Niamey, Niger | AFP | More than five million children were vaccinated against polio in Niger last month, the UN said Tuesday, adding that the number was higher than the target. The drive was broadened to include children in refugee camps whose parents had fled the Boko Haram insurgency in …
Read More »UN’s health body urges Hepatitis C offensive
2500, France | AFP | Hepatitis C is easily cured. Yet, about 400,000 people die of the liver disease every year as only a smattering get the medicine they need. On Friday, the World Health Organization (WHO) urged governments to attack the problem with more urgency, and more money. Only …
Read More »Alcohol guidelines in many countries may not be safe: study
2500, France | AFP | Recommended limits for safe alcohol consumption are too high in many developed countries and should be lowered to save lives, a study suggested Friday. Regularly drinking more than 100 grammes (3.5 ounces) of alcohol per week — about five or six medium glasses of wine …
Read More »Chinese baby born four years after parents’ death in car crash
Beijing, China | AFP | A surrogate mother has given birth to a baby boy in China four years after his parents died in a car crash, Chinese media reported. The deceased couple was undergoing fertility treatments before the fatal accident in 2013. Their parents fought a drawn-out legal battle …
Read More »New viruses found
Researchers warn Uganda not ready to handle next health emergency Kampala, Uganda | FLAVIA NASSAKA | The government response to the 2017 Marburg virus outbreak in Kween District, eastern Uganda cost Shs5.2billion. Most of that money came from donors. That was one of the revelations made by the Permanent Secretary …
Read More »Loss of wealth bad for health
People who suffer a sharp drop in wealth experience a 50 percent increased risk of dying. Kampala, Uganda | AGENCIES | An analysis involving more than 8,000 Americans found that those who suffered a “negative wealth shock” — defined as losing at least 75 percent of their wealth in two years …
Read More »11 die after drinking bootleg alcohol in Indonesia
Jakarta, Indonesia | AFP | Eleven Indonesians died Sunday and several others are critically ill after drinking bootleg liquor, police said, days after the death of 24 others from illicit alcohol. The latest victims were among 27 people admitted to hospital after sampling homemade alcoholic drinks in Cicalengka district in …
Read More »Schwarzenegger back home after heart surgery: spokesman
Los Angeles, United States | AFP | Action hero Arnold Schwarzenegger is back home in Los Angeles and in good spirits after undergoing open heart surgery following complications with a routine operation, his spokesman said on Friday. The 70-year-old “Terminator” and “Predator” star, and former governor of California, was at the …
Read More »13 die of cholera in NE Nigeria: official
Kano, Nigeria | AFP | Thirteen people have died of cholera in the northeast Nigerian state of Yobe in the past week, the state health commissioner said Friday, blaming the outbreak on contaminated water. Yobe is among the three states worst-hit by the Boko Haram insurgency, with many people living …
Read More »New brain cells in the old? Study stokes debate
Tampa, United States | AFP | People as old as 79 may still generate new brain cells, US researchers said Thursday, stoking fresh debate among scientists over what happens to our brains when we age. The report by scientists at Columbia University in New York, published in the journal Cell …
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