Bad Water Can Kill

As man and his ex-wife had their three children in Bhopal, India They said they had no choice but to give their children water contaminated by a 1984 gas leak. Two of his children, a 6-year-old girl and a 3-year-old boy, are now healthy, but his other son was diagnosed with a TORCH infection, or a type of infection passed from a mother to her fetus, and lissencephaly, a brain formation disorder that reduces his life expectancy to 10 years.

Photographer Alex Masi met the this man nearly three decades after the world’s worst industrial disaster: a chemical leak from the Union Carbide pesticide plant. Masi photographed the community’s struggles with the fallout from the disaster, specifically water pollution, over a span of three years.

Methyl isocyanate, a chemical used to produce pesticides, escaped in the form of a gas cloud from the Union Carbide plant in December 1984, taking nearly 4,000 lives in the immediate aftermath.

Since then more than 10,000 other deaths have been blamed on illnesses related to the gas leak. In addition, hundreds of thousands of survivors have reported other health effects. There has been a jump in the number of cancer cases, tuberculosis cases and birth deformities in communities near the factory. According to the Bhopal Medical Appeal, 1 in 15 chronically ill survivors were still in desperate need of attention in 2010. Many communities surrounding the abandoned plant get water from plastic tanks refilled by surface pipes or tanker trucks. Many pipes and tanks are broken, and the trucks come irregularly so residents try to build their own wells.

Often the groundwater reached by the handmade pumps is contaminated by coliform bacteria from sewage leaks, and there is still some serious chemical contamination from the disaster.

"A huge proportion of the factory site is full of very toxic waste," "There are parts of the factory where the soil you walk on is 100% toxic waste, and there are areas where you still see pools of mercury on the ground.” Colin Toogood, an author, said.  In response, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan of the Madhya Pradesh state told BBC that the plant area was safe, and tanker trucks supplied clean water to the communities that don’t have safe piped water.

The photographer said how he noticed that the poor received barley any consideration from the government, so basically they are being ignored.

Union Carbide, now a part of of Dow Chemical Co.(DOW) , paid a $470 million settlement to India in 1989, but the International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal said survivors have received an average of only $500 each in compensation.

In 2010, an Indian court found Union Carbide and its executives at the time of the accident guilty of negligence causing death, endangering public life and causing hurt. However, U.S. federal court absolved them, Urban Carbide, of liability for soil and water pollution around the factory. And as DOW was juggling its lawsuits, it was honored as a top sponsor of the 2012 London Olympics. Indian aid programs and Indian Olympics officials protested, but the International Olympic Committee insisted Dow was not to blame for the accident. For many living in the city, the accident is something of the past. Most are well-aware of the water contamination and avoid it when they can, Masi said.

He, Masi, hopes to put grants and donations for this and other projects toward helping the victims. Masi’s project won the 2012 FotoEvidence Book Award, which recognizes commitment to a human rights issue. It will be featured in an exhibition at the VII Gallery in Brooklyn, New York. This event will also mark the official release of Masi’s book, “Bhopal: Second Disaster.”

I cannot believe that the United States would do something like this. We are being such hypocrite's towards other countries. We need to help these people after what they have been doing for us. We need to go and help clean up this mess, and not just let this company walk away with thousands of murders basically. I would personally love to go and help these people but i cannot. I wish i could, but i just cant. With all of the deformities in these people and their children, I think my heart would just break into a thousand pieces for each one of these children and human that are hurt.

http://cnnphotos.blogs.cnn.com/2012/10/17/a-toxic-tragedy-in-bhopal/?hpt=hp_c3&hpt=wo_mid

Human Rights Ending in Russia

A woman last week, named Tatyana Lokshina, who is a researcher for Human Rights Watch in Russia, received a lot of threatening text messages involving harm to her and her unborn child. The Human Rights Watch said that this was a response to the “hostile climate” for these activists. There are many other human rights groups’ organizations that are also facing threats to their workers/volunteers. This is all happening because President Vladimir Putin returned to Kremlin a few months ago. Lokshina received messages that included threats to her and her pregnancy, and her private, unlisted home address. Some of the messages stated that she would have an “uneasy birth” and that the senders of the messages were nearby and coming after her.  The messages were implied to make people think about trying to help the Russians and their human rights. The Human Rights Watch organizer Kenneth Roth has called on the Russian authorities to investigate these messages.

President Putin had signed a law in July that stated that all foreign-funded NGO’s as “foreign agents” and that they are not welcomed. The U.S. Agency for International Development was ordered to stop operating in Russia this current month. Many Russians are concerned about what will happen. The Human Rights Watch stated that “The hostile climate in Russia for human rights work is worsening”.

 

I honestly had no idea that the United states was even involved in Russia. I know that Russia is having a hard time, but I did not know that we had human rights activists there trying to help. It is a very weird and cruel thing to threaten a women who is with child. Isn't it illegal to harm women AND children? that's basically life in jail. Then, you throw in all of the other people they threatened, and your just screwed over for eternity. Why would President Putin even come back? didn't no one like him? i just wish everything could go back to "normal" where everyone just wants to help each other become better people.

http://news.yahoo.com/pregnant-human-rights-worker-gets-text-threats-russia-172228924.html

Living in Fear

Haiti's terror didn't end when the ground stopped shaking. Reports of rape and sexual violence have been very popular after the January 2010 earthquake, that killed more than 220,000 people and displaced almost 25% of the entire country. In the days following the disaster, camps were set up to provide shelter for more than a million displaced Haitians. But these "tent cities" have been far from ideal. Children in Nepal live in prisons with their parents.



Nearly 370,000 people remain in displacement camps, according to the U.N. And gruesome reports of violence, inadequate health care and substandard living conditions have painted a picture of horror and hopelessness. In one study, published in January by the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice , 14% of households reported that at least one member of the household had been a victim of sexual violence since the earthquake. And 70% of households surveyed said they were now more worried about sexual violence.


Residents have cited lack of lighting, long walks to the bathroom, and flimsy tents as some of the issues putting females at risk of attack. Many females also are on their own for the first time. Women and girls were left to fend for themselves in camps. People lost that sense of community protection.



High numbers of adolescent girls are engaging in what they call "transactional sex" for shelter and food. Many of those interviewed claimed they had never sold sex before, but the earthquake had left them no option. In many of those women, as well as those who have been raped, are becoming pregnant, raising fears about rising maternal health issues. Before the earth quake, Haiti was the most dangerous place to be pregnant in the Western Hemisphere: the lifetime risk of dying during childbirth there is 1 in 47.



Nearly 370,000 people remain in Haiti displacement camps, according to the U.N.


KOFAVIVand other groups are working to help young girls and women, giving them safety, support and training so they can make money and not have to sell themselves. Better lighting has been installed in some displacement camps. More than 10,000 military and police personnel are now helping to provide security throughout the country, and hundreds of U.N. peacekeepers have been assigned to specifically work with the Haitian National Police.


In the last two years, there has been a change in the way rape is prosecuted. More women are reporting the crimes, and more rapists are being prosecuted.


In the first two years after the quake, sources in Haiti had estimated there were few, if any, rape convictions. But this year there have already been more than 60 convictions for sex crimes in Haiti, according to the National Human Rights Defense Network.



http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/18/world/americas/cnnheroes-haiti-rape/index.html?hpt=wo_t5

Be Strong!

http://dawn.com/2012/10/10/malala-yousufzai-sok-daa/

Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar of Islamabad, Pakistan, spoke to CNN's Christiane Amanpour two days after Malala Yousufzai, 14, was gunned down as she headed home from school in Pakistan's conservative Swat Valley. The girl was in critical condition Thursday at a military hospital outside Islamabad after surgeons removed a bullet lodged in her neck. Malala is suffering from severe cerebral edema, or swelling of the brain

Pakistani authorities offered additional protection prior to the shooting, but Malala's family had turned it down.

When Taliban gunmen stopped the van carrying Malala and two other girls Tuesday, they asked which one was Malala Yousufzai. When the girls pointed her out, the men fired, striking all three girls. The two others were not seriously injured in the attack.

A day later, police took the van driver and another person into custody for questioning. They said they had identified the culprits, but had been arrested.

The Taliban have claimed responsibility for targeting Malala, who enraged the militant group by writing about her daily battle with extremists who used fear and intimidation to force girls to stay at home instead of going to school. Malala's online writing earned her Pakistan's first National Peace Prize in November. The Taliban have vowed to kill the teenager if she survives.
"That's absolutely wrong, and propaganda of media," the group said. "Malala is targeted because of her pioneer role in preaching secularism and so-called enlightened moderation."

The Taliban accused Malala of "playing a vital role in bucking up" the Pakistani government and "inviting Muslims to hate mujahedeen."

The Taliban denied targeting the teen activist because of her demands for an education.

The singer Madonna said, during a Wednesday night concert in Los Angeles, that Malala's story made her cry and exclaimed, "Support education! Support women!" As she performed a striptease, Madonna "turned her back to the audience to reveal the name 'Malala' stenciled across it," according to The Hollywood Reporter.

"This song is for you, Malala," she said, and then sang "Human Nature."



http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/11/world/asia/pakistan-teen-activist-attack/index.html?hpt=wo_c1

India's Sex Problem

The scenes at the transit home for girls in the Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh, India, are horrible. Girls as young as 13 are brought here for temporary reflief after they have been rescued from sex traffickers and brothels in big cities. Each has suffered varying degrees of abuse, torture, slavery and inhumane treatment.

According to police estimates, 300,000 women and girls have been trafficked for exploitative sex work from Andhra Pradesh; of these just 3,000 have been rescued so far. The state, Andhra Pradesh, is relatively prosperous but is also has some of the poorest people in the country.

Organized sex trafficking is so entrenched that traffickers have penetrated the remotest villages, preying on vulnerable young girls from impoverished households and pushing them into sex work and slavery across the country. Promises of marriage, employment and even food are used to lure girls from their homes, only for them to find themselves forced into the sex trade. It is not surprising that when rescued girls are referred to the transit home their minds and bodies are in deep trauma

In 2005, India's National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) estimated that 44,000 children go missing in the country every year. Of these, 11,000 are never traced. A 1998 report noted that children constituted more than 40% of those trafficked into sexual exploitation in the country.One study in India found more than three in 10 trafficked children suffered from HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted infections and other problems.

The overwhelming majority of girls pushed into exploitative sex work come from rural pockets of India hit by extreme poverty. Social structures and deep-rooted gender bias mean they are the poorest, most disadvantaged people even within their own communities. Girls usually drop out of school long before their brothers; they are assigned household chores and often look after their siblings while their parents go out to work.

In many cases, girls are simply abandoned to the care of neighbors by migrant parents who leave for seasonal work in the cities.  The charity is supporting the recovery and rehabilitation of rescued girls in transit homes. They are encouraged to continue their education and are offered training to secure decent employment or set up their own business. For a few moments, the girls can forget their circumstances, and revert to being playful youngsters. Some are hopeful it could mean a new life.

Often unwanted and unwelcome, victims find themselves trapped in life-long destitution and slavery. Sometimes the only option is to return to their traffickers. Nearly eight out of 10 victims are forced back on to the streets and into brothels after being rehabilitated, according to Andhra Pradesh police. Meanwhile, their traffickers go mostly unpunished, keeping up a thriving sex trade. Although hundreds of girls are rescued from brothels every year, police say the conviction rate of perpetrators under the national Immoral Trafficking Prevention Act is low.

This leaves many sex workers helpless and lonely, and for the most there is no way to break the cycle. Most do not even exist on official records, leaving them without identity papers and excluding them from the little welfare support the state can afford, such as discounted food rations. The rehabilitation support for sex workers is virtually non-existent and most are either unable to access it or have rejoined the sex trade by the time any support becomes available. Only sex workers with HIV/AIDS are entitled to a monthly financial support of less than $4 provided by the state government. But even those who qualify rarely get it. Challenges like these make the task of organizations like Plan International and its partner grassroot NGOs extremely challenging.

http://thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com/2012/10/10/indias-sex-slaves-face-lifelong-cycle-of-abuse/?hpt=wo_t4

Child Brides

http://fstoppers.com/powerful-photos-of-child-brides

These are just some pictures of child brides. Photographer Stephanie Sinclair took many pictures on her many trips to more than 40 countries around the world. Each of these countries either has no law, or ignores the law, and allows child marriage.

Sinclair is one of the most honored photojournalists today. She documented an 11 year olds wedding day in the outskirts of Gondar, Ethiopia, in 2008 as a part of her project on child marriage. Sinclair returned to Gondar in 2012 to check up on the now 15 year old mother.

Sinclair has spent nearly a decade investigating child marriage in India, Yemen, Afghanistan, Nepal and Ethiopia. Today, the United Nations Population Fund and Sinclair are celebrating the first ever International Day of the Girl Child with the launch of Too Young to Wed, a campaign against child marriage with a multimedia site featuring Sinclair and other documentarians’ works.

In 2010, about 67 million women 20 to 24 years old, had been married before they were 18, according to the Population Fund. Child marriage is found in all regions of the world but is most common in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Ethiopia has particularly high rates of child marriage: 41% of Ethiopian women between 20 and 24 were married underage.

It is most likely that a young mother will end up having approximately six risky pregnancies and live births because of the high infant mortality rate, according to a Population Fund representative. Complications from pregnancy and childbirth are the greatest cause of death and disability among girls 15 to 19. Ethiopian people are exposed to the global community and have aid programs to prevent child marriage.

““Even though I’ve been working on this for a decade, I feel like there’s much more to do,” Sinclair said. “I believe every girl deserves a childhood.””



http://cnnphotos.blogs.cnn.com/2012/10/11/trading-childhood-for-marriage/?hpt=wo_t3

Abortion Yacht

Moroccan police last Thursday escorted a small yacht carrying women's rights activists claiming to be able to perform abortions on board, after anti-abortion protesters yelled at them on land. The Dutch group, Women on Waves, sailed the boat around the Moroccan harbor with banners advertising an information hotline about abortion, which is illegal in that country. A day earlier, the group had said that they can provide "safe, legal, medical abortions" up until 6.5 weeks of pregnancy aboard the ship. The ship was on its way from the Netherlands. Medical professionals have traveled before to European nations to raise awareness. The group's founder said that abortions had been performed aboard ship before in waters off of Poland.

The trip in the Mediterranean coastal town of Smir, was the abortion rights group's first event in the country. Abortion in Morocco is illegal, except in rare cases, where the mother's life is threatened. It is also illegal to give out information about abortions. Moroccan officials had said the boat would not be allowed in to the harbor and police sealed the port.

In the afternoon, volunteers from Women on Waves said they already had stationed a sailboat in the harbor several days ago. The boat took off around the harbor, about an hour after the group's founder approached crowds of protesters on the ground, trying to hand out fliers on abortion in Arabic and French to them. Police then boarded the Dutch-flagged yacht and escorted it out of the marina. No one was charged.

"We launched a hotline that gives information to women here in Morocco, because the ship can never solve the problem here for everyone," said Rebecca Gomperts, the Women on Wave's founder. There were about 200 protesters in Smir outside the gates of the harbor. The Women on Waves boat was invited to Morocco by a local women's rights organization seeking the legalization of abortion in Morocco. Founded in 1999, Women on Waves aims to spread information about safe medical abortions induced by medication. The group traveled to Ireland in 2001, Poland in 2003 and Spain, and was banned from entering Portugal's waters in 2004.

This is so wrong. Why would you go to a country that has banned your group, and just hover in the international waters where everything is legal? That is just wrong. People need to be doing the right thing here.

http://news.yahoo.com/abortion-rights-yacht-sails-around-moroccan-port-170516620.html;_ylt=Al1VkKC5BBLePEQx3cFGUc1vaA8F;_ylu=X3oDMTNmdTVtczNzBG1pdAMEcGtnAzRiNTJhMjk0LTgyYjYtMzYwYS05MjdkLWE2Y2FiZDU2ZmJmMwRwb3MDMQRzZWMDbG5fTWlkRWFzdF9nYWwEdmVyA2YxNmNmYzQxLTBlNDUtMTFlMi1hNjc3LWY3N2U0MmNlNjc4NA--;_ylv=3

New Technology to Save Lives?

Genome sequencing is rapidly changing modern medicine and a new study shows its potential impact on very ill newborn babies. New research published in the journal Science Translational Medicine helps prove a  two-day whole-genome sequencing for newborns in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) to help find out what’s wrong with them(the babies).
“After 50 hours, the test delivers to doctors a wealth of information about what could be causing newborns’ life-threatening illnesses. This would allow them to more efficiently and quickly tailor therapies to the babies, when possible, and identify problematic genetic variants that multiple family members may share.” ““We think this is going to transform the world of neonatology, by allowing neonatologists to practice medicine that’s influenced by genomes,” said Stephen Kingsmore, the study's senior author and director.” “There are more than 3,500 diseases caused by a mutation in a single gene, Kingsmore said, and only about 500 have treatments. About one in 20 babies born in the United States annually gets admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit” he said. This study shows how two software programs, called SAGA and RUNE, work together to help physicians pinpoint the genes that could be causing problems in the babies. The company Illumina developed this rapid genome sequencing device that incorporates the programs.

The test extends beyond the ill baby; genome sequencing can also identify genetic traits in multiple family members, the researchers said.
While some children will still die from incurable genetic disorders after being tested for them, the knowledge about diagnosis and likely outcomes for future children is beneficial for parents, experts say. “Knowing the marker or defect may provide some information regarding the prognosis so the family knows what to expect,” Saunders said. "Importantly, it also allows them to have accurate genetic counseling regarding their risk to have another affected baby, and to make informed decisions about their reproductive future.” The test costs roughly $13,500, but experts believe a $1,000 test is not far away.

This is simply remarkable. I cannot believe that the have the technology to this. How many lives could this save? This is just amazing. This benefits everyone, and I mean everyone. This would especially help any parents who think that they did something wrong in their pregnancy. Even if the doctors wouldn't be able to fix the problem, it would still give parents the time to prepare for the worst.

http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2012/10/04/newborns-may-benefit-from-fast-genetic-test/

Should we worry?

In the United States, births fell for the fourth year in a row. In the report, it stated that there was a steep declines in Hispanic birth rates and a new low in teen births. Hispanic births have been affected by the economy and teen birth rates have been falling for at least 20 years now. A falling birth rate is a big surprise in this country. Births had been on the rise since the 1990's and hit an all-time high of  4.3 million in 2007. Fewer than 4 million births were counted last year , the lowest number since 1998.There is a theory that many women or couples who are out of work, underemployed or have other money problems think that they can't afford to start a family or add to it.

The report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is a view  at the 2011 birth certificate data from state health departments.

“Highlights of the report include:

• The birth rate for single women fell for the third straight year, dropping by 3 percent from 2010 to 2011. The birth rate for married women, however, rose 1 percent. In most cases, married women are older and more financially secure.
• The birth rate for Hispanic women dropped a whopping 6 percent. But it declined only 2 percent for black women, stayed the same for whites and actually rose a bit for Asian-American and Pacific Islanders.
• Birth rates fell again for women in their early 20's, down 5 percent from 2010 — the lowest mark for women in that age group since 1940, when comprehensive national birth records were first compiled. For women in their late 20's, birth rates fell 1 percent.
• But birth rates held steady for women in their early 30's, and rose for moms ages 35 and older. Experts say that's not surprising: Older women generally have better jobs or financial security, and are more sensitive to the ticking away of their biological clocks.
• Birth rates for teen moms have been falling since 1991 and hit another historic low. The number of teen births last year — about 330,000 — was the fewest in one year since 1946. The teen birth rate fell 8 percent, and at 31 per 1,000 girls ages 15 through 19 was the lowest recorded in more than seven decades.”

Many people are astounded with the continued decline in the teen birth rate.

The new report also noted a fourth straight decline in how many children women have over their lifetimes. The current rate is a little more than 2 children per woman.  The U.S. rate last year was below 1.9. The United States C-section rate peaked at just fewer than 33 percent. Cesarean deliveries are sometimes medically necessary. But health officials have worried that many C-sections are done out of convenience or unwarranted caution. In the 1980's the government set a goal of keeping the national C-section rate at 15 percent.

I personally don't think that we should be worried at all about this. Having a stable birth rate is good, it keeps the country going. It is a good thing that women are deciding to have children when their older so they are wiser and don't make stupid decisions about it. They are more financially and emotionally available at the older age. It is a very good thing that teen birth rate is going down, i wouldn't have even guessed that. me, being a teen mom myself, seem to notice a lot more teen births actually. Oh well, as long as this country is continuing to thrive with life, I don't think we have much to worry about.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501367_162-57524932/baby-bust-continues-us-births-down-for-4th-year/

Low IQ

High blood pressure in mothers while they are pregnant can lead to negative effects in her child's thinking skills which may carry through until they are much older. High blood pressure and related conditions such as preeclampsia complicate about 10 percent of all pregnancies and can affect a baby's environment in the womb. The study suggests that even declines in thinking abilities in old age could have originated during the prenatal period when the majority of the development of brain structure and function occurs. During the study, medical histories of 398 men's mothers' blood pressure were analyzed. All of the men were born to the women between the years 1934 and 1944. At the age of 20, the men had their thinking skills examined, and once again when they were around the age of 69. They examined the men’s math reasoning, visual and spatial relationships, and language skills. According to the report, the men whose moms had high blood pressure when they were pregnant received scores that were 4.36 points less on thinking ability tests when they were 69 years than those whose mothers did not have high blood pressure. The men whose mothers had high blood pressure also scored lower when they were 20 years old, and had a greater decline in their scores over the years than the individuals whose mothers had not been hypertensive. The experts looked into whether premature birth at all influenced these results and determined that it did not. The babies' fathers professions - anywhere from a manual laborer to an office worker - also did not alter the findings.

 

So this study has come to the conclusion that women who are pregnant with high blood pressure have a higher tendency to give birth the boys with lower learning capabilities.  The men have lower scores in math, language, and visual skills. All I know is since learning this, I will hopefully not want to have high blood pressure or preeclampsia is future pregnancies.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/251151.php

Causes of Obesity.

Women have been giving birth for centuries, without the help of electronic equipment. In fact advocates of natural child birth are quick to point out that the stress and disruption caused to the mothers emotional state by rushing her around, and subjecting her to bright lights and multiple examinations in an emergency medical type environment, can be responsible for shutting down the birth process.According to Dr. Huh´s research, the mothers who delivered by c-section on average weighed more than those delivering vaginally, and the birth weight for gestational age of their babies also tended to be higher. The C-section mothers also had a tendency to breastfeed their babies for a shorter period.

Furthermore, around 16% of children delivered via c-section were obese by the age of three compared with only 7.5% of those born naturally. Setting aside the birth weight and after taking into account the BMI, a cesarean section delivery was associated with a doubling in the odds of obesity by the time the child was three years old. The c-section children also had a higher BMI, as well as a higher skin fold thickness.Researchers are not sure exactly why the c-section causes the changes, but others have noted possible behavioral issues with children born by c-section. Perhaps it is simply the abrupt entry into the world, or a simpler issue that could be adjusted for mothers and babies that simply cannot avoid the C. Huh and others before her put forward the idea that is supported by scientific data, that the problem is associated with bacterial flora the child gains from its mother. This is something that could be treated in a newborn. If the study is 100% positive.

 

Basically, this study in Massachusetts has proven that when you give birth naturally, your child had a lower chance of becoming obese. There is just something that happens when the baby comes out that it benefits it and helps prevent obesity. This study was conducted over three and a half years, from when the mother was 22 weeks pregnant, until the child was three years old.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/245814.php