Full Coverage: Health

29.03.2008 Thousands of children in Pakistan succumb to measles every year. All these deaths can be easily prevented with effective immunisation. The government has launched a comprehensive campaign against the disease, which will help protect 63 million children in the country.

28.03.2008 Zambia has been forced to reallocate resources intended for poverty alleviation to pay a "vulture fund," a company that scammed the impoverished nation to make millions off its cancellation of a 1999 debt, writes an organization promoting African development.

28.03.2008 Young students in Afghanistan unable to afford rentals and other expenses are forced to work on illicit poppy fields to earn some money. Not only do their studies suffer due to grueling work, but they also get exposed to the dangerous addiction of drugs.

28.03.2008 The Slow Food Movement is globally picking pace amidst the fast food culture. Traditional and organic food is healthier, culture-specific and in tandem with one's natural environment, its proponents claim.

28.03.2008 Battle in India against polio is far from over. This year until February, 82 new cases have been detected despite the fact that the country has the largest ever mass immunisation campaign in the world going on since 2003.

25.03.2008 The latest WHO report: The Global Tuberculosis Control 2008 documents a slowdown in progress on diagnosing people with TB, citing lack of funds as the major reason. The report also stresses on combating new forms of the disease like multi-drug resistant TB and the lethal combination of TB/HIV.

24.03.2008 KabulÂ’s deteriorating environment is posing serious health risks to its population, according to Afghanistan Â’s National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA). The use of sub-standard car fuel and poor waste management has worsened the cityÂ’s air quality leading to an increase in respiratory disorders.

20.03.2008 Researchers from India and UK have developed an inexpensive way to measure maternal mortality by using traditional birth attendants to record all live births, stillbirths and deaths of women in two Indian states. Making proper identifications as against estimating have helped avoid missing maternal deaths.

19.03.2008 Known as chars in local dialect, these river islands in Bangladesh are home to over 600,000 poor inhabitants, and are prone to acute erosion, flooding and period submersions. Sanitation and access to clean drinking water is particularly calamitous here, say health experts.

14.03.2008

14.03.2008 Punjab province in Pakistan has very high mortality rates for newborns, as a very small percentage of births take place under the supervision of trained attendants. UNICEF is now training midwives to prevent such deaths.

13.03.2008 Men who talk about sex are more likely to use condoms consistently. Keeping this in mind India's HIV and AIDS mass media campaign has launched its second contest to get men shed their inhibitions, using a local popular sport. The campaign hopes to reach out to an estimated 48 million men.

12.03.2008 Cardiac telemedicine deployment across Greater Manchester has shown reduction in the burden of cardiac care on the National Health Service and at the same time improved patient care. The study proves that the service avoids the need for immediate referral of patients with non-acute chest-pain symptoms to hospital care in majority of cases.

12.03.2008 New software by IndiaÂ’s National Informatics Centre (NIC) in Jharkhand offers individual search for pregnant women and newborns at the Anganwadi level. The programme will help the state government track the nutrition status of both mother and child and the immunisation of infants.

12.03.2008 Pfizer, a pharmaceutical major, has launched an anti-smoking drug sold as Champix in India. Despite the claim that it has proven therapeutic value, there are concerns about its side effects such as mood swings and in some cases inducing people to take the extreme step of suicide.

11.03.2008

11.03.2008 WASHINGTON, Mar 11 (OneWorld) - Air quality concerns in Beijing have prompted the world's record holder in the marathon to pull out of the premiere long-distance running event at this year's Olympic Games.

11.03.2008 It was not easy to convince a Muslim dominant district in underdeveloped Bihar to allow teenage girls to attend classes on reproductive and sexual healthcare at the local madarsa. Azad India Foundation (AIF)Â’s efforts have however earned support even from the local clerics.

07.03.2008 With money and technical assistance from the international community, Bangladesh government has achieved considerable success in installing sanitary latrines throughout the country, leading to significant reduction in diarrhoeal deaths. From the current 85% coverage, it appears that achieving sanitation for all by 2010 is very much possible.

07.03.2008 Gender inequality and the lack of sanitation and drinking water are woven into a vicious trap. As women and their daughters spend hours collecting water, they cannot go to school, work and earn; while poor sanitation lead to ill health and loss of privacy. WaterAid is working to make womenÂ’s voices heard in the politics of water.