author

 
Menu
Search
 
December 18, 2024
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access
Cesar Chelala

Meta

Cesar Chelala
Cesar Chelala, MD, PhD, is an international public health consultant for several UN agencies, and a writer on human rights, medical and foreign policy issues. He is a winner of an Overseas Press Club of America Award. His articles have been published in more than 70 countries worldwide.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 18, 2005
Unending health disaster for Iraqi kids
NEW YORK -- More than two years after the Iraq war started, children continue to be its main victims as the health of the majority of the population continues to deteriorate. In the 1980s, Iraq had one of the best health-care systems in the region. Today it cannot respond to the most basic health needs...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 30, 2005
A groundbreaking sentence in Spain
NEW YORK -- The recent sentencing in Spain of an Argentine former navy commander, Adolfo Scilingo, to 640 years in prison for crimes against humanity will have groundbreaking consequences for the trial of those guilty of similar crimes worldwide. As a result of this trial, crimes committed in Chile,...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 5, 2005
Russia wastes time as AIDS crisis builds
NEW YORK -- In recent years, HIV/AIDS infection in Russia has been spreading at the fastest rate in the world. Several experts estimate that more than 1.5 million Russians are HIV-infected at present. According to World Bank estimates, that number could total 5.4 million to 14.5 million by 2020 unless...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 22, 2005
Special court can right Haitian wrongs
PORT-AU-PRINCE -- Known as the "Perle des Antilles" at the time of its independence in 1804, Haiti has gone through several periods of upheaval and terror that have stymied a once promising future. Human rights violations are widespread, and justice is nonexistent in the country today.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 2, 2005
Abuse taking a growing toll on children worldwide
NEW YORK -- It is a sad paradox that one of the most famous entertainers in the world today should be charged with abusing a child. If Michael Jackson, accused of abusing a boy at his Neverland ranch in California, is found guilty, the verdict will be a tremendous blow to his career.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 9, 2005
Betrayal of Dr. Schweitzer's message
LAMBARENE, Gabon -- I first learned of Dr. Albert Schweitzer's work when I was a medical student in the 1960s. During those years, the story of Schweitzer's efforts to improve the health of Africans in his hospital in Lambarene ignited my colleagues' and my imaginations. It was thus with a sense of privilege...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 27, 2004
Chile: Twilight hour stalks an ex-tyrant
NEW YORK -- The decision by Chilean Judge Juan Guzman Tapia on Dec. 13 to indict former dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet on charges of kidnapping nine political dissidents and killing one of them during his 17-year military regime is a significant one for Chile. Guzman ruled that Pinochet, 89, is mentally...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 4, 2004
No letup in suffering of Iraqi innocents
NEW YORK -- Recent information on the consequences of the Iraq war on civilians and children only confirms a devastating picture of the situation. According to an article in the medical magazine The Lancet, there have been more than 100,000 civilians deaths since the invasion of Iraq in March 2003. The...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 27, 2004
U.S. has no reason to fear that ICC will abuse rights
NEW YORK -- After the Treaty of Rome was signed in 1998, laying out the foundations for the International Criminal Court, many believed that this organ of justice would never materialize. There were already indications that the United States would not support such a court in all its aspects. Rejection...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 9, 2004
Argentina's frustrating road to justice
NEW YORK -- The recent acquittal of 22 individuals by an Argentine Federal Court in the bombing of a Jewish Center in Buenos Aires dismayed many in Argentina's Jewish community. The decision was received as evidence of the government's lack of interest in solving Argentina's worst act of terrorism. Paradoxically,...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 23, 2004
Africa's oil boom benefiting all too few
NEW YORK -- Since the mid-1990s, several countries in sub-Saharan Africa -- Nigeria, Angola, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea -- have experienced strong revenue growth from the petroleum industry. In most cases, this new wealth is not being directed toward the countries' economic development or toward improved...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 14, 2004
Rape now taking the form of genocide
NEW YORK -- Although rape as a weapon of war has existed for as long as war itself, it is taking a particularly heavy toll on women's lives in today's conflicts around the world. A high proportion of the women who are victims of rape end up infected with sexually transmitted diseases and infections,...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 27, 2004
Middle East policy banks on destruction
NEW YORK -- The decision by the Bush campaign to enlist thousands of religious congregations in the United States to distribute information and register voters for the November presidential election shows how close the connection has become between politics and religion, a situation not anticipated by...
COMMENTARY / World
May 22, 2004
AIDS: China's titanic threat
NEW YORK -- The recent warning by the Chinese government that HIV/AIDS is spreading rapidly in the country and that new and urgent measures are needed to combat the infection marks an important step in the fight against HIV/AIDS. This is particularly remarkable because, at the beginning of the epidemic,...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 29, 2004
Kala azar casts shadow over Nepal's poor
KATMANDU -- Nepal, the "country of a thousand gods," presents a sad paradox. Endowed with exquisite beauty, it is at the same time home to a series of infectious diseases that take a heavy toll on its population. Perhaps the less known among them, and the most neglected, is kala azar. The name literally...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 29, 2004
Romania takes high road in AIDS fight
NEW YORK -- The Romanian government's serious commitment to improve access to treatment, increase outreach activities, build an effective partnership with the private sector and improve health infrastructure has led to dramatic progress in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 10, 2004
McNamara's lesson for today's politicians
NEW YORK -- A recent film, "The Fog of War," directed by Errol Morris -- about former U.S. Defense Secretary Robert McNamara's recollections of his political life -- should be required viewing for politicians worldwide. His testimony is valuable in several aspects. As a historical document, it provides...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 31, 2004
U.S. oil firm leaves toxic legacy in Ecuador
NEW YORK -- Drilling for oil without adequate safeguards is one of the most destructive industrial activities both for people and for the environment. This danger has been particularly stark in the case of oil exploration and exploitation in the forested areas of the Amazon basin.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 27, 2003
Shedding light on Kissinger's dark legacy
NEW YORK -- Recently released documents from the U.S. National Security Archive shed important light on former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's role in Argentina. These documents indicate that Kissinger approved of the Argentinian military junta's ruthless tactics to eliminate any opposition to its...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 11, 2003
Argentina faces the recall of impunity
NEW YORK -- In August the Argentine Congress voted to annul two statutes aimed at halting criminal prosecutions against military officers. These "impunity laws," in essence, had granted a blanket amnesty for past human rights abuses committed by the military during their rule. The goal of the annulment...
Indian-born CEO of Japanese company says nation needs immigration to thrive
Lekh Juneja, chairman and CEO of Kameda Seika, at the company's headquarters in the city of Niigata in August
Taiwan’s bullet train a testament to shinkansen’s export potential
A Taiwan High Speed Rail bullet train arrives at Nangang Station in the city of Taipei.
Fatal knife attack in Kitakyushu McDonald’s took less than 30 seconds
Flowers and offerings are placed outside a McDonald's restaurant in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture, where two junior high school students were stabbed by a man on Saturday, one fatally.
Schoolgirl stabbed to death in Kitakyushu
A McDonald's in Kitakyushu where a junior high school student was stabbed to death on Saturday
MUFG Bank apologizes for theft of ¥1 billion in valuables from deposit boxes
MUFG Bank CEO Junichi Hanzawa (left) and other senior officials bow in apology at a news conference in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward on Monday.
Taiwan’s bullet train a testament to shinkansen’s export potential
A Taiwan High Speed Rail bullet train arrives at Nangang Station in the city of Taipei.
Looking for ways to be charitable in Japan? Give the gift of reading.
Book Santa is a program that delivers books to children in need for Christmas, but it also operates year-round.
Women are writing a new chapter in Japanese literature in the 2020s
"Butter," Asako Yuzuki’s thrilling novel inspired by a real-life femme fatale, was named the Waterstones Book of the Year in 2024.
The year that Shohei Ohtani achieved 'yokozuna' status … in the market
Shohei Ohtani's prowress on the diamond translated into an outsized influence on Japan's consumer trends this year.
Big franchises and bold voices dominated anime in 2024
In a year of anime hits, Kiyotaka Oshiyama’s “Look Back” stood out from the bunch.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Yasuyuki Yoshida stirs a brew in a fermentation tank at his brewery in Hakusan.
The quake that shook Noto's sake brewing tradition
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Azabudai Hills, Tokyo’s green new downtown ‘village’
Azabudai Hills, Tokyo’s green new downtown ‘village’

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER