign football is more popular in the park than foreign military force, some of these players do understand why British and American troops are fighting in Helmand.
“It’s a good operation because some people like the Taliban and other factions are against our government,” says Abdullah Wahidi, an engineer decked out in an Argentina shirt with “Messi 10″ on the back.

“If we want peace then this operation was needed.”

There is plenty of war weariness here, and no-one wants foreign forces to stay longer than strictly necessary.

But there is also a determination to get on with life.
If international policy now is based on handing power back to Afghans - “Afghanisation” - then in Shahr-e Naw it cannot happen soon enough.

“I want a secure and relaxing place to play football,” Mr Wahidi says as he prepares to return to the game.

And his biggest hope of all?

“I want a better pitch.”
source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8556088.stm

The contraceptives will be handed out in beauty salons, convenience stores and high schools in areas with high rates of HIV/Aids infection.

Male condoms have long been handed out but infection rates remain high among Washington’s black residents.

Female condoms have been on sale since 1993 but take-up has been slow.

The initial version of the contraceptive was judged by US customers to be too expensive.

However, a new version now being used in countries including South Africa, Brazil, and Indonesia will be distributed in Washington DC and offered for sale in pharmacies alongside male condoms.

Cutting edge

“Anywhere male condoms are available, female condoms will be available,” Shannon Hader, director of the city’s HIV/AIDS administration, told the Washington Post.

“We’re trying to make every effort count to build on what already exists… to expand options rather than limit them.”

HIV/Aids infection is the leading cause of death for black women aged 25-34 in the US.

A 2008 report showed Washington DC’s HIV/Aids rate at 3%, or about 15,100 adults, the Post reported.
source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8553625.stm

They are using International Women’s Day to call for more action to reduce deaths among women during pregnancy.

They say improving mothers’ health is “the most off-target” of the UN’s eight Millennium Development Goals.
For every 100,000 live births in developing countries, 450 women die during pregnancy or labour.

The coalition, which includes White Ribbon Alliance, Amnesty International and Oxfam, says that in 1910, 355 women died per 100,000 live births in England and Wales.

In Scotland and the Irish Republic, the rate was higher - at 572 and 531 respectively.

In Ghana today the rate of pregnancy-related deaths is 560, while in Chad it is 1,500. The rate in the UK is now 14 deaths per 100,000.

There still remains a long way to go for the protection and security of pregnant women and their newborn children
Brigid McConville, Director of White Ribbon Alliance

The comparison has been drawn because it was 100 years ago that International Women’s Day was established.

The UN says although it is difficult to get accurate figures on maternal mortality, very little progress has been made in sub-Saharan Africa - and deaths in southern Asia “remain unacceptably high”.
Brigid McConville, the director of White Ribbon Alliance, which campaigns for safe motherhood, said: “There still remains a long way to go for the protection and security of pregnant women and their newborn children.”

Monday is the official launch of a week of events. Campaigners will march at the Millennium Bridge in London and lay white roses outside Parliament.

Preventable deaths

Some countries have made progress in improving women’s health - most notably Nepal and Rwanda.

Chief Executive of Save the Children, Jasmine Whitbread, explains the risks women face

In Mongolia, reduced deaths were achieved by educating women about the signs of complications in pregnancy and by helping them travel to special homes where they could wait to give birth.

Many of the medical problems are easily preventable if, for example, women have access to skilled health workers who can treat infections and use drugs to prevent haemorrhage.
The Millennium Development Goal also envisages preventing deaths that result from complications after unsafe abortions and allowing women access to contraception - to prevent riskier births in teenage mothers and to allow them to space their children.

The issue has become politically more significant in recent years, with the backing of the British Prime Minister’s wife Sarah Brown, who is patron of the White Ribbon Alliance.

The Women Deliver conference in Washington DC in June aims to put increased pressure on world leaders to tackle the problems.

Amnesty International’s UK director Kate Allen said: “It’s clearly been possible to cut back on the rate of maternal deaths here in the UK.

“We need to demonstrate that same level of commitment worldwide.”
source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8551481.stm