Daily Headlines: January 22, 2016 (Updated)

* Latin America: A World Bank study warned that the number of youth in Latin America who are not in school or employed (“ninis”) has grown since 1992.

* Haiti: President Michel Martelly confirmed that the controversial runoff election for his successor will take place this Sunday and ruled out opposition calls to back a transitional government.

Update (January 23rd, 12:20 AM): Haitian electoral officials postponed the January 24th runoff due to "a deteriorating security environment and threats to the electoral process." The election has thus been delayed for a third time after originally being scheduled for December 27, 2015.

* Mexico: The Mexican government reported that homicides increased in 2015 for the first time in four years though other serious crimes like kidnapping and extortion decreased.

* South America: Bolivia and Ecuador are among the eight countries added to a Centers for Disease Control travel advisory warning due to the spreading Zika virus.

YouTube Source – CCTV America 

Online Sources – The Guardian, Mashable, France 24, The Latin Americanist, Reuters

Daily Headlines: January 14, 2016

* Chile: Alejandro Aravena of Chile became the fourth Latin American to win the Pritzker Prize, which is the most prestigious honor in the architectural world.

* Central America: Mexico will grant transit visas to the first group of some 8000 Cuban migrants stranded in Costa Rica for several weeks, while the U.S. State Department announced an expansion of a program helping refugees from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.

* Latin America: The U.S. Centers for Disease Control could issue a travel warning for pregnant women against visiting parts of Latin American and the Caribbean due to the spread of the Zika virus.

* Colombia: The final stage of peace talks between the Colombian government and FARC commenced amid doubts by rebel negotiator Joaquin Gomez over reaching a final agreement by the March 23rd deadline.

YouTube Source – Arch Daily
 
Online Sources – Quartz, Reuters, National Geographic, MSNBC, Voice of America

CDC: Teen pregnancy, AIDS rates up

Teen birthrates and rates of AIDS cases among young men have gone up in recent years according to a report released last week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

According to the CDC, birth rates among teens aged 15 or above had been down since 1991 but spiked in more than half of U.S. states since 2005. The number of AIDS cases in teen boys has nearly doubled while syphilis cases in adolescents aged 15 to 24 has gone up in recent years.

The negative news regarding sexual health in teens has increased scrutiny of abstinence-only programs that were championed by the Bush White House. Teens need "medically accurate, age-appropriate, comprehensive sex education" rather than such a strong emphasis on abstinence-only according to a statement by Planned Parenthood. Conversely, backers of abstinence-only like a group called American Values laid blame on primarily with “a culture obsessed with sex.” (Right and our culture was so prudish and Victorian during the years that teen birthrates and AIDS rates were going down!)

Racial minorities were particularly vulnerable according to the CDC:

"This report identifies a number of concerns regarding the sexual and reproductive health of our nation's young people," Janet Collins, director of CDC's National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, said in a news release...

The study also identified a number of racial/ethnic disparities in the sexual and reproductive health of young Americans. For example, Hispanic teens aged 15 to 19 are much more likely to become pregnant (132.8 births per 1,000 females) than non-Hispanic blacks (128 per 1,000) and non-Hispanic whites (45.2 per 1,000). The study also found that non-Hispanic black youth in all age groups have the highest rates of new HIV and AIDS diagnoses.

Image- BBC News (“A UK software developer has released a "purity ring" application for Apple's iPhone.”)
Online Sources- ABC News, Guardian UK, Chicago Tribune

Inaccurate Puerto Rico data in AIDS study

Latino health advocates have blasted the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recent study on AIDS for excluding Puerto Ricans on the island as Hispanics. The CDC’s decision also leaves out Latinos living in overseas territories from being accurately counted. According to one source, the number of Latino AIDS cases jumps from 17.3% to 22% when island-based Puerto Ricans are counted.

The CDC’s inaccurate count of Latinos with AIDS in the U.S. has several serious consequences like affecting public finding in HIV/AIDS prevention. The lack of precise information in the AIDS report also creates confusion for a community where it can be difficult to have proper health care.

Unfortunately, it has been worrying to see the delays by the CDC in releasing a report showing a 40% increase in estimated AIDS cases in the U.S. These problems are shameful as the International AIDS conference continues in Mexico.

As the head of the Latino Commission on AIDS observed:

"The decision to exclude Puerto Ricans from the Hispanic incidence analysis is perplexing. The CDC made a positive step forward in its original decision to include Hispanics, but has subsequently taken two steps back by again excluding Puerto Ricans from the Hispanic incidence rates. We will never have accurate estimate of HIV incidence in the Hispanic community if this discrimination continues", said Dennis deLeon, President of the Latino Commission on AIDS.

Image- AFP (“Activists and delegates hold a protest against HIV policies of many governments.”)

Sources- El Diario La Prensa, International Herald Tribune, FOX Business, New York Times