Category: Community
China halves tuberculosis prevalence in just 20 years
Over the last 20 years, China has more than halved its tuberculosis (TB) prevalence, with rates falling from 170 to 59 per 100,000 population. This unrivalled success has been driven by a massive scale-up of the directly observed, short-course (DOTS) […]
Thousands evacuated in Thailand after toxic fumes engulf residents
THAILAND – Provincial officials ordered the evacuation of residents from about 1,500 homes in Samut Prakan after a fire at a local garbage dump yesterday was declared a disaster area, and toxic fumes spread to many parts of the province […]
China tightens checks on cod-liver oil products
BEIJING- China’s food and drug watchdog Monday promised increased safety checks of cod-liver oil products following media exposure of the hazards of overconsumption. China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) spokeswoman Yan Jiangying said at a press conference that a national […]
‘Fallen womb’ syndrome strikes Nepal women
MALEKHU, Nepal -Sita Pariyar had barely recovered from childbirth when her uterus slipped out of her body, making her one of hundreds of thousands of Nepalese women struck by a debilitating reproductive condition. Sleep-deprived and unsteady on her feet, Pariyar […]
Philippines faces tough task of reducing maternal deaths: official
MANILA- Reducing maternal deaths to 52 per 100,000 live births to meet the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target in 2015 will be an uphill climb for the Philippines, a senior government official said Thursday. Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan […]
Macau: 7,500 chicken culled over bird flu scare
After discovering the H7-type avian influenza in live poultry Macau culled 7,500 chicken, say sources. The decision to slaughter the chickens comes after Hong Kong’s cull of around 20,000 chicken in January, after the deadly H7N9 bird flu virus was […]
Mystery kidney disease spreads In Sri Lanka
Increasing incidence of a chronic kidney disease of unknown etiology (CKDu) is quickly turning into Sri Lanka’s latest health crisis, with hospitals in the country’s most affected province linking 80 percent of patients’ deaths to renal failure. The disease some […]
Half of Japanese town suffers from PTSD
Though just two of Hirono’s 5,418 residents lost their lives in Japan’s mega-earthquake and tsunami, a new study shows that the survivors are struggling to keep their sanity. One year after the quake, Brigham Young University professor Niwako Yamawaki and […]
Some kidney patients refuse treatment and choose to die
SINGAPORE – Every year, some people choose death over dialysis when their kidneys fail. Without dialysis to clear toxins in their body, they are unlikely to survive long. But there are others who are forced to forgo dialysis because they […]
Avian flu strikes Vietnam’s 22 provinces so far this year
HO CHI MINH CITY – Latest avian flu epidemic outbreaks were reported in Vietnam’s central Khanh Hoa and southern Tra Vinh provinces, raising the total affected localities in Vietnam to 22 so far this year, according to the National Steering […]
