Health News

Double burden of obesity, undernourishment stalks world: report

By AFP

Paris - Low- and middle-income countries risk seeing their development progress slashed by the double-edged sword of obesity and undernutrition, both caused by a lack of access to affordable healthy food, a report in The Lancet warned Monday.

Toxic Sydney bushfire haze a 'public health emergency'

By AFP

Sydney - Australia's biggest city is facing a "public health emergency" over the bushfire smoke that has choked Sydney for weeks, leading doctors warned Monday after hospitals reported a dramatic spike in casualty department visits.

Drop that donut! Mexico pays portly cops to slim down

By AFP

Mexico - It's a sunny morning in Mexico City, and police officers drip with sweat as they do push-ups and squats, part of a program for overweight cops in one of the world's most obese countries.

Fukushima clean-up reduces radiation levels, but not all

By AFP

Paris - Clean-up efforts at Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant, destroyed by a massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011, have significantly reduced radiation levels but untreated forested areas remain a problem, scientists said Thursday.

Australians protest as bushfire haze sparks health fears

By AFP

Sydney - Up to 20,000 protesters rallied in Sydney on Wednesday demanding urgent climate action from Australia's government, as bushfire smoke choking the city caused health problems to spike.

No reprieve as Samoa measles death toll hits 70

By AFP

Apia - A devastating measles outbreak continued to spread in Samoa, data released Monday showed, as the death toll from the epidemic climbed to 70, mostly young children.

Healthcare battles Brexit as top UK election issue

By AFP

London - Britain's snap election next week was called to resolve the impasse over Brexit but much of the campaign has instead been dominated by explosive rows over healthcare.

Anti-vaxxer arrested as Samoa battles measles epidemic

By AFP

Wellington - Samoan authorities warned Friday that anti-vaccine propaganda would not be tolerated, after a social media campaigner was arrested for opposing a mass immunisation drive aimed at containing the Pacific nation's deadly measles epidemic.

UN says online anti-vaxxers fuelling Samoa measles deaths

By AFP

Wellington - Social media giants must crack down on anti-vaccination posts that are fuelling Samoa's deadly measles epidemic from afar, UNICEF's Pacific islands chief said Thursday.

Samoa shuts down in unprecedented battle against measles crisis

By AFP

Wellington - Samoa entered a two-day lockdown Thursday to carry out an unprecedented mass vaccination drive aimed at containing a devastating measles epidemic that has killed dozens of children in the Pacific island nation.

Babies born on floor as Zimbabwe's health system totters

By AFP

Harare - The floor is dusty, the walls filthy and the furniture decrepit, but for two weeks last month a tiny flat in a Harare township was transformed into a maternity clinic where scores of babies were born.

Early cholesterol treatment lowers heart disease risk: study

By AFP

Paris - Treating younger people with high cholesterol levels may help reduce their risk of heart attack or stroke in later life, a major study showed Wednesday.

The blind stumble on Delhi's 'broken' streets

By AFP

New Delhi - The International Day of People with Disabilities is on Tuesday: Tapping his white cane, Vinod Kumar Sharma spends four hours a day running the gauntlet of crowded trains and New Delhi's congested, potholed and often pavement-less roads.

WHO warns measles resurgent as Samoa deaths rise

By AFP

Wellington - The World Health Organisation warned of a "slide back" in global efforts to eliminate measles Tuesday, as the death toll from an outbreak that has killed dozens of children in Samoa continued to climb.

Toxin-laced bubbles cause pollution hazard on Indian beach

By AFP

Chennai - A menacing white foam covered one of India's most famous beaches in Chennai for the fourth straight day Monday creating a new pollution hazard for the country.

Government shutdown in Samoa amid 'cruel' measles outbreak

By AFP

Wellington - Samoa ordered a government shutdown to help combat a devastating measles outbreak Monday, as five more children succumbed to the virus, lifting the death toll in the tiny Pacific nation to 53.

Fears for infants in Samoa as measles deaths mount

By AFP

Wellington - Measles infections continued to climb steeply in Samoa Thursday as a mass vaccination programme fails to reach the infants most vulnerable to the deadly epidemic.

More than 5,000 measles deaths in DR Congo this year: WHO

By AFP

Geneva - Measles has killed more than 5,000 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo since January -- more than double the toll in the country's Ebola epidemic -- the World Health Organization said Wednesday.

Labour accuses UK PM of plot to 'sell' NHS to Trump

By AFP

London - Britain's main opposition Labour party on Wednesday accused Prime Minister Boris Johnson of plotting a "toxic" deal with President Donald Trump to allow US pharmaceutical companies access to the state health service.

Death toll from Samoa measles epidemic reaches 25

By AFP

Wellington - A measles epidemic in Samoa has now claimed 25 lives, with children bearing the brunt of the deadly outbreak, official data in the Pacific island nation showed Monday.

Romaine lettuce recalled over possible E. coli contamination

By Karen Graham

Nearly 75,233 pounds of salad kits and bowls - shipped to 22 states—and sold in stores such as Aldi, Giant Eagle, and Sam’s Club have been recalled because they may contain romaine lettuce contaminated with E. coli O157:H7.

EU chief Juncker leaves hospital

By AFP

Apo - Outgoing European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker has returned home to Luxembourg after stomach surgery that kept him hospitalised for more than a week, a spokeswoman said Friday.

Get moving! Four in five adolescents don't exercise enough: WHO

By AFP

Geneva - Four in five adolescents worldwide do not get enough physical activity, to the detriment of their health, the World Health Organization said Friday, warning that girls especially need more exercise.

Dry January? France says 'Non' as winemakers cry foul

By AFP

Paris - The French government has quietly abandoned a campaign urging people to refrain from drinking alcohol in January, after winemakers pushed President Emmanuel Macron to drop a plan they say promotes "total abstinence".

Philippine police say will arrest anyone flouting vaping ban

By AFP

Manila - Philippine police were ordered Wednesday to arrest anyone caught vaping in public, just hours after Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte announced he would ban e-cigarettes.

Trump's doctor dismisses speculation of chest pain

By AFP

Washington - Donald Trump's doctor on Monday denied reports that the US president had recently suffered chest pain after he attended an unannounced medical checkup in Washington.

Samoa makes measles vaccine mandatory to stop deadly outbreak

By AFP

Wellington - Samoa finalised plans for a compulsory measles vaccination programme Monday, after declaring a state of emergency as a deadly epidemic sweeps the Pacific nation.

Life taking 'toll on my health': Philippines' Duterte

By AFP

Manila - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has admitted that life is taking its "toll on my health", as speculation swirls over the 74-year-old's prolonged absences from the public eye.

Pakistan becomes first country to launch new typhoid vaccine

By AFP

Karachi - Pakistan has become the first country in the world to introduce a new typhoid vaccine, officials said Friday, as the country grapples with an ongoing outbreak of a drug-resistant strain of the potentially fatal disease.

'Save public hospitals', French health workers urge Macron

By AFP

Paris - Thousands of French hospital workers demonstrated Thursday over years of cutbacks they say have harmed care in a country with a health system once the envy of the world.Public hospitals in France have been forced to cut 9.0 billion euros ($9.