Health - AFP

GENEVA (AFP) - The World Health Organisation said Tuesday that it was valid to assume that most of the cases of influenza reportedly sweeping through Ukraine were caused by the pandemic A(H1N1) virus.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - People over the age of 50 who are hospitalized with swine flu are the group most likely to die from the illness, but (A)H1N1 flu remains a young person's illness, US researchers said Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Breast cancer is becoming an increasingly global epidemic, plaguing more people in developing countries where mortality rates are higher and many lack access to care, US researchers warned.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - A single dose of swine flu vaccine produces a robust immune response in pregnant women, one of the groups at high risk of dying from (A)H1N1 influenza, but young children need two shots, US clinical trials have shown.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The fight against AIDS in developing countries is facing a drastic funding shortfall amid rapidly rising treatment and prevention costs during the global financial crisis, experts said Tuesday.

LONDON (AFP) - A seriously ill baby whose parents are locked in a legal battle about whether to keep him on the ventilator which allows him to breathe is living "on a knife edge", the High Court in London heard Tuesday.

LONDON (AFP) - A diet heavy in processed and fatty foods increases the risk of depression, according to research published on Monday.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US lawmakers led by Asian Americans on Monday pushed to ramp up spending to fight hepatitis B and C, warning that the disease is causing a long-term burden for the costly US health care system.

KIEV (AFP) - Ukraine raised its death toll from flu and respiratory problems on Monday, while Kiev's mayor suggested a Champions League match should be played without spectators amid a swine flu scare.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Mothers with young children and pregnant women are being turned away from swine flu vaccination clinics in the United States, some in tears, many utterly frustrated by the shortage of vaccine.

BUCHAREST (AFP) - Romania is forbidding people from visiting patients at all hospitals due to a surge in swine flu cases, a health ministry official said Monday.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - A timely sneeze made Americans more likely to back substantial government spending on health care than on job creation, a study concluded Monday.

RIYADH (AFP) - Saudi Arabia said Monday it is to vaccinate all its residents attending the hajj against swine flu, pressing ahead with plans to host millions of the world's Muslims despite a heightened pandemic alert.

OUAGADOUGOU (AFP) - Burkina Faso health authorities plan next year to hand out 6.6 million mosquito nets in a bid to tackle malaria, the main cause of death in the poor west African country, officials said Monday.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - An international team of scientists announced Monday that it had produced a first draft of the genome of a domesticated pig, an achievement that researchers say will lead to insights in agriculture, medicine, conservation and evolution.

GENEVA (AFP) - The World Health Organisation and UN child agency launched a global action plan to fight pneumonia, which kills some 1.8 million children under five every year.

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - UN chief Ban Ki-moon hailed US President Barack Obama's removal of a decades-old travel ban on HIV-positive visitors, and urged other countries to do the same.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - A single dose of swine flu vaccine produces a robust immune response in pregnant women, one of the groups at higher risk of dying from (A)H1N1 influenza, initial results from US clinical trials have shown.

BEIJING (AFP) - China has inoculated over 3.78 million people against swine flu and distributed over 26 million doses of vaccine to ward off a serious outbreak of the disease, the government said Sunday.

KIEV (AFP) - Ukraine made an urgent appeal to world powers for help battling swine flu on Sunday, after 60 people died from respiratory problems in a week.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States will release its entire stock of children's Tamiflu antivirals, a top health official said, as the pediatric swine flu toll spiked well above the annual toll for kids from seasonal flu.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States released Friday its entire stock of children's Tamiflu antivirals, a top health official said, as the pediatric swine flu toll spiked well above the annual toll for kids from seasonal flu.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States is poised to lift a decades-old ban on HIV-positive visitors from abroad that was based on fear and ignorance of the facts, President Barack Obama said Friday.

SHISELWENI, Swaziland (AFP) - Zodwa Mahlabane meticulously takes out her tablets from small yellow bags and puts them on a white tray.

GENEVA (AFP) - The number of global swine flu deaths spiked by 700 in a week, the World Health Organisation said Friday, as Ukraine closed schools and cinemas in the toughest measures taken in Europe over the virus.

YAOUNDE (AFP) - A cholera outbreak in Cameroon has killed 65 people and infected hundreds since it started last month, state media said Friday.

ZAGREB (AFP) - The Croat parliament on Friday passed an amended law on in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) making it easier for couples to receive treatment to help them to conceive.

KIEV (AFP) - Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko on Friday ordered a three-week closure of Ukraine's schools and cinemas in the toughest measures adopted yet to combat the swine flu virus in Europe.