WHO plan to counter polio
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has urged its member states to draw up a list of all wild polio virus kept in research laboratories as they might pose a threat to the population, once polio is eradicated, the virus is retreating at a fast rate after the initiation of the …
Pollution victims must have a say in choice of technologies
An appropriate and constructive programme of "social capital" was urgently needed to help citizens develop a concern for the environment, the Vice-President, Mr. Krishan Kant said. Inaugurating a conference on health and environment, organised by the Centre for Science and Environment, Mr. Kant said the basic issue underlying the problems …
NIH should seek greater public input when setting research priorities
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) should seek broader public input on decisions about how to spend its nearly $14 billion budget, says a new report from a committee of the Institute of Medicine. The criteria that NIH uses to set priorities for funding research are scientifically sound, but could …
Cloned calves mother dies day after delivery
One day after giving birth to two calves described as the first clones from cells from an adult cow, the mother died suddenly, Japanese scientists said. An autopsy was being performed to determine the cause of death, they said.
Workshop on health hazards
PRIA (Society for Participatory Research in Asia) has organised a three-day workshop from July 14 on the occupational health hazards of women workers.
Survival boost for tiniest transplant patients
Babies who need a new kidney usually get an adult-size replacement. But a grown-up kidney demands more blood flow than a baby's tiny system can supply, Stanford transplant surgeons have found. The solution, they say, is to maintain the greatest possible blood flow by keeping the baby's fluid levels high …
France seeks to curb cost of health care
France is to launch a campaign to cut drug prescriptions in an effort to curb a growing deficit in the national health insurance scheme. This is an essential part of a package of measures, intended to save $410m by the end of the month.
Delhi air pollution equals four Bhopals every year
Delhi's air pollution is equivalent to four Bhopal's gas tragedies every year. While 2,500 people died in the Bhopal incident in 1984, nearly 10,000 people succumb to the fatal effect of air pollution in Delhi every year. These were some of the facts that have prompted the holding of a …
Longer life for all in 21st century
WHO : Life in the twenty-first century should be healthier and longer for more people than ever before, according to a report released by the UN World Health Organisation (WHO) . The World Health Report 1998, offers a "cautiously optimistic" view of the future. It predicts that worldwide premature deaths--defined …
Japanese Mars mission smooth
Japan's first interplanetary spacecraft has completed its first day in orbit around earth and the moon, gaining momentum for its 10 month, 700 million km journey to Mars.
Malaria situation grim in North-east
The malaria situation in the seven North-Eastern States is grim with 13 to 41 per cent of the total malaria deaths in the country being reported from the region.
Seismic signals from mining operations may be confused with nuclear blasts
Seismic signals are generated by natural events, such as earthquakes, and by nuclear explosions, such as the recent tests in India and Pakistan. They are also generated by chemical explosions associated with mining. A new report from a National Research Council committee reviews a draft report by a U.S. Department …
New artificial heart tested in goats
A group from the University of Tokyo School of Medical Sciences said it has developed a new type of small, implantable artificial heart. The left and right chambers are controlled independently of each other, mimicking the workings of a real heart. In animal transplant experiments, the group said goats with …
Smart chimp artificially inseminated
A group led by Tetsuro Matsuzawa of Kyoto University's Primate Research Institute has artificially inseminated the 21 year old chimpanzee Ai, known for her ability to recognize colors, numbers and Chinese characters. Ai's insemination is part of a long term study of the ways Chimpanzees pass on knowledge to their …
World AIDS conference ends pessimistically, with no cure in sight
The 12th World AIDS Conference ended in Geneva in a somber mood. A series of reports about new problems with anti-AIDS drugs and setbacks in vaccine trials left many participants thinking that their best hope against the epidemic is the strategy they have had since it began : prevention.
Iraq blames Gulf War for cancers
Iraqi health officials contend that depleted uranium was used for the first time on American and British armaments during the 1990-91 Gulf War. They say there has been a marked increase in cancer from what they say was low-level radioactive and toxic dust that billowed out of the explosions. A …
Want to stay healthy? Then thik positive
People who look on the bright side have reason to be optimistic. Evidence suggests that they have healtier, longer lives than their gloom-and-doom counterparts. A new study lead by Dr. Suzanne Segerstrom, an assistant professor of psychology at the Universtiy of Kentucky in Lexington suggests that positive thoughts are good …
