Every classroom is equipped with a basin and a bar of soap at an elementary school in the Senegalese capital Dakar.

According to the UN, which launched the first-ever Global Hand-Washing Day on Wednesday, the simple act of washing hands could save thousands of children’s lives every day, mostly in Asia and Africa.

“We have to wash our hands to make sure we have no bacteria,” nine-year-old Oumar Seck proudly told AFP at the Point E II school.

“I wash my hands e…

The arrival on Thursday of a Dutch boat that is offering to provide abortions that circumvent Spain’s strict laws has a Spanish pro-life group up in arms.

The boat is due to anchor off the Mediterranean port of Valencia, the Dutch non-profit organisation Women on Waves said on its web site.

From Friday, it will offer abortions on the ship in international waters under the Netherlands’ more liberal abortion laws.

This “symbolic initiative” will allow “abortions…

Failing banks may be giving the stock market jitters, but they have yet to rattle the world’s oldest profession – sex.

As financial turmoil spins around the globe, some Australian brothels say it is business-as-usual for now with sex seen as a consumer need like tobacco, for which demand remains strong despite an economic slump.

“We’re certainly not seeing an impact yet, hopefully it won’t happen,” the madam of Sydney’s upmarket Xclusive bordello told AFP.

“I …

The arthritis drug Vioxx nearly doubled the risk of heart attack and stroke compared to no treatment at all, according to a long-term follow-up study released Tuesday.

But the risk virtually disappeared, the study found, a year after patients stopped taking the once widely-used painkiller, which was recalled by manufacturer Merck in 2004 after research showed a link with heart disease.

Last year the US-based pharmaceutical giant, while not admitting fault, agreed to pay o…

Speaking American English was a pre-requisite in call-enters in India some years ago. Now even children, business people and teenagers want to acquire the American accent here.

The phenomenon has spread from the Indian offshore operations boom in the late 1990s to a wider cross-section of society, whether to help them get on in business, communicate with family State-side or just show off.

In Mumbai, arguably India’s most cosmopolitan city, a number of language schools hav…

Organizers of an international neurosurgery conference held in South Africa are concerned that there is only one neurosurgeon for every 1.2 million people in the continent.

“There are 700 million people on our continent with 565 neurosurgeons, that is one surgeon per 1.2 million people,” said retired Archbishop Desmond Tutu who opened the conference.

In Africa poor diet and peri-natal care means higher incidences of treatable conditions – such as water on the brain, spina…

Albinos in Burundi are being targeted by killer gangs as well as organ traders and are fleeing these people in large numbers.

Albino Richard Ciza was alerted by neighbours last week that a posse was looking for him. He ran and hid for two days in the forest of eastern Burundi.

As an albino rhe 19-year-old knows exactly the kind of death he would have suffered if the marauding horde had caught up with him.

“Some neighbours came to warn me that a group of killer…

The World Health Organisation on Tuesday said current healthcare systems were inadequate to meet the challenges of the modern world and urged countries instead to go back to the basics of patient care.

Health systems have so far responded in an “inadequate and naive” way to social changes such as globalisation, urbanisation and ageing, and wide inequalities persist between and within countries, the WHO said in its Annual Health Report.

“Business as usual for health system…

First ladies from seven west African countries gather here Monday for a conference on ways to end female circumcision, a widespread practise in the region despite efforts to end it.

The three-day meeting will “discuss transboundary practices of circumcision in the region to better fight against the scourge,” presidential spokesman Saidou Ouedraogo said.

First ladies from the west African countries of Benin, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Togo and Burkina Faso are due to…

Sliding with short steps onto the stage in front of a crowd of students, academics and supporters, Indonesia’s Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari is in her element.

Her hair swept up into the voluminous bouffant favoured by Indonesia’s wealthy ladies, the bespectacled 57-year-old delivers her scalding critique of global injustice in soft, rounded Javanese vowels that frequently trail into a whisper.

The venue is a university discussion of her memoir-cum-manifesto, “It’s …

The cause of a viral haemorrhagic fever which recently killed three people in Johannesburg may be related to the Lassa fever virus of West Africa, health officials said Sunday.

The fever has provisionally been identified as an arenavirus, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) and the Department of Health said, according to South Africa’s SAPA news agency.

“The causative agent of the disease… may be a rodent-born arenavirus related to the Lassa fever vi…

Connecticut on Friday became the third US state to legalize gay marriage, following a contested ruling by the northeastern state’s supreme court.

Judges on Connecticut’s highest court voted four to three that the state’s constitution does not permit barring gay and lesbian couples the same rights accorded to heterosexuals.

The ruling follows similar decisions by Massachusetts, also in the northeast, and the west coast state of California.

“In accordance with t…

Fear drives people to do strange things—even macabre things. Like when Karthik Rajaram, a US based Indian businessman shot dead five of his family members before committing suicide at his posh residence in suburban Los Angeles, according to media reports. What could possibly have prompted the man to choose such an ignominious exit? Could the fear of losing face in public trigger such an extreme action in a one-time successful financial wizard and a highly educated one at that (IIT Madras and UCLA)?

While the situation calls for the deepest sympathy to grieving family and friends, it is interesting to observe what emerged from media musings and blog posts that have flooded chat rooms since Monday. Almost everyone was quick to identify the “market crash” bogeyman as the trigger for the macabre incident. Naturally. The Los Angeles Police Department LAPD examining two suicide notes found in the house—one for the police and one for his extended family and friends, said Karthik mentioned financial difficulties and took responsibility for killing his family.

Wherever this topic is discussed—be it in office circles or among families, friends or other social groups, varied reasons are discussed in an attempt to understand why the man did what he did. Hubris (arrogant pride), a false sense of pride, an out-sized ambition, obsession with wealth, wrong priorities in life, failure to understand the relevance and true meaning of life, a combination of all of the above…the list just goes on as more people continue to speculate and Karthik is not around anymore to undo the puzzle.

What seemed to confound people in chat rooms on the Net was, Indians are generally believed to have the equanimity to deal with desperate situations—given their cultural back up of religious orientation, family, community and above all a great nation to go back to! Some relatives who interacted with him in the US say he was moody and withdrawn of late, some others say he was his usual cheerful self at a Beverly Hills party a couple of weeks ago. The officiating priest at the Malibu temple that he frequented the last 20 years couldn’t believe the man was capable of anything like murder and suicide. The temple priest even wondered if Karthik was looking for answers when he visited the temple last week, for the last time.

Whatever, this gruesome incident is yet another reminder for mental health professionals to explore newer dimensions in early detection and health intervention, before a seemingly “normal” person causes serious damage to self and others. As it happened in the case of the Virginia University campus shoot out when Cho Seung-hui killed 33 people before putting a bullet in his head last April. It is also a wakeup call for religious leaders of every faith on earth to explore their religion and arrive at practical answers for serious questions people are asking to help deal with real-life situations. Likewise, for responsible adults to make education more meaningful and relevant in an ever- changing world. Most importantly, it is a reminder to every human being to reach out to “the other” in simple acts that demonstrate a sense of camaraderie—a smile, a hello or showing a willingness to share a moment—simple gestures that could possibly lead to detecting signs of someone horribly cracking up within.

Europeans are generally opposed to meat from cloned animals, feeling not enough is known about the long-term effects of eating it, according to an EU survey published Thursday.

The Eurobarometer study showed that more than eight out of 10 EU consumers believe “we don’t have enough experience about the long-term health and safety effects of using cloned animals for food” and that the long-term effects of cloning are unknown.

More than half the respondents, 58 percent, said…

Dutch pub owners have launched a coordinated resistance against a smoking ban introduced in June, taking their ashtrays out of short-lived storage and pooling cash to pay the resultant fines.

Thousands have joined groupings intent on countering the law seen by many as un-Dutch and patriarchal; approaching the courts for relief and daring authorities to try and stop their clients from lighting up.

My clients are all regulars. They come here to play cards and dice. Ninety-f…

Suzanne is a 30 year old whose stunning beauty inspires poetry in male minds and transforms females into green-eyed monsters. Vivacious and good- natured, she is enormously liked by all. Two months ago she had got engaged to her boyfriend of five years. They had decided on an April wedding and were counting the days by the minutes!

Suzanne loves out – doors and never misses a chance to imbibe the goodness of nature, which she exudes as health and happiness. Only recently she had returned from a trip to the mountains, along with her boyfriend. But this time it was different!

Suzanne was completely out of her elements. She was uneasy and fatigued. In less than a week’s time she was unable to walk without help.

Her parents were terrified and sought medical help. At the hospital she went through the regular ritual of tests and scans. Then came the verdict, which stunned all those who loved her. Suzanne was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, an auto – immune disorder.

When people feel they have lost control of a situation they are often inclined to use paranoia or superstition as an explanation to establish some control, according to a study published in the journal Science.

“The less control people have over their lives, the more likely they are to try and regain control through mental gymnastics,” said Adam Galinsky, a professor of ethics and management at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.

“Feelings of control are so imp…

Long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy seems more effective in treating complex psychiatric problems than short-term treatments focused more on medications, a meta-analysis has found.

Long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy (LTPP) stresses psychological support and intervention for the patient based on his specific needs.

“In this meta-analysis, LTPP was significantly superior to shorter-term methods of psychotherapy with regard to overall outcome, target problems, and perso…

Many countries have only recently fixed limits for industrial chemical melamine in food products, a World Health Organisation expert said.

This is because the chemical was not considered a substance found in food before a scandal broke out in China where milk products were tainted with the substance, Peter Ben Embarek, WHO food safety expert told AFP late Thursday.

“To my knowledge, the EU, Hong Kong and New Zealand have only in recent weeks fixed a transitory limit of 2….

People who take long spells of sick leave at least once in three years face a higher risk of early death, according to a study that could help doctors pinpoint patients with life-threatening problems.

Researchers led by Jenny Head, an epidemiologist at University College London, obtained sickness absence records for nearly 6,500 British civil servants aged between 35 and 55, between 1985 and 1988.

They compared this data with mortality among the same group up to 2004. br…

The US Food and Drug Administration has announced that it has approved a new test that can rapidly diagnose and identify human influenza infections and human bird flu.

The test, developed by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will be available to CDC-qualified laboratories this year, the FDA said in a statement Tuesday.

It uses molecular analysis of viral genetic material taken from secretions in a patient’s nose and throat to detect and identify commonly …

A smoking ban overturned by a federal tribunal may be reinstated only in 2011, according to the health minister for Switzerland’s Geneva canton.

Switzerland’s highest court overturned a three-month-old ban on smoking in public places in Geneva on Tuesday, saying the move failed to follow proper procedures.

As a result, smokers have been lighting up in restaurants and bars since Tuesday night; despite smoking being prohibited since July 1.

On Wednesday, Pierre-…

Scientists have revealed that the AIDS virus, which was previously thought to have been transmitted from chimps to humans in the 1930s, may actually have leapt the species barrier more than a century ago in west-central Africa.

Analysis of tissues preserved by doctors in the colonial-era Belgian Congo shows that the most pervasive strain of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) began spreading among humans at some point between 1884 and 1924.

“The diversification of HIV-…

The Chinese milk powder scandal is nothing new in Bangladesh, where experts believe almost 40% of food produced is contaminated with industry chemicals.

Mohammad Aminul Haq inspects a papaya in a central Dhaka food market but soon after picking it up, he returns it to its place on the fruit cart.

“You can tell this has medicine to make it become ripe quicker,” the 49-year-old Muslim cleric said of the out-of-season fruit. “It’s no good for our health.”

Tests this week …

Four years after a largely ignored smoking ban saw people continue to puff away in restaurants, clubs and bars, India has once again imposed a ban on smoking in public places.

One in three Indians smokes some form of tobacco, officials say, and a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine in February this year said one in every 10 deaths in India from 2010 would be smoking-related.

The government has made smoking a top issue, with Bollywood stars urged by the …

A report by a research charity has said that cannabis is less harmful than alcohol or tobacco. It also called for a “serious rethink” of drug policy.

The Beckley Foundation, a charity which numbers senior experts and other academics among its advisors, said banning cannabis has no impact on supply and turns users into criminals.

“Although cannabis can have a negative impact on health, including mental health, in terms of relative harms it is considerably less harmful than…

In a welcome development South Africa’s new health minister vowed Thursday to “get things right” in providing AIDS treatments.

“You do not need to be a health expert to understand the challenge this country is facing when it comes to AIDS pandemic,” the new minister Barbara Hogan told reporters, becoming visibly emotional as she spoke.

“It is critically important that those who need treatment are able to get it,” said Hogan. “I am passionate about getting things right.” …

Some 27 bus passengers who came in contact with a man diagnosed with infectious tuberculosis on a US-bound bus are being hunted down by Canadian public health officials.

The infected passenger was traveling on a Greyhound bus from Toronto to Detroit, trip number 0367.

It had left Toronto at midday on August 31 with 33 passengers, made a stop in nearby London, where nine more passengers boarded, then stopped in Windsor across the Canada-US border from Detroit, where 27 peo…

The US market, which is dominated by videogames sold on packaged disks or by online subscriptions, is slowly taking to free computer game play that is a rage in South Korean.

Seoul-based “free-to-play” computer game titan Nexon on Wednesday blasted into the US videogame arena with a “Combat Arms” online first-person shooter title that makes its cash from optional “micro-transactions” by players.

“Combat Arms had a great beta run, with players of all levels loving the fast…

A Japanese official said Thursday that China has vowed to halt dairy exports until it can eliminate the threat from tainted milk that has sickened thousands in China and led to product recalls worldwide.

The promise was made during a briefing by China for foreign diplomats from several countries in Beijing on Tuesday, the government official revealed to AFP.

“The point made there was that the Chinese government has handled the matter promptly and firmly and has taken meas…