HEALTH | France 24

INFLUENZA H1N1

The World Health Organisation said on Friday that a mutation has been found in samples of Influenza H1N1 taken after the first two deaths from the virus in Norway.

AFP

Failed anti-depressant drug could be 'women's Viagra'

A drug that failed to fight the blues could be the female answer to the little blue pill Viagra, the lead North American investigator analysing tests of the drug said Tuesday.Women who took the drug flibanserin when it was being tested as an ...

AFP

Groups at risk from swine flu should avoid hajj: study

People at risk of suffering severe consequences from swine flu should postpone going to the hajj in 2009, according to a study released on Saturday.Some 2.5 million Muslims from more than 160 countries converge annually on the Islamic holy cities of

USA

Swine flu has killed nearly 4,000 people since April

In its latest count, the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention has reported that nearly 4,000 people have died from Swine Flu, which is six times more than the previously released 672 deaths.

THE OBSERVERS

China scaring kids out of fast food chains

The Beijing Burger King isn’t even open yet, but it’s already talk of the town. The Chinese authorities are finally facing up to their ever widening population, with a scary ad campaign.

AFP

Sunbeds: 250,000 English kids at risk of cancer

A quarter of a million children in England aged 11 to 17 face a higher risk of developing malignant skin cancer by using tanning beds, researchers said Friday.Writing in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), the researchers called for urgent ...

AFP

Laser therapy helps neck pain, study says

A non-invasive, cold form of laser treatment can help people suffering from chronic neck pain, a condition that affects up to one person in four, a study published online by The Lancet said on Friday.So-called low-level laser therapy (LLLT) entails ...

HEALTH

France kicks off widespread swine flu vaccination campaign

A widespread vaccination campaign against the A(H1N1) flu virus begins Thursday across France, with roughly 6 million high-risk individuals expected to receive the vaccine as priority patients.

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AFP

UN food agency boss urges fast, petition against hunger

The head of the UN food agency Wednesday launched an on-line petition to enable people to show solidarity with the world's one billion hungry ahead of a world food security summit next week.Food and Agriculture Organisation Director-General Jacques ...

AFP

Women deprived of health care at key moments: WHO

Women are often deprived of health care in the crucial years of puberty and old age due to social inequalities with men, the World Health Organisation said Monday."It's time to pay girls and women back, to make sure that they get the care and ...

AFP

WHO urges people to maintain guard over swine flu

The World Health Organisation on Thursday urged people not to drop their guard over the swine flu pandemic and insisted on the value of vaccination despite the broadly mild symptoms of the virus."At the WHO we remain quite concerned about the ...

AFP

Obesity causes 100,000 US cancers every year: study

Obesity causes more than 100,000 incidents of cancer in the US every year, the American Institute for Cancer Research said in estimates published Friday.The group, which funds research on the link between diet and the disease, said 49 percent of ...

AFP

Cocaine's charge through Europe undiminished: report

Cocaine's relentless march through Europe's social order showed no sign of abating in 2009, an annual report into drug use and addiction showed on Thursday."Cocaine and heroin continue to maintain a firm hold on Europe's drug scene, and there is ...

USA

Obama lifts ban on US entry for foreign HIV patients

The United States will put an end to a 22-year-old travel ban on foreign patients infected with the AIDS virus, President Barack Obama has announced, hailing the move as a step towards ending the stigma of the disease.

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AFP

UN launches plan to fight pneumonia among children

The World Health Organisation and UN child agency launched a global action plan to fight pneumonia, which kills some 1.8 million children under five every year."Since we know what interventions work, we need to urgently implement them" to combat the

AFP

Obama declares swine flu emergency

President Barack Obama has declared swine flu a "national emergency," the White House said Saturday, as the United States reels from millions of cases of infection and over 1,000 deaths.The emergency declaration, signed by the president late Friday,

AFP

Russia policies slammed at HIV conference

Russia came under fire from international AIDS campaigners on Wednesday for refusing to provide drug users with drug substitution therapy to stem a spreading HIV epidemic.Russia's chief medical official Gennady Onishchenko told a major AIDS ...

AFP

Diabetes drug also helps weight loss for obese: study

A hormone drug licensed for diabetes also helps obese people lose weight when used in combination with a low-fat diet and physical exercise, according to a trial published online on Friday by The Lancet.Liraglutide, marketed as Victoza, outperformed

CHINA

Prostitute’s online AIDS confession – one big joke for the Chinese

The Chinese blogosphere was very excited last week after an alleged prostitute and HIV carrier published a blog post with the telephone numbers of 279 of her former clients - a worrying indication of China's naive attitude towards the lethal virus.