30
Oct
Oct
GAVI Alliance Says Vaccination Programmes Avert 3.4 Million Deaths
Public-private alliance GAVI has revealed that immunisation programmes against meningitis and hepatitis in the world’s poorest countries will have averted 3.4 million deaths by the end of the year.
The alliance, set up by IT magnate Bill Gates and funded by donor governments, international institutions and private philanthropists, also said that 213 million children will have been reached with GAVI-supported vaccines in the period 2000-2008.
“These numbers show the positi…
Malawi has launched a campaign Tuesday to immunise two million children against measles. 
The annual cost of treating adult cases of diabetes in the United States nearly doubled between 2001 and 2007, according to a study published Monday that questioned the efficacy of new, more expensive drugs. 
Malaysia will fix a minimum price of 6.00 ringgit (1.70 dollars) for a pack of 20 cigarettes to discourage smoking, a senior health ministry official said Wednesday. 
Nearly 15 percent of female US veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan experienced sexual trauma during their military service, the Department of Veterans Affairs said in a study. 
A request by conservative President Lech Kaczynski for a referendum on public health service reform has been rejected by the Senate in Poland. 
Chocolate-makers have started to experiment by introducing weird flavours such as cauliflower and recipes that pander to health concerns to keep the plain chocolate bar on everybody’s must-eat list. 
A new study says that eating a diet of red meat regularly makes the body more susceptible to a virulent form of intestinal bug that can cause bloody diarrhoea and even death. 
More than three months after authorities in the poverty-stricken west African state suspended its activities, French aid group Medecins sans Frontieres has announced that it is withdrawing from Niger. 
An independent panel has suggested that US regulators underestimated health risks from bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical widely used in baby bottles and food containers. 
Muslims in Malaysia may be barred from the ancient practice of yoga if they engage in Hindu “religious elements” during the exercise, a top Islamic cleric said Wednesday. 
A new class of inhibitors that neutralize toxic bacteria produced by E. Coli, the cause of most food poisoning outbreaks, has been developed by researchers. 
Social development minister Zola Skweyiya has said that fewer AIDS orphans are finding adoptive families in South Africa even as their numbers and the cases of abuse are growing steadily. 
Researchers have confirmed that two experimental antibiotics from the United States and Switzerland have shown promising results in fighting the methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) superbug. 
A new survey has found that three out of four employees are using their work computers for email, shopping, surfing and other personal business. 
Experts say that Barack Obama or John McCain will find the going tough when they take office and try to push through healthcare reforms. 
The jungle safari continues to draw hordes of visitors to South Africa annually just like before. But the twist in the tale is that these tourists, apart from the big game and unspoiled scenery, also arrive in this picturesque country for a sojourn in its private hospitals! The facilities here include tummy tucking and other cosmetic enhancements, plus a recuperating experience in Nature’s wondrous lap! 
Defying an age-old tradition of domestic violence and the tide of criticism that he might have to face, Sunni Islam’s highest authority has approved a woman’s right to use force and fight back if her husband physically tortures her. The report was carried in Egypt’s Al-Masry al-Youm newspaper on Monday. 
A new study has stated that the anti-retroviral treatment for HIV positive persons should start earlier than usual as it sharply improves their survival rates. 
Cholera has killed more than 120 people so far this year in crisis-stricken Zimbabwe, a doctors’ group said Friday, warning the spread of the disease pointed to a dangerous collapse in basic services. 
The Itar-Tass news agency is reporting that Russian authorities have launched a criminal investigation in the country’s south where more than 100 pigs died of African Swine Fever. 
Arguing that it is against the religious code, one of Malaysia’s highest Islamic bodies has banned females from dressing or behaving like men and engaging in lesbian sex. 
A cholera epidemic in the western African country of Guinea-Bissau has killed 201 people since May and made more than 12,000 others seriously ill, United Nations aid agencies said Friday. 
The world’s largest food fair is showcasing edibles like dried flowers, oil-laced fruit juice and spicy honey this week. These items are proof in the pudding of a foodie revolution to come. 
Sales of pharmaceutical giant Sanofi-Aventis’ anti-obesity drug Acomplia have been suspended by EU authorities across the continent. This has prompted the firm to announce that it may call for a worldwide halt to sales of the drug. 
The Red Cross has warned that hundreds of seriously ill people in the Gaza Strip are in grave danger because of disputes between Hamas and the secular Palestinian authorities in the West Bank. 
In a welcome development, two Dutch towns have announced plans to close their cannabis smoking coffee-shops after admitting that an influx of up to 25,000 French and Belgian “drug tourists” each week had become too much.
A British minister has announced that millions of children in England aged from five to 16 in state-funded schools will receive compulsory lessons about subjects including sex and drug use. 
As the first step in a bid to tackle childhood obesity, major Australian food and drink manufacturers Friday agreed not to advertise junk food during children’s television programs. 
Japan’s Nissin Food Products Co. said Friday it was recalling half a million cups of instant noodles over fears of insecticide contamination in the latest food safety scare to rock the country’s consumers. 