Social development
‘Alarming levels’ of methamphetamine trafficking in Asia’s Mekong, UN warns
Organized crime groups in Asia’s Mekong region have intensified the production and trafficking of highly-addictive methamphetamine, extending the illegal trade into countries such as Australia, Japan and New Zealand, senior drug policy leaders warned on Monday at a United Nations-backed regional conference. Keep reading ...
Save the Children to open office in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam and Can Tho city
Save the Children is planning to open a representative office in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam, and Can Tho city, as the growth engine of the region, is suitable to be the location of this office, said the organization’s Country Director Dragana Strinic. Keep reading ...
Myanmar is on the list of 15 most and least disaster-ready cities
Myanmar is ranked 42nd on the list of 171 world countries most vulnerable to natural hazards and is also on the list of 15 countries with least readiness for natural disasters, said Dr Win Myat Aye, Union Minister for Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement. Keep reading ...
Why Southeast Asia’s children are facing an obesity epidemic
Malnutrition is leaving Southeast Asia’s children predisposed to obesity and fatal diseases later in life. With the rise of processed foods and less active lifestyles, these health impacts are only going to get worse unless children become the focal point of change. []At the same time, ...
Myanmar to reduce malaria outbreaks to 85% by 2020
Myanmar will try to reduce malaria outbreaks to 85 percent and mortality rate to 95 percent by 2020, according to the Public Health Department. Two in 1,000 people suffer from malaria but 85 percent could have been reduced compared to 2012. Mortality rate is 0.04 ...
China-initiated eye protection program launched in Laos
A program to promote scientific eye protection knowledge and to provide free treatment in Lao schools, namely “Lancang-Mekong Bright Journey to Laos”, has been launched in Lao capital Vientiane on Thursday. The program is the second edition of the “Mekong Bright Journey” initiated by China, ...
UN Security Council: Refer Myanmar to ICC
The United Nations Security Council should immediately refer the situation in Myanmar, including the widespread and systematic abuses against ethnic Rohingya, to the International Criminal Court (ICC), Human Rights Watch said today. Keep reading ...
200kg of ganja seized on Mekong riverbank
A navy patrol seized 200kg of compressed marijuana worth about 4 million baht on the bank of the Mekong River in Ban Phaeng district overnight, but the smugglers fled in their long-tail boat. The smugglers were on the riverbank with the marijuana when the patrol arrived, ...
Upward tick in malaria cases threatens global efforts to eradicate disease
The Asia Pacific Leaders Malaria Alliance (APLMA) and DT Families Foundation have signed an agreement that will make a tangible difference to permanently eliminating malaria in Thailand. []The threat from the mosquito-borne infectious disease has also risen dramatically with the recent emergence of drug-resistant strains in ...
Myanmar army killing civilians in escalating conflict in Kachin, warns UN
The UN’s human rights expert for Myanmar has raised alarm over a lethal escalation in hostilities in the country’s Kachin state, warning that civilians had been killed and displaced in recent government bombing. Keep reading ...
Peter Beaumont
