Health

Like Uber, but for organs: first kidney delivered by drone

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A kidney needed for transplantation has been delivered by a drone for the first time ever, the University of Maryland Medical Center said, a development that could herald faster and safer organ transport. The specially designed high-tech drone was fitted with equipment to monitor the kidney along its three-mile (five kilometers) journey to its recipient: a 44-year-old woman from Baltimore who had spent eight years on dialysis before the procedure. […]

Encouraging a healthier lifestyle: OGAWA brand launched in SM City Fairview

MANILA, Philippines – OGAWA, a committed brand in encouraging a healthier lifestyle in the Philippines recently opened its another outlet at the SM City Fairview. The ribbon cutting was attended by Ms. Marianne Rodillo, Marketing Communications Manager of OGAWA Philippines, Mr. Marvin Dionson, the Person In Charge of OGAWA SM Fairview together with Sales Advisors, Mr. Mervin Piano, Mr. Jonard Laguidao, and Ms. Felaine Jacildo. Present also were Ms. Arbie Cadalin, Assistant Mall Manager of […]

Under-fives’ daily screen time should be kept to 60 minutes only, warns WHO

Toddlers should spend no more than 60 minutes passively watching a screen every day, while babies under 12 months should have none, to ensure that they grow up fit and well, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday, as part of a campaign to tackle the global obesity crisis. In recommendations specifically aimed at under-fives for the first time, the UN health agency said that some than 40 million children around the globe – […]

US records 695 measles cases, most since 2000

NEW YORK, United States (AFP) –The United States recorded 695 cases of measles in 2019, the most of any year since the disease was declared eliminated in 2000, health authorities said Wednesday. “The high number of cases in 2019 is primarily the result of a few large outbreaks — one in Washington State and two large outbreaks in New York that started in late 2018,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a […]

‘World’s smallest baby boy’ set to go home in Japan

Tokyo, Japan (AFP) — The world’s smallest baby boy, who was born in October in Japan weighing as much as an apple, is now ready for the outside world, his doctor said Friday. Ryusuke Sekiya was delivered via emergency Caesarean section, after 24 weeks and five days of pregnancy as his mother Toshiko experienced hypertension. At 258 grams (9.1 ounces) he was even lighter than the previous record holder, another Japanese boy who weighed just […]

For its health and yours, keep the cat indoors

by Marlowe HOOD PARIS, France (AFP) — At least one running argument among cat lovers is now over: Whiskers, Lucy and Tigger are definitely better off staying indoors, scientists reported Wednesday. Pet cats allowed outdoors, in fact, are nearly three times as likely to become infected with pathogens or parasites than those confined to quarters, they reported in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters. Two-legged house-mates should also take note because cats — a.k.a. Felis […]

New York mandates vaccine to contain Brooklyn measles outbreak

by Thomas URBAIN New York’s mayor declared a public health emergency in parts of Brooklyn on Tuesday, ordering all residents to be vaccinated to fight a measles outbreak concentrated in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community. The order concerns all people living or working in four zip codes of Williamsburg, northwest Brooklyn, where some residents oppose vaccines on religious grounds — although neither Jewish texts nor local Jewish authorities advise against vaccination. “It was time to take […]

Australia ramps up measles warnings as cases jump

SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Australia on Monday launched a major education campaign to encourage its residents, particularly those traveling overseas, to get vaccinated against measles as a sudden spike in cases amid a global resurgence causes alarm. Measles — an airborne infection causing fever, coughing and rashes that can be deadly in rare cases — was declared officially eliminated from Australia by the World Health Organisation in 2014. In developed nations including Australia however, the […]

People skills at heart of DR Congo’s long fight against Ebola

by Samir TOUNSI Agence France-Presse BUTEMBO, DR Congo (AFP) – Evelyne was one of the first victims of the Ebola epidemic which broke out in eastern DR Congo last August, the second deadliest in its known history. Against the odds, the nurse not only survived the hemorrhagic virus, whose outbreak has claimed nearly 700 lives, but has also returned to the fray. After receiving a vaccination, Evelyne is now tending Ebola-affected children — part of a […]

Children in South Asia hardest hit by air pollution – study

HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Air pollution will shorten the life expectancy of children born today by an average of 20 months and will have the greatest impact in south Asia, according to a study published Wednesday. The State of Global Air report, published by the US-based Health Effects Institute and the University of British Columbia, says air pollution is the fifth leading cause of early death worldwide — responsible for more deaths than malaria, […]

Poor diet linked to 1 in 5 deaths globally: study

by Patrick GALEY Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) – One in five deaths globally are linked to poor diet, experts said Thursday, warning that over consumption of sugar, salt and meat was killing millions of people every year. The United Nations estimates that nearly a billion people worldwide are malnourished, while nearly two billion are “over-nourished”. But the latest study on global diet trends, published in The Lancet, showed that in nearly every one of the […]

Air pollution to shorten life expectancy of children born today, says study

  HONGKONG, China (AFP) — Air pollution will shorten the life expectancy of children born today by an average of 20 months and will have the greatest impact in south Asia, according to a study published Wednesday. The State of Global Air report, published by the US-based Health Effects Institute and the University of British Columbia, says air pollution is the fifth leading cause of early death worldwide — responsible for more deaths than malaria, […]