A 25-year-old woman from eastern Baghdad is confirmed to be the first cholera case in the city since 2003, the World Health Organization confirmed on Thursday. The disease has struck more than 1,000 people in the north of the country.

Dr. Naeema al-Gasseer, the WHO's representative in Iraq has confirmed that the woman, whose name has not been released, turned up at a hospital with severe diarrhea. The infectious disease broke out in Iraq in mid-August, but had been confined to northern provinces, affecting Sulaimaniyah, Irbil and Tamim, which is home to the oil-rich city of Kirkuk

Philippine Senator Loren Legarda has filed a bill that seeks to open the doors of the country's rape crisis centers to other survivors of violence such as trafficked, prostituted, physically abused, exploited women and children.

In filing Senate Bill No. 1386, Loren wants to amend Republic Act No

Iraqis face problems in obtaining medical care in a country that has seen about half of its doctors leave the country since the U.S. invasion in 2003. As doctors and nurses leave Iraq, many of the 142 medical clinics that the U.S. taxpayers paid $264 million to build have staffing shortages.

But the problem isn't confined to trying to staff U.S.-built medical facilities. Iraq built hospitals and clinics also lack enough physicians and nurses to provide medical care to sick, injured, pregnant and newborn Iraqis

The saving of lives of children ages 5 and under have progressed in Egypt, while those in Iraq are rapidly declining, according to the 8th Annual Save the Children report.

The U.S.-based global independent humanitarian organization reports that Egypt has succeeded in saving their children's lives by 68 percent in the past 15 years, yet Iraq's child mortality rates for children in this age group have dramatically increased by 150 percent since 1990

Afghanistan, which has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world, must intensify efforts to improve the health of women and children as part of overall efforts to boost conditions in the war-ravaged country, the head of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) said in Kabul on Monday.

"I would like to make a strong call for greater investment in the health and well-being of Afghanistan's women and their families," said Thoraya Ahmed Obaid