MADRID (AFP) - Authorities in Spain launched Sunday an investigation into the deaths of at least 18 people in a reported bacteria epidemic at one of Madrid’s main hospitals.
Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega, who was on an official visit to Niger, announced a probe into what she described as “a very, [...]

Aid agencies are warning that Burma is on the brink of an unparalleled humanitarian disaster, with predictions that up to 1.5 million people could die if disease is allowed to take hold.
Oxfam has warned of the real risk of a catastrophe, calling it “a perfect storm”.
“It’s really crucial that people get access to clean water [...]

MANILA (AFP) - The Philippines recorded 9,176 cases of dengue fever nationwide from January 1 to April 5 this year, an increase of almost 34 percent over the same period last year, the health department said Saturday.
Deaths due to dengue fever reached 108 in the year to April 5, a sharp increase from the 74 [...]

SEOUL (AFP) - South Korea will double its stockpiles of antiviral flu medicine Tamiflu as avian flu has spread through most the country, health officials said Saturday.
South Korea has not recorded any human cases, however the deadly H5N1 strain was detected in an aviary in Seoul this week, the first time bird flu has been [...]

Voting has begun in Burma on a controversial proposed constitution, as efforts to get aid through to cyclone victims continue.
The United Nations is expected to resume flights to Burma, which were halted on Friday after its World Food Programme announced initial deliveries had been seized by the Burmese regime.
The move comes as charities warn of [...]

PARIS (AFP) - Enrolling an influential student to convey an anti-smoking message to schoolmates is a valuable way of getting youngsters to say no to cigarettes, a British study suggests.
The experiment was launched by researchers in the face of evidence that traditional posters, ads and comic strips telling young people about the hazards of smoking [...]

TORONTO/OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian health officials said on Friday that a death and reported outbreak of flu-like symptoms aboard a cross-Canada train were not due to an infectious disease and in fact were likely not related at all.
About 290 passengers and crew aboard the Vancouver-Toronto train were still being held in quarantine near the tiny [...]

TORONTO/OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian health officials said on Friday that a death and reported outbreak of flu-like symptoms aboard a cross-Canada train were not due to an infectious disease and in fact were likely not related at all.
About 290 passengers and crew aboard the Vancouver-Toronto train were still being held in quarantine near the tiny [...]

PARIS (AFP) - Distributing free anti-HIV drugs in a district of AIDS-ravaged Malawi helped cut the death toll by 10 percent within eight months, according to a study published on Saturday by The Lancet.
The southern African country introduced free antiretroviral therapy from 2004, thanks to help from the Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, [...]

PARIS (AFP) - Enrolling an influential student to convey an anti-smoking message to schoolmates is a valuable way of getting youngsters to say no to cigarettes, a British study suggests.
The experiment was launched by researchers in the face of evidence that traditional posters, ads and comic strips telling young people about the hazards of smoking [...]