diseases
Coronavirus in the Peaceful Societies
How much are the peaceful societies affected by the coronavirus epidemic? The answer, of course, is that it depends on how much contact they have with infected outsiders. Isolated islands such as Tristan da Cunha and Ifaluk, which have few if any cruise ships stopping, are doing fine so far—at least there is no news […]
Review of the Batek Tragedy
The Guardian sent reporter Hannah Ellis-Petersen to Kuala Koh to investigate the tragedy that nearly destroyed the Batek village. Was it just an outbreak of measles that took down so many people starting about four months ago? Are the government analyses that it was just an outbreak of measles accurate or are officials covering up […]
Batek Illness Becomes Deadly
Back in early April, reports came out about a mysterious illness that was afflicting the Batek of Kuala Koh: some young people were becoming sick and having breathing problems. The state health authorities in Kelantan attempted to provide cover for themselves by blaming the Batek for not being willing to take transportation to clinics to […]
Mysterious Illness Infects the Batek
A mysterious illness has struck a Batek community in Malaysia and the causes are uncertain. A report in Kosmo, a Malay-language news source, provided the puzzling clues in an article last week. Mamat Potok, the traditional headman in Kuala Koh, told the reporter that the outbreak of the disease began last October when about 50 […]
Piaroa Suffer from Untreated Diseases
Kapé Kapé, a Venezuelan indigenous research and advocacy organization, has conducted a thorough study of the health needs of the Piaroa and the results, announced last week, are grim. Perhaps the most surprising finding, as described in a Venezuelan news report, is that the illegal mining activities that are rampant in the region appear to […]
