Full Coverage: Health

30.07.2004 New research shows that up to 220 young children a day could have been exposed to potentially dangerous pesticide levels from eating just one apple or pear and that internationally agreed safety levels on pesticides can be breached even when the legal limits were met. Imported produce was more likely to contain high pesticide levels than homegrown fruit.

29.07.2004 Nestlé, the world’s largest food company, has been reported to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) over its marketing of Nan HA “hypoallergenic” infant formula for using claims that campaigners describe as “misleading and dangerous”. Legal action was taken by authorities in the US over similar claims after infants suffered anaphylactic shock after being fed on the formula.

28.07.2004 Togo's health ministry is throwing its weight behind new combination drugs in the fight against malaria but their high price-tags put them beyond the reach of many people, who turn instead to traditional remedies and black market medicines.

27.07.2004 Poor and illiterate women and girls in Togo will soon be helped to learn how to avoid HIV/AIDS infection and care for those infected in a joint project between the UN and the Togo government.

27.07.2004 In spite of a heavy eradication program in West Africa run by the Jimmy Carter Foundation, guinea worm continues to threaten West African countries. The Foundation aims to eradicate guinea worm from Togo by the end of 2004.

27.07.2004 The cholera epidemic in Lome which claimed many lives in February 2004 was centred around households close to the polluted water of the city lagoon and illustrates the serious risks faced by the city's population.

27.07.2004 New research has revealed that the consumption of aflatoxins, which contaminate staple foods stored in hot and humid conditions, is associated with impaired growth in children in Togo and Benin.

27.07.2004 Pharmaceutical companies the world over are being accused of ignoring children suffering from AIDS, and, instead, focussing only on the production of life-prolonging drugs such as anti-retroviral drugs for adults.

27.07.2004 A workshop for South Asian journalists on issues concerning food safety and pesticide contamination is being organised by Centre for Science and Environment on Augusts 4-5, 2004, at New Delhi, India.

26.07.2004 The Indian government announced that it will scale up HIV/AIDS care and support facilities, establish linkages with reproductive and primary health and involve young people in the fight against the infection.

26.07.2004 The AIDS crisis has cut life expectancy in many African countries to less than 40 years, making it the biggest factor in the dramatic decline of overall human development indicators in the continent, according to the 2004 Human Development Index published earlier this month.

22.07.2004 A national coalition of 55 consumer groups in India has welcomed the governmentÂ’s draft standards for soft drinks which will help protect public health and reform food manufacturing.

22.07.2004 Mental health experts are furious that government ministers plan to sideline recommendations of a public inquiry into the death of black patient David "Rocky" Bennett. Health minister Rosie Winterton is due to make a written statement to the House of Commons on 22 July on government mental health policies.

21.07.2004 In the absence of any change in peopleÂ’s attitude towards tobacco use, the anti-smoking law that was passed in Pakistan a year back is proving inadequate.

21.07.2004 The Bush administration will withhold $34 million in congressionally approved assistance to the UN Population Fund because of the fund's alleged connection to China and forced abortions.

21.07.2004 Indian activists have renewed their call for action against the former head of a US multinational firm, Warren Anderson, two days after a court ordered the Indian government to release millions of dollars for victims of the world's worst chemical disaster.

20.07.2004 Join Spiked's online debate on air pollution and human health, sponsored by the Natural Environment Research Council and
the Medical Research Council. Nine lead pieces have been published to start the debate, plus a number of reader responses. The debate, while moderated, is open to contributions from anybody.

20.07.2004 British Prime Minister Tony Blair launches the UK's strategy against the pandemic in the developing world, promising more money to orphans and the Global Fund.

19.07.2004 The onset of the monsoon in Nepal has triggered an outbreak of acute diarrheal diseases (ADD) that have killed over 80 people and infected 10,000 in remote rural areas with meager medical facilities.

14.07.2004 BANGKOK, Jul 14 (IPS) - More than 2.5 million children living with HIV/AIDS have been neglected by pharmaceutical companies that mainly produce life-prolonging drugs, such as antiretroviral drugs (ARVs), for adults, says the leading humanitarian agency Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF).