Annual Tobacco-related Deaths to Reach 8.3 Million by 2030
...ajor increase in the next 20 years are the tobacco epidemic and the HIV/AIDS epidemics," said Douglas Bettcher, director of the World Health Organisation's Tobacco Free Initiative. According to WHO estimates, the current 5.4 million annual tobacco-related deaths, with 50 percent of them in Asia, will rise t...Wet Weather Heralds the Mosquito Menace
.... Experts believe WNV is established as a seasonal epidemic in North America that flares up in the summer and continues into the fall. In 2004, there were 2539 human cases of WNV disease reported, including 100 deaths. Among those with severe illness due to West Nile virus, case-fatality rates range from 3%...Mira Nair Takes AIDS Message to Indian Cinema Halls
...ciency Virus (HIV)," the magnitude of India's AIDS epidemic could equal that of Africa in a few years. The director, who now lives in Uganda, knows the problem firsthand. Figures of a 2006 UN study show that 72 percent of the 2.6 million global AIDS deaths were in sub-Saharan Africa with devastating socio-e...Nutrition Education Has Proved to Be Futile
...eat or any promise as a weapon against the growing epidemic of childhood obesity. No difference in the amount of fruits and vegetables eaten by kids participating in the program and those who weren't. Teachers who spent more hours on nutrition education had no greater impact than those who didn't. And pare...Pfizer Says Nigerian Court Lacks Jurisdiction to Hear Drug Case
...nsent among children at a field hospital during an epidemic in the city of meningitis, measles and cholera. Of the 200 children affected, 11 died while many more -- reportedly 181 -- suffered from deafness, paralysis, brain damage and blindness, according to the allegations. Pfizer denies the charges. The...France Steps Up Vigilance After Bird Flu Outbreak
...ut she added "we must be vigilant as the great flu epidemic that followed the war of 1914, the Spanish flu" came from a strain of bird flu. Scientists believe a strain related to today's bird flu virus killed tens of millions of people during the Spanish flu pandemic. "We must do what is necessary to ensu...Women's Empowerment Key to Curbing AIDS: UN
...Nations agency coordinating the fight against the epidemic said Thursday in Nairobi. "The most significant development of the AIDS epidemic is its growing feminisation," lamented UNAIDS chief Peter Piot, who was speaking at the Internationa...Dozens More H5N1 Bird Flu Cases in Germany
...try farms. Germany battled a widespread bird flu epidemic in 2006. It broke out on the Baltic Sea island of Ruegen and spread to six states, including Bavaria. The disease spread to mammals, infecting three cats and a stone marten, but did not affect humans....Drug Firm on the Threshold of Developing Dengue Vaccine
...s of the Aedes mosquito-carried virus have reached epidemic levels twice in the city-state since June. There have been 3,597 cases and three deaths since the start of the year. Intermittent rain and warm weather have been blamed for the onslaught of mosquito breeding. Stephenne said that another key facto...Dengue Fever Cases Up 36 Percent in Thailand: Report
...ince last year, local press reported Sunday, as an epidemic of the mosquito-borne disease swept the region. The outbreak has killed 17 people in Thailand and affected more than 21,000 since the beginning of the year, the English-language Nation newspaper reported, quoting figures from the health ministry. ...Top China Official Pessimistic on Fixing Food Safety Woes
...aturday announced new measures aimed at curbing an epidemic of dangerous Chinese-made food products but admitted success could prove elusive . China plans to set up comprehensive food safety evaluation systems in 31 cities by the end of the year and to implement other measures, the State Food and Drug Admin...Singapore Dengue Fever Cases Hit Year's Peak
...ged to their highest level this year and remain at epidemic levels, official figures showed Tuesday . Health ministry figures showed 432 people were infected last week, the second week in a row that the number of cases exceeded the ministry's "epidemic threshold" of 378 cases per week. "Singapore is facin...Pfizer Says Nigeria Gave Approval for 1996 Drug Test
...nsent among children at a field hospital during an epidemic of meningitis, measles and cholera. Of the 200 children affected, 11 died while many more -- reportedly 181 -- suffered from deafness, paralysis, brain damage and blindness, according to the allegations. Pfizer denies the charges. Edozien said Pf...Now a Polio Scare for Air Travellers
...ied of polio as a child. "I remembered the 1950s epidemic in Melbourne and one of our neighbours, a boy that I used to muck around with, was very badly crippled by polio," he said. "I used to see him being treated by a physiotherapist and he suffered a lot of pain, terrible disability, he had a shocking c...New Genetic Clue to Type 1 Diabetes
...m an unhealthy diet and inactivity and is becoming epidemic in scale in many developed or fast-developing countries. Predicting genetic vulnerability to diabetes could offer huge benefits, doctors believe. In most cases of Type 1 diabetes, many patients are diagnosed too late to save the so-called beta ce...Disquieting Slow Down in Heart Disease Deaths Among Under 55s
...ger adults suggest that the cardiovascular disease epidemic is not being controlled. Contact:Dr Martin OFlaherty, Division of Public Health, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UKTel: +44 (0)151 794 5273Email: m.oflaherty@liverpool.ac.uk...Asia Must Overcome HIV Stigma, Say Research Chiefs
...ctive policies. But he said the potential for an epidemic still existed in a region estimated to have eight million people with HIV, a figure aid agency USAID says could climb to 40 million by 2010. "The population density in Asia is so great, with countries like India and China that have a billion people...Nigeria Files New Lawsuit Against Pfizer
...nsent among children at a field hospital during an epidemic of meningitis, measles and cholera. The company last week said it had received the go-ahead from Nigerian authorities before administering the drug. A lawyer for Pfizer, Afe Babalola, said the withdrawal of the earlier suit reflected the weakness...African AIDS Epidemic Slows Down: World Bank
The pace of the deadly AIDS epidemic is slowing down in some African countries due to a..., Rwanda, Burundi and Malawi, the pace of the AIDS epidemic is slowing as communities are empowered to help themselves with better delivery of condoms and life-......-diabetics avoid diabetes, which is emerging as an epidemic worldwide. The findings follow other major diabetes studies released this week. Canadian researchers found that Type Two diabetics had double the risk of having a stroke in the first five years of diagnosis....