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Africa's health problems are getting worse says the WHO

The World Health Organisation (WHO) says regardless of promises of better healthcare by governments and donor countries, millions of mothers, newborn babies and children continue to die each year in Africa from preventable diseases.

20 Nov 2006

Africa is developing solutions for fighting disease and improving health

The signs are everywhere, across the continent: Africa is finding African approaches to solving its health problems.

20 Nov 2006

Stunning breakthrough makes blind mice see again

In what is being viewed as a major breakthrough scientists are facing the very real possibility of a cure for blindness.

8 Nov 2006

UK experts call for debate on euthanasia for seriously disabled newborns

The prestigious Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecology in Britain has suggested that there needs to be open debate about the extent that doctors should go to when it comes to ensuring the survival of seriously disabled babies.

6 Nov 2006

'Neglect,' not biology, kills 1 in 20 women in Africa

One in 20 women in Africa is at risk of dying in childbirth, but "[i]t's not biology that kills them so much as neglect," New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof writes in an opinion piece.

26 Sep 2006

Hospital services most expensive part of U.S. health aystem

About 33% of every dollar spent on U.S. health care goes toward inpatient hospital care, according to a report by HHS's Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Washington Times reports (Howard Price, Washington Times, 9/23).

26 Sep 2006

SUMO1 gene implicated in cleft lip and palate defects

Researchers supported by the National Institutes of Health report in the current issue of the journal Science that a much-studied gene called SUMO1, when under expressed, can cause cleft lip and palate, one of the world's most common birth defects.

21 Sep 2006

Another set of conjoined twins undergo lengthy separation surgery

In what is expected to be a long and lengthy operation, four-month-old conjoined twin boys have embarked on separation surgery in a hospital in Washington.

6 Sep 2006

Parents describe their spiritual needs when facing a child's death

A survey of parents indicates that they not only want the best medical care, but also need spiritual care when facing the death of a child.

5 Sep 2006

All pregnant women have at least one kind of pesticide in their placenta

Human beings are directly responsible for more than 110,000 chemical substances which have been generated since the Industrial Revolution.

1 Sep 2006

Obstetric fistula: Guiding principles for clinical management and programme development

The World Health Organization (WHO) Goodwill Ambassador for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health and supermodel Liya Kebede has highlighted the plight of millions of women and girls living with obstetric fistula.

1 Sep 2006

Majority of pregnant women with depression not receiving treatment

The majority of pregnant women who have full-blown major depression aren't getting any treatment for the condition, and neither are most pregnant women who have signs of milder depression or depression risk.

14 Aug 2006

New way of delivering corrective genes holds promise for hereditary diseases of the heart

A new way of delivering corrective genes with a single injection into a vein holds promise for long-lasting treatments of hereditary diseases of the heart, University of Florida researchers report.

6 Aug 2006

Pride, prejudice, and paediatrics

Actively barred from pursuing medical careers elsewhere, women paediatricians were able to carve out careers in the specialty because it paid poorly and carried insufficient status, reveals a brief history of the profession.

2 Aug 2006

New group B strep test for newborn babies approved

The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday approved a new test studied at the University of Florida that could lead to better screening for the most common cause of infection in newborn babies.

27 Jul 2006

Pregnant robot to help student midwives

A pregnant robot will offer a helping hand to student midwives, as they learn to cope with the most complex of births before ever meeting a real mother.

From Sheffield Hallam University 19 Jul 2006

Calcium supplementation during pregnancy for preventing hypertensive disorders and related problems

Expectant mothers may be able to prevent potentially serious medical problems in themselves and their babies simply by boosting their daily calcium intake, says a new systematic review.

19 Jul 2006

Breastfeeding or breast milk for procedural pain in neonates

In the first 24 hours after birth, nearly every newborn in the United States is subjected to a painful, but routine heel prick or needle stick to screen the blood for disease or rare genetic disorders.

19 Jul 2006

Childbirth experience can be improved with the help of a trusted friend

A recent study shows that women who received continuous support in labor by a female support person trained as a "lay doula" had significantly shorter labors, lower cesarean rates, and higher APGAR scores for their newborns.

19 Jul 2006

Practice builds brain connections for babies learning language, how to speak

Experience, as the old saying goes, is the best teacher. And experience seems to play an important early role in how infants learn to understand and produce language.

11 Jul 2006