KARACHI, 03 November 2008 (IRIN) - Eighteen-year-old Razia Bibi was very pale and virtually blind after enduring the physical and emotional pain of an 18-hour-long obstructed labour leading to the birth of a stillborn baby.

CAIRO, 05 November 2008 (IRIN) - On 6 September some limestone cliffs in Cairo collapsed, killing some 100 residents of Dweiqa shantytown at the foot of the cliffs. Almost two months on, the shantytown’s residents say their plight is being ignored: There has been little effective health care and no chance of resettlement to safer residential areas.

NAIROBI, 31 October 2008 (IRIN) - Five months after a specialised facility for multi-drug resistant Tuberculosis patients was established at Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi, the lack of isolation wards is raising concerns.

DAKAR, 04 November 2008 (IRIN) - Health providers – frequently the first professional a trafficking victim consults for help – are often thrust into the fight against organised crime without adequate preparation, according to the International Organization of Migration (IOM). The agency said there is an urgent need to ensure care for victims of trafficking and hopes to fill the gap with its soon-to-be released guidelines for health workers.

HARGEISA, 29 October 2008 (IRIN) - When he fled Mogadishu, Mohamed Abdi thought life outside the war-torn capital could not be worse than what he was leaving behind. But since arriving in the self-declared republic of Somaliland in September, Abdi has had to reconsider.