World Health Organization

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Tobacco Crackdown Aims to Douse Smuggling Efforts

Making supply chain more transparent among goals of international talks

(Newser) - Negotiators from over 150 countries are working with the World Health Organization to shape a proposal intended to combat the global trade in illegal cigarettes, Portfolio reports. Anti-tobacco advocates say current measures are insufficient to stem the illicit production or smuggling that accounts for 11% of worldwide tobacco sales, and...

E-Cigs Not Safe: WHO
 E-Cigs Not Safe: WHO 
Sep 20, 2008 7:14 AM CDT

E-Cigs Not Safe: WHO

Devices sold as smoking treatment

(Newser) - Electronic cigarettes are untested and possibly unsafe, the WHO said today. The device—a mock cigarette that releases a fine mist of nicotine, sans fire—has been sold over the internet as a smoking cessation aid, Reuters reports. The problem is that it could release, besides nicotine, “many other...

Brits Warn of Devastating Pandemic

World ill-prepared for massive outbreak

(Newser) - The world is in danger of losing up to 50 million people to an "inevitable" flu pandemic, and global response agencies aren't ready for such a test, the British government warns. A report rates early-warning systems as "poorly coordinated" and calls for an overhaul of the World Health...

Cheap Malaria Drug Holds Promise for Millions

It's based on 2000-year-old herbal remedy

(Newser) - The lives of millions of children  may be saved by a new technique for producing a malaria drug at a 10th of the cost of current treatments, making it accessible the world's most impoverished people, reports the Independent.  The technique involves inserting a dozen synthetic genes into yeast cells,...

Chronic Disease Top Cause of Death Worldwide

Lifestyle-related ailments overtake illness as No. 1 killer

(Newser) - Chronic ailments such as heart disease have become the top causes of death around the world, Reuters reports. Infectious disease, such as tuberculosis and AIDS, has traditionally been the planet's number-one killer. But new World Health Organization stats show noncommunicable conditions, many of which are associated with a Western lifestyle,...

Pandemic Risk Real, Mounting
 Pandemic Risk Real, Mounting 
May 6, 2008 3:55 PM CDT

Pandemic Risk Real, Mounting

Experts fear spread of disease, entrenched in avian population, to humans

(Newser) - The danger of a worldwide bird flu epidemic is growing as the virus becomes established in the avian population, Reuters reports. World Health Organization experts today urged all nations to prepare in case the H5N1 virus mutates into a form easily transferable between humans. In birds, the strain has spread...

Deadly China Virus Not Seen as Olympic Threat

But cases are expected to rise with warm weather

(Newser) - The outbreak of a deadly virus in China hasn’t peaked yet—but it won’t affect the Beijing Games, a World Health Organization rep said. “I don't see it at all as a threat to the Olympics or any upcoming events,” he noted. Enterovirus 71 has killed...

Flu Closes Hong Kong Schools
 Flu Closes Hong Kong Schools 
Mar 13, 2008 8:51 AM CDT

Flu Closes Hong Kong Schools

'Precautionary measure' sends half a million kids home for two weeks

(Newser) - Over half a million children in Hong Kong are starting their Easter holiday early today after a flu outbreak led the government to order schools to close, AP reports. All kindergartens and primary schools in the densely populated territory will be shut down for two full weeks. Three children have...

Super-TB Cases Hit Record High
Super-TB Cases Hit Record High
Feb 27, 2008 1:43 PM CST

Super-TB Cases Hit Record High

WHO calls for urgent action

(Newser) - Drug-resistant strains of tuberculosis are at the highest levels disease experts have ever seen, warns the World Health Organization. A survey of 81 countries found that levels of multi-drug resistant TB and even hardier, almost untreatable TB were much higher than expected, reports the BBC. Urgent action is needed to...

Flu Shot: Better Luck Next Year
Flu Shot: Better Luck Next Year
Feb 22, 2008 4:04 AM CST

Flu Shot: Better Luck Next Year

FDA includes new strains in formula

(Newser) - Next year's influenza vaccine will be reformulated to include three new flu strains in the hope of developing a more potent vaccine than this year's effort, according to US News & World Report. An FDA panel approved the move, following the lead of the World Health Organization. This year's vaccine...

City Lights Linked to Breast Cancer
City Lights Linked
to Breast Cancer
Feb 20, 2008 4:45 AM CST

City Lights Linked to Breast Cancer

Scientists believe lights suppress tumor-fighting hormone

(Newser) - Women who live in areas with a large about of night-time light face an increased risk of breast cancer, and scientists believe it may be because the light interferes with a tumor- fighting hormone, reports the Washington Post. Researchers compared satellite images at night with cancer registries and found breast...

WHO Pushes Governments to Battle Smoking

Developing countries most at risk, can least afford measures

(Newser) - Aiming to slash the 5.4 million tobacco-related deaths worldwide per year, the World Health Organization today called on governments everywhere to discourage smoking, the Wall Street Journal reports. As it stands, only 5% of countries have programs working to curb the habit, such as advertising bans and warning labels....

Treating Herpes Fails to Cut HIV Rate

Unexpected results stun scientists hoping for cut in transmission

(Newser) - An eagerly anticipated HIV study returned disappointing results yesterday, crushing scientists' hopes that targeting the genital herpes virus could help reduce the transmission of HIV. Although the reasoning seemed sound—having herpes boosts a person's contraction risk nearly threefold, so targeting herpes should combat HIV infection—the study found no...

'US Ill Prepared for Disaster'
'US Ill Prepared for Disaster'
Dec 19, 2007 6:32 AM CST

'US Ill Prepared for Disaster'

Study warns of inability to meet emergencies, funding cuts

(Newser) - The US is not prepared for major disasters, including biological attacks and pandemics, and funding to meet such emergencies is falling, according to a new study. Thirteen states don't have adequate plans to distribute vaccines, 12 states don't have systems to track the spread of diseases and 7 states are...

Son May Have Passed Bird Flu to Father

Chinese case prompts fears of strain spreading between humans

(Newser) - A man in China was diagnosed with the deadly bird flu virus a day after his 24-year-old son died from the disease, raising fears of a strain that can pass from person to person, the Telegraph reports. Health officials don't know for sure if the father caught the virus from...

Night Shift Linked to Cancer
Night Shift Linked to Cancer
Nov 29, 2007 7:43 PM CST

Night Shift Linked to Cancer

Idea once dismissed as 'wacky' gaining acceptance

(Newser) - Working the night shift might increase your risk of getting cancer, an international health agency says. That theory has been percolating for decades, but it will gain credence next month when the WHO declares night work a probable carcinogen, the AP reports. The designation, likely to be followed by the...

Gates Aims $100M at Polio
Gates Aims $100M at Polio
Nov 27, 2007 4:30 AM CST

Gates Aims $100M at Polio

Foundation aims to eradicate disease

(Newser) - The world stands at the brink of eradicating polio, Bill Gates says, and his foundation yesterday awarded $100 million toward that end. One of the foundation's largest challenge grants will fund programs in four countries where the disease is still epidemic, notably Nigeria. The Rotary Foundation received the grant and...

Indonesia Still Won't Send WHO Bird Flu Samples

Country demands guarantee any future vaccination will be affordable

(Newser) - Indonesia won't send avian flu specimens to the World Heath Organization, it said today, continuing a months-long stalemate over assurances that resulting vaccines will be cheap enough for the developing world. The country’s health minister had been in Geneva to rebuild WHO’s virus-sharing system, the AP reports.

ITU Head Wants Broadband Net Help for Africa

Less than 1% on continent have high-speed access

(Newser) - Fewer than four per cent of Africans use the Internet and less than one per cent have broadband access, helping to keep Africa behind in education, medicine and business, the BBC reports. Dr Hamadoun Toure, head of the International Telecommunication Union, is asking world organizations to make sure a third...

Worst Chronic Disease Is Depression

Docs tie better mental health treatment to better overall health

(Newser) - Depression is more debilitating than diabetes, asthma, arthritis, or angina—and people suffering from chronic illness and depression are in worse health than those diagnosed with any other combination of diseases, the BBC reports. "These results indicate the urgency of addressing depression as a public health priority," says...

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