Population Growth, Corruption Derail Philippines’ Ability To Meet MDGs

“Rapid population growth, corruption and bad governance are the roadblocks that derail the Philippines’ bid to meet the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) set by the United Nations by 2015, a UN official said on Wednesday,” the Manila Times reports. These issues have resulted in, according to U.N. data, “33 percent of Filipinos still living on less than P46 [$0.99] a day, 5.2 million children of school age staying out of school, 11 mothers dying each day from pregnancy-related causes and the increase of incidence of HIV/AIDS by five-fold from 41 in 2007 to 218 in 2009,” the newspaper writes (6/10). The New York Times reports that President-Elect Benigno Aquino has vowed “to fight corruption and to immediately determine the ‘true state of the country'” (6/9).

CDC Director Discusses Health
In Ethiopia

CDC Director Thomas Frieden discussed expanding Ethiopia’s health service, developing infrastructure and reducing mortality from HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and childbirth at an event with Ethiopian Health Minister Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in Addis Ababa, WaltaInfo.com reports.  Frieden also “expressed enthusiasm for the Ethiopian Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Program,” which began in 2009 and trains skilled public health professionals, according to the website. Kevin DeCock, director of CDC’s Center for Global Health, is also in Ethiopia, according to the article (6/9).

Chad Holds Conference On Child Soldiers In Africa

A three-day conference on child soldiers in the capital of Chad “identified a lack of education, poverty, forced displacement and porous borders as major contributing factors to the problem,” Agence France-Presse reports. “The influx of refugees from neighboring countries and the movement of people displaced by war are also major barriers to the protection of children, according to a UNICEF report,” which estimates there are 15,000 child soldiers in Chad, Sudan and the Central Africa Republic, AFP writes (6/9).