Health | WPN World People News

The Brazilian federal agency regulating health, Anvisa, recently ruled [pt] that the advertising of soft drinks and food rich in saturated or transfats, sugar and sodium will change. By the end of 2010, the industry will have to adapt.

A new, global survey has revealed the conversations healthcare providers aren’t having with their HIV-positive patients with potentially negative consequences for their treatment and health.

The race to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) by 2015 is more than halfway run, but new reports say South Africa is unlikely to reduce its burden of deaths in children under five in time to cross the finish line.

Americans with disabilities will have more help to live independently and remain in their homes and communities instead of in institutional long-term care facilities, such as nursing homes, through the availability of $2.25 billion in grants to states. The new grant solicitation issued today by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) encourages states not yet part of the Money Follows the Person Rebalancing (MFP) Demonstration to apply for grant funds.

Lack of choline during pregnancy may lead to reduced blood vessel growth in the brain of the developing fetus, a new study in mice suggests. The finding adds new information about the importance of choline for prenatal brain development.

Researchers have developed a method to generate antibodies that attack a diverse array of influenza viruses in mice, ferrets and monkeys. The accomplishment points the way to a universal flu vaccine.

Experts at the Harvard School of Public Health have found that excessive milk consumption can increase the risk of prostate cancer.

HIV prevention world is abuzz with excitement following news of the first clinical evidence that a vaginal gel - known as a microbicide - can help to prevent sexual transmission of HIV infection.

A study by the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA) found that a vaginal gel containing the antiretroviral (ARV) drug tenofovir was 39 percent effective in reducing a woman's HIV risk when used for about three-quarters of sex acts and 54 percent effective when used more consistently. It also halved the incidence of genital herpes infections.

Hospitals in the Gaza Strip are overloaded with expired drugs and medicines, Palestinian officials said.

The officials insisted Thursday that the drugs and medicines, which were donated to the Gaza Strip by aid organisations all over the world over the last two years, had expired, Xinhua reported.

Hot summer weather can pose special health risks to older adults. The National Institute on Aging (NIA), part of the National Institutes of Health, has some advice for helping older people avoid heat-related illnesses, known as hyperthermia.