In Good Shape – Can apps help us live healthier lives? – DW – 05/16/2025
How can we lead a healthy life? What is good for our body and soul? What kind of exercise can make us - or keep us fit? Find out more on In Good Shape, the health show on DW.
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India: What is behind the rise in student suicides? – DW – 07/23/2025
Mental health professionals have said more support programs are needed on college campuses as an alarming trend of student suicide continues. An estimated 13,000 students commit suicide in India every year. Student suicides have reached an alarming scale in India, with students making up 7.6% of the country's total suicide deaths, according to a recently released report by National Crime Records Bureau. The report, which used the most recent data from 2022, showed that an estimated 13,000 students die every year by suicide in India. Official figures for suicides in 2023 and 2024 have yet to be published. Research and government reports point to a combination of academic and social stress, and lack of institutional support and awareness, as contributing factors. "I see these numbers as not just statistics but as signs of silent suffering buried under societal norms and expectations," Anjali Nagpal, a neuropsychiatrist who has studied the issue closely, told DW. "I have observed that children are not taught how to handle failure, disappointment, or uncertainty. We prepare them for exams, not for life," she added. "Mental health education should be a regular part of school life not limited to isolated sessions. Students need space to talk and be heard. Teachers must be trained to listen, not just lecture," Nagpal said. On Monday, Indian Minister of State for Education Sukanta Majumdar, shared the report's findings before a session of parliament. The government acknowledged that despite a series of educational reforms and new mental health initiatives, "extreme academic pressure" continues to affect vulnerable students. Majumdar outlined that the government is implementing multi-pronged measures to address the issue, including providing psychological support for students, teachers, and families through various programs. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Nelson Vinod Moses, founder of the Suicide Prevention India Foundation, told DW a that persistent "toxic competitiveness," combined with harsh grading systems and inadequate mental health support are important factors contributing to student suicides. "A silent epidemic is pushing many to a breaking point. There seems to be an undercurrent of anxiety and mistrust running through India's education system," Moses said. In his reckoning, college counsellors need to be trained in suicide screening, risk assessment and management and counselling at-risk students. "We do not want young lives tragically cut short and that is why campuses need to introduce emotional intelligence, life skills stress management and suicide prevention. Gatekeeper training for students and faculty is important," he added. A 2019 study on suicides among Indian college students, led by researchers from Australia's University of Melbourne, India's National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, along with several Indian medical colleges, sought to explore the extent of mental health issues. Comprising over 8,500 students from 30 universities across nine Indian states, the survey found that over 12% of students had experienced suicidal thoughts in the past year, and 6.7% had attempted suicide at some point in their life. The study emphasized the urgent need for mental health interventions and supportive measures within educational institutions to address this growing crisis. India's Supreme Court, which has described the situation as a "suicide epidemic," set up a 10-member national task force chaired in March. The task force is currently engaged in wide-ranging investigations, consultations, and institutional reviews, and aims to deliver a comprehensive policy blueprint. Maheshwer Peri, founder and CEO of Careers360, an education technology startup that provides comprehensive career guidance and entrance exam preparations, told DW that many young Indians are under immense pressure to succeed. "It is unfortunate that a student sometimes is judged on a single day for a competitive exam, which causes him or her to take their life. We need to create safety nets for students," Peri said. "Most of these students do not have sufficient support systems and study in isolation. There is an urgent need for expanded and integrated mental health care tailored to students' needs." Achal Bhagat, a psychiatrist in Delhi with over 30 years of experience, said a narrow definition of success, gender disparity, violence, and lack of opportunities for employment all contribute to mental health problems among students. "You either fail or you are a genius. The systems that govern society and its institutions are inflexible and do not engage in discourse with the young. This sense of helplessness and hopelessness then precipitates a tragic loss," Bhagat told DW. "In my opinion, the most important elements of a solution are participation of the young in decision- making regarding their futures, mentoring and building accessible role models for widening the definition of success."
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2 days ago
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Middle East: Israeli army storms WHO warehouses in Gaza – DW – 07/22/2025
The Israeli army has stormed warehouses and other facilities belonging to the the World Health Organization, compromising its operations in Gaza, according to its director-general. DW has Tuesday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot strongly condemned Israel's expanding military operations in Gaza. "The humanitarian situation in Gaza is disgraceful. It is a scandal that must be ended immediately," Barrot told France Inter radio. There is "no longer any justification for the Israeli army's military operations in Gaza. It is an offensive that will exacerbate an already catastrophic situation and lead to further forced displacement, which we condemn in the strongest terms," he said. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Barot also urged for foreign media to be allowed into Gaza. "I demand that the free and independent press be given access to Gaza to show what is happening there and to report on it." Foreign journalists have not been allowed to enter Gaza since the war began in 2023. The Israeli forces stormed several WHO facilities during its latest advance in the Gaza Strip, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement on Monday. The facilities were attacked three times, according to Ghebreyesus. He said, "Israeli military entered the premises, forcing women and children to evacuate on foot toward Al-Mawasi amid active conflict. "Male staff and family members were handcuffed, stripped, interrogated on the spot and screened at gunpoint. Two WHO staff and two family members were detained. Three were later released, while one staff member remains in detention." The WHO is calling for the staff member's release. Tedros said that the main WHO warehouse, located in Deir al-Balah, was also damaged. "As the lead agency for health, compromising WHO's operations is crippling the entire health response in Gaza," Tedros said. "A ceasefire is not just necessary, it is overdue." WHO stated it will remain in Deir al-Balah and continue its operations despite the attacks. Israel's army did not initially comment on the General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said that a WHO staff residence in Deir-al-Balah "was attacked three times." This comes after Israel launched a ground offensive on Monday in the city in central Gaza. On Tuesday, the French foreign minister called on Israel to allow foreign press into the enclave. Follow along as DW brings you the latest reports, explainers and analysis on developments across the Middle East.
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4 days ago
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Frantz Fanon: Algeria's independence hero 100 years on – DW – 07/20/2025
Frantz Fanon was one of the major anti-colonial thinkers of the 20th century and a hero of the Algerian liberation movement. He died just before Algeria's independence from France. Fanon would have turned 100 on July 20. Fanon is regarded as a crucial figure of early anti-colonial and anti-racist theory. For Algerians, he is one of the heroes of the country's struggle for independence. Yet his role during the war against France and his writings remain largely unknown to a wider public. July 20, 2025, marks the 100th anniversary of his birth. Fanon was not granted a long life: At just 36, he died of leukemia in 1961 without ever witnessing Algerianindependence, a goal he devoted his life to. His work is "a reflection on the concept of solidarity, understanding what solidarity means in a moment of war, of resistance," Mireille Fanon Mendès France told DW. She is Fanon's eldest daughter and co-chair of the international Frantz Fanon Foundation. She says she barely knew her father and retains few childhood memories of him, but as a teenager, she immersed herself in her father's literary work. Fanon's writings made it clear that the struggle for Algerian independence not only benefited Algeria, but was also about African unity. "And this African unity is still not there," his daughter explains. In her Paris apartment, Alice Cherki goes through old documents from her youth during Algeria's war of independence against France: "I knew then that it was colonialism," she recalls. Now 89, she knew Frantz Fanon well. She worked alongside him in the 1950s as an intern at the psychiatric clinic in Blida, Algeria. Frantz Fanon was the head of the psychiatric department and not only cared for the sick but also helped Algerian nationalists. "We took in the wounded, the fighters who came here," Cherki said. Fanon set up a supposed day clinic within the hospital, only for show. In reality, he secretly took in the wounded and those who needed to recover, Cherki told DW. Born in the French colony of Martinique, Fanon grew up in a French colonial society and was deeply influenced by his experiences: He volunteered for World War Two for France at the age of 17. As a Black man though, he experienced daily racism in the French army. After the war, he studied medicine and philosophy in France and later moved with his wife Josie to Blida in French-Algeria, where he became chief physician of the psychiatric clinic. From the beginning of the war in 1954, Frantz Fanon was helping Algerian nationalists while continuing to work as a psychiatrist. He established contacts with several officers of the National Liberation Army as well as with the political leadership of the National Liberation Front (FLN), especially its influential members Abane Ramdane and Benyoucef Benkhedda. From 1956 on, he was fully committed to the "Algerian cause." Amzat Boukari Yabara is a historian and author of the 2014 book "Africa Unite," which traces the history of Pan-Africanism. He emphasizes the significance of Fanon's resignation from his position as a doctor in the fall of 1956. "By this time, he had already made contact with several FLN members and would later go to Tunis, where an FLN branch was established," explains Yabara. "From Tunis, he participated in the struggle by writing for the FLN newspaper El Moudjahid under a pseudonym. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, he became ambassador of the provisional government of the Algerian Republic – the government-in-exile of the FLN – in Accra, a traveling ambassador for sub-Saharan Africa." Frantz Fanon wrote some of the most influential texts of the anti-colonial movement, like his early work "Black skin, white masks" about the psychological effects of racismand colonialism on Black people. His most important book though was "The Wretched of the Earth" where he focuses on revolutionary action and national liberation. The book was published with a foreword by Jean-Paul Sartre shortly before his death in 1961. On July 5, 1962, Algeria gained independence after an eight-year armed struggle against the then-colonial power, France. Historians estimate the number of Algerian deaths at 500,000; according to the French Ministry of the Armed Forces, approximately 25,000 soldiers lost their lives. Anissa Boumediene is a writer, lawyer, and former First Lady of Algeria. She was the wife of President Houari Boumediene, who ruled the country from 1965 to 1978. "Frantz Fanon is part of Algerian history. He defended independence. He was truly an infinitely respectable person," she told DW. But even in Algeria, 64 years after his death, his memory should not be taken for granted, says journalist Lazhari Labter, who translated Fanon's writings into Algerian Arabic. "Today's generations have become increasingly ignorant of the history of their country, and especially of this subject," he explains. "And of course, apart from very small circles, apart from universities and intellectuals, the name Fanon doesn't mean much to younger generations. This may be because his works are not taught in schools, high schools, or universities." Two new films – "Fanon" by Jean-Claude Barny, released in April 2025, and "Frantz Fanon" by Algerian director Abdenour Zahzah, released in 2024 – are intended to keep his memory and his anti-colonial theories alive.
