Health - AFP

GENEVA (AFP) - The World Health Organisation warned Friday that victims of the devastating Myanmar cyclone are at risk from cholera, malaria and diarrhea due to a lack of safe drinking water.

BANGKOK (AFP) - Desperate survivors of the Myanmar cyclone are facing serious health worries one week after the disaster, with everything from disease to snake bites putting some 1.5 million people at risk, aid groups say.

BEIJING (AFP) - The number of Chinese children confirmed dead from hand, foot and mouth disease has risen to 34 with nearly 25,000 people infected but the outbreak's spread may be slowing, state media said on Friday.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Leading advocates in the fight against cancer Thursday urged lawmakers to overhaul the US health care system to put all Americans on an equal footing when it comes to the country's biggest killer disease.

SYDNEY (AFP) - Australia's most populous state will ban young teenagers from having intimate body piercings, with authorities saying on Thursday that the health risks from the fashion trend were too great.

OTTAWA (AFP) - A Canadian high school student has won a national science competition for her new molecule that binds to flu viruses, which may eventually be used to diagnose or prevent flu infections.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Seven-time Tour de France winner and anti-cancer advocate Lance Armstrong said Thursday he has discussed banning smoking in public places across the United States with the three White House contenders.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Depression and other mental troubles are on the rise among Latin American women immigrants to the United States, as they battle economic woes and try to bridge the cultural gap, experts say.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Researchers in Philadelphia have localized the genetic variations that cause a common and often fatal form of childhood cancer, neuroblastoma, according to a study published Wednesday.

BEIJING (AFP) - The number of children confirmed to have died as a result of a highly contagious virus in China rose to 30 on Thursday as the number of infections soared by the thousands, state media said.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Women who stop smoking greatly reduce their risk of early death and cardiovascular disease just five years after they quit, according to a new study released in the United States.

BANGKOK (AFP) - Aid experts on Wednesday warned of a looming health crisis in Myanmar, where millions of cyclone victims face outbreaks of disease as they struggle to survive without clean water, food or shelter.

NIAMEY (AFP) - Niger has launched a massive health campaign aimed at tackling endemic tropical diseases in areas where access to drinking water and health services is poor, the health ministry told AFP Wednesday.

BEIJING (AFP) - China on Wednesday urged local health authorities to step up public education of a highly contagious disease that has led to the deaths of 28 children.

HANOI (AFP) - Vietnam's prime minister has urged health authorities to fight a hand, food and mouth disease outbreak caused by the EV71 virus which officials Wednesday said had killed at least 10 children this year.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US lawmakers have accused the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) of being out of control and of covering up the high suicide rate among Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Women suffer from "atypical" symptoms and "invisible" blood vessel blockages that may explain why they often receive less treatment for heart attacks than men, a study said Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Low levels of vitamin D in elderly people may lead to increased depression and other psychiatric problems, Dutch researchers said in a study released Monday.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - A single gene called erythropoietin (EPO) helps raise the risk among diabetics of developing severe eye and kidney complications, a study released Monday said.

BEIJING (AFP) - The number of Chinese children confirmed dead from hand, foot and mouth disease has risen to 32 with nearly 25,000 people infected, state media said on Friday.

BEIJING (AFP) - A viral outbreak in China has worsened further, claiming the life of a 27th child and the number of infections climbing to nearly 16,000, state-run media reported on Wednesday.

ROME (AFP) - The EU food safety watchdog EFSA said Tuesday it may review its clearance of bisphenol A for use in the manufacture of plastic baby bottles after Canada moved to ban the substance.

BEIJING (AFP) - Ten doctors and officials in China have been punished for mishandling a virus that has killed 26 children, state media reported as the number of infected youngsters rose to more than 12,000.

BEIJING (AFP) - Ten doctors and officials in China have been punished for mishandling a virus that has killed 26 children, state media reported as the number of infected youngsters rose to nearly 12,000.

HANOI (AFP) - A virus that causes hand, foot and mouth disease has infected around 400 people in Vietnam this year and led to an unknown number of deaths, a health official in the communist country said Tuesday.

WASHINGTON, (AFP) - As many women carried out suicide attacks in Iraq so far this year as in the five previous years combined, and attacks by women are expected to spike again in the coming months, a US terrorism expert said Monday.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The number of suicide attacks by women in Iraq has risen sharply this year and can be expected to spike again in the coming months, a US expert in terrorism said Monday.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Nearly one-third of ivory items for sale in the United States may have been illegally imported after a US moratorium on the trade imposed in 1989, conservation groups said in a report Monday.