Health - AFP

NEW YORK (AFP) - More than 10,000 people who worked in the toxic chaos of New York's Ground Zero after 9/11 could receive compensation totalling 657 million dollars for health problems under a settlement reached.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - A scan of brain activity can effectively read a person's mind, researchers said Thursday.

CAPE TOWN (AFP) - The South African government on Thursday announced a ramped up AIDS plan that aims to test 15 million residents for HIV in the world's worst affected country by next June.

PARIS (AFP) - Ivermectin, a pill prescribed for the skin disease known as scabies, also gets rid of hair lice that are resistant to conventional lotions, a study published on Thursday says.

VIENNA (AFP) - AIDS 2010, the 18th International AIDS Conference being held in Vienna later this year, will focus on marginalised groups living with the disease, such as injecting drug users in Eastern Europe, organisers said Wednesday.

SEOUL (AFP) - Abortion has suddenly become a hot topic in South Korea after years of near-indifference, with a group of doctors seeking a crackdown on pro-life grounds and the government eager to boost the birthrate.

JOHANNESBURG (AFP) - African trucking routes, long known as pathways for spreading HIV across borders, have been drawn in new maps that also direct drivers to clinics that treat AIDS, a spokeswoman said Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - American scientists have for the first time unlocked the genetic code of an entire family, and made a startling discovery -- that parents pass on fewer mutations than previously thought.

OTTAWA (AFP) - Tuberculosis is ravaging Canada's Arctic with infections among Inuit peoples doubling since 2004 and rates now 185 times higher than non-natives, an indigenous group said Wednesday.

LONDON (AFP) - Couples who use acupuncture and Chinese medicine to try and increase their chances of having a baby were warned there was no evidence it worked by British fertility experts Wednesday.

MIAMI (AFP) - Researchers said Tuesday that papaya leaf extract and its tea have dramatic cancer-fighting properties against a broad range of tumors, backing a belief held in a number of folk traditions.

GENEVA (AFP) - The World Health Organisation unveiled Tuesday landmark new measures to counter the misuse of anti-malaria drugs, which is threatening attempts to stifle some 250 million cases a year of the disease.

NEW YORK (AFP) - New York leaders are pressing for a so-called fat tax on the soft drinks industry, saying that sweet beverages are responsible for an upsurge of obesity across the United States.

JOHANNESBURG (AFP) - African trucking routes, long known as pathways for spreading HIV across borders, have been drawn in new maps that also direct drivers to clinics that treat AIDS, a spokeswoman said Wednesday.

PARIS (AFP) - Men are more than twice as likely as women to be sexually active in old age but good health is the key for both to feeling naughty, says a study published Wednesday by the British Medical Journal.

LONDON (AFP) - Britain announced Tuesday one million pounds in aid to South Africa for the purchase of condoms to tackle HIV and AIDS in the world's worst-affected country ahead of the 2010 World Cup.

OSLO (AFP) - Global tobacco giant Philip Morris said Tuesday it planned to take the Norwegian state to court in an attempt to overturn a law in the Scandinavian country banning the display of cigarettes in stores.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US Supreme Court has agreed to consider whether the parents of a child who suffered serious health problems after being vaccinated can sue a pharmaceutical company for compensation.

NEW YORK (AFP) - The US soft drinks industry, accused by health authorities of promoting obesity, said Monday it had dramatically reduced the amount of high-calorie sodas sold in schools.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - A senior Thai official voiced hope Monday for a WTO solution on the production of low-cost generic drugs, an issue that has stirred friction with Western companies.

MANILA (AFP) - Philippine Catholic bishops, already waging a bitter battle with the government over birth control, received an unwelcome gift Monday when female activists delivered them two baskets of condoms.

VIENNA (AFP) - Developing countries could face a "health disaster" if wealthy countries fail to control drugs, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime warned on Monday.

JOHANNESBURG (AFP) - Within five years, the world could shield all newborns from HIV, while making strides in reducing deaths from malaria and tuberculosis, the Global Fund to fight the three diseases said Monday.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Women who drink a couple of glasses of red wine, beer or spirits a day are better at keeping the pounds off than women who do not drink at all, according to a study published Monday.

TOKYO (AFP) - Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen took a leap into the robotics future in Japan on Monday, trying out a power-assisted robo-suit dubbed HAL or Hybrid Assistive Limb.

JOHANNESBURG (AFP) - Within five years the world could shield all newborns from HIV, while making strides in reducing deaths from malaria and tuberculosis, the Global Fund to fight the three diseases said Monday.

SYDNEY (AFP) - It's a theory set to confirm why humans are so fond of fatty foods such as chips and chocolate cake: in addition to the five tastes already identified lurks another detectable by the palate -- fat.

LAGOS (AFP) - Mobile phones may be a key weapon in the war against HIV and AIDS in Africa, says to the UNAIDS chief.