Past Programs
Health - 2006
Five years on - the health effects of 9/11
09/09/2006
It's almost five years since the 9/11 terror attacks in the United States, where two planes were flown into the 110-storey twin towers of the World Trade Centre.
More than 2,000 people working in the towers, along with dozens of rescue workers first on the scene, were killed when the towers came crashing to the ground.
But there's a lesser-known legacy of the 9/11 attacks that is only now gaining public attention.
When the World Trade Centre collapsed it created a toxic soup of more than 2,500 contaminants, including asbestos, mercury, lead, and benzene.
Five years on, studies are showing that rescuers and residents exposed to this dust, and those who sifted through the burning pile of debris on Staten Island, are developing fatal illnesses.
Environmental public health specialists are now saying the ultimate death toll from the attacks on the World Trade Centre could reach up to 30,000 people, a so-called 'second wave' of victims from 9/11.
HIV/AIDS in South Pacific
29/07/2006
All regions in the world have had to come to terms with the spread of HIV/AIDS. In the Pacific, unlike Africa, there is still time to prevent the explosion of a pandemic, as infection rates are still fairly low. However all the preconditions are there, according to the United Nations - a high level of sexually transmitted infection and an increasing trend towards high risk sexual behaviour.
The Pacific Community, a peak body of 22 Pacific island countries, is spearheading a campaign to change sexual behaviour in the region
