Prof Quarraisha Karim going to the UN
By Thobeka Ngema
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DURBAN - PROFESSOR Quarraisha Abdool Karim of the Centre for the Aids Programme of Research in SA (Caprisa) has been chosen as one of 10 eminent scientists and researchers to advise the UN on unleashing the power of technology for development.
Karim is an infectious diseases epidemiologist, professor in clinical epidemiology at Colombia University, pro-vice chancellor for African Health at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, UNaids special ambassador for adolescents and HIV, and co-chairs the UNaids advisory group to the executive director, executive group member of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Covid-19 Solidarity Therapeutics Trial and the WHO Covid-19 Solidarity Vaccines Trial.
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In hindsight, this is no big surprise. With digital technologies becoming the handmaiden of neoliberal globalisation, the economic paradigm has witnessed a rapid deepening of inequality. Between 1980 and 2016, coinciding with the transition to the digital epoch, progress on economic inequality worldwide declined: intra-country inequality increased while inter-country inequality is not falling quickly enough.
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In Bihar, four in five women have never used the internet
Data from the National Family Health Survey reveals the extent of the digital divide in India. Representational image. | Indranil Mukherjee/AFP
For the first time ever, a government survey in India asked its people if they have ever used the internet. The question was part of the fifth National Family Health Survey, the data for which were recently released. The survey was conducted last year.
Bihar reported the lowest percentage of women who said they had (20.6%), Sikkim the highest (76.7%). Among men, Meghalaya had the lowest (42.1%) and Goa (82.9%) had the highest.
For the first time ever, a government survey in India asked its people if they have ever used the internet. The question was part of the fifth National Family Health Survey (NFHS), the data for which were recently released. The survey was conducted last year.
Bihar reported the lowest percentage of women who said they had (20.6 per cent), Sikkim the highest (76.7 per cent). Among men, Meghalaya had the lowest (42.1 per cent) and Goa (82.9 per cent) had the highest. The new NFHS data are partial they contain results from 22 states only, with big states such as Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan missing. Thus it is not possible to fully decode the survey data just yet. The results discussed in this story are from this first phase alone, and show wide variations in internet access among men and women, between states, and in urban and rural areas.