Features

2012

1. 

   Article

   HIV Stigma – a new form of dying

   30 November 2012

   HIV is no longer a killer but HIV stigma is. As World AIDS Day is observed on 1 December, ILO research in China, India, Sri Lanka and Thailand sheds light on the problem and suggests ways it can be addressed. By Richard Howard, Senior Specialist on HIV/AIDS, ILO Decent Work Team for East and South-East Asia and the Pacific

2011

1. 

   Feature story

   Inequities in health care access in the European region

   06 October 2011

   The objective of providing universal health coverage is high on the agenda of countries in the broader European region, yet vulnerable groups often do not have full access to health services, according to Dr. Xenia Scheil-Adlung, Health Policy Coordinator at the ILO’s Social Security Department. ILO Online spoke to Dr. Scheil-Adlung, who has published a study looking at the situation in the region, which includes the European Union, the Commonwealth of Independent States and Central and Eastern Europe.

2. 

   Article

   World Water Day (22 March 2011) - Bringing safe water to communities: the role of the ILO

   16 March 2011

   Despite the UN General Assembly declaring that access to safe water is a human right, thousands die each day because of water-related diseases, and many countries are not expected to meet the UN Millennium Development Goals on water. The ILO is working with governments, employers’ and workers’ organizations to identify priorities for investment infrastructure in order to create employment opportunities and bring safe water to communities. In advance of World Water Day on 22 March, ILO Online spoke with Carlos R. Carrión-Crespo, ILO Sectoral Specialist for Public Services and Utilities.

2006

1. Article

   "Looking for greener pastures": Nurses and doctors on the move

   16 March 2006

   The global health care profession employs an estimated 100 million people, but is not attracting enough new recruits in both developed and developing countries alike. So fierce is the competition to secure scarce health care professionals, that private recruitment agencies stage promotional events and aggressive recruitment campaigns in supplying countries. A recent ILO study examines these shortages of health care professionals and the role played by private recruitment agencies in the flows of international migration.

2. Article

   Is there a decent way to break ships?

   26 January 2006

   GENEVA (ILO Online) - The dispatch of the asbestos-laden aircraft carrier 'Clemenceau' from France to the world's largest ship graveyard on India's west coast for scrapping has focused new attention on the human and environmental dangers inherent in ship breaking. While breaking ships and selling of the scrap and hardware from retired vessels provides work and income for tens of thousands of persons in Bangladesh, China, India and Pakistan, the work is dangerous and can cause deaths due to work accidents as well as serious acute and chronic health problems, especially due to exposure to hazardous substances such as asbestos. ILO Online spoke with ILO shipbreaking expert Paul Bailey.

2005

1. Article

   Social health insurance in developing countries: breaking the poverty - health care link

   13 December 2005

   Every year, some 100 million people worldwide are forced into poverty by health care costs. Last week, more than 200 participants from 40 countries attending the "International Conference on Social Health Insurance in Developing Countries" in Berlin discussed how people can best be protected against financial shocks deriving from illness. It was the first international meeting organized by the ILO, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the German development agency, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), following a 2004 agreement on common activities in the field of social protection. German journalist Anne Sieger reports from Berlin.