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Flood victims in Pakistan helped by Australian health team

Hundreds of Pakistani flood victims have been treated at an Australian health centre set up in the country last week. This center at the Punjab city of Kot Addu is manned by a team of doctors, nurses and paramedics from the Northern Territory, Western Australia, Victoria and Queensland.

8 Sep 2010

Cocaine use on the rise in Australia

The number of cocaine abuse related arrests has risen in Sydney's CBD and an increasing number of users of the drug are being treated in hospitals. According to the latest NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research figures arrests for possession and use of the drug have risen by 76.6 per cent in the past two years.

8 Sep 2010

FAO names 15 experts to new food security advisory body

The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has named 15 experts to a committee "to help formulate policies to ensure food security and avoid a repeat of the food crisis of a few years ago," VOA News reports (DeCapua, 9/6).

8 Sep 2010

Bligh explains plans for asset sales

According to Queensland Premier Anna Bligh, new developments are on the horizon only if her Government continues with the sell off of $15 billion of public assets. She revealed this in her annual State of the State address at the mid point of her term in Government yesterday while reviewing the past 18 months and forecasting the next stage of the state's development.

7 Sep 2010

Coles supermarkets to stop selling beef containing growth hormones

Come November Coles supermarket chain will no longer accept beef from animals treated with hormone growth promotants, or HGPs. These HGPs are used by grazers and feedlots to boost cattle growth.

7 Sep 2010

Elsevier launches new tool to help editors find reviewers

Elsevier, a world-leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical information products and solutions, announced today the launch of a new and unique tool to help editors find reviewers ( http://support.elsevier.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/710), which addresses the number one pain point for journal editors. Developed in close consultation with journal editors, this tool which is accessible from EES - Elsevier's Editorial and peer review system - suggests a list of potential reviewers.

6 Sep 2010

TimeTemp's shelf-life indicator for food will help Norwegian retailers reduce waste

Norwegian food retailers discard over 50,000 tonnes of food annually - much of it of perfectly good quality. New technology from Norway could substantially reduce this wastefulness.

4 Sep 2010

Companies need new, better tools for measuring employee productivity: Article

Can investing in employee health improve the bottom line by making workers more productive? To answer that question, companies need new and better tools for measuring employee productivity, according to an article in the September Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, official publication of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

4 Sep 2010

At U.N. MDG summit, ministers will propose world currency tax to fund development aid

"A group of 60 nations, including France, Britain and Japan, will propose at the U.N. [summit on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)] this month that a tax be introduced on international currency transactions to raise funds for development aid, ministers said on Wednesday," Reuters reports (Irish, 9/1).

4 Sep 2010

FAO calls for special meeting to address global food price spikes

The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization "has called a special meeting on the recent spike in food prices, responding to fears of a repeat of the shortages that led to riots in parts of the world two years ago," the Associated Press reports.

4 Sep 2010

24 Hour Fitness partners with Safran Group to offer cardless check-in for members

24 Hour Fitness, the largest U.S. fitness chain and a leading health club industry pioneer, is pleased to announce a new convenient, secure and environmentally friendly cardless check-in option for members. 24 Hour Fitness has partnered with MorphoTrak (Safran Group), part of the world's largest, most trusted provider of biometric technology, to offer cardless check-in for its members at all 420 clubs by the end of 2010.

3 Sep 2010

Fewer injuries and deaths justify cost of providing body armor to all law enforcement officers

Providing body armor to all law enforcement officers in the United States would provide enough benefit to justify the cost, according to a new RAND Corporation study.

3 Sep 2010

International experts gather to address pressing threats to food security

From catastrophic floods in Pakistan that have left millions homeless and hungry to the aftermath of Haiti's devastating earthquake, relief efforts are under way in many parts of the world where disasters have brought food crises along with destruction. In Africa's Sahel region, severe drought has been followed by floods that are now threatening the food security of millions of people among the world's poorest. More than half of Niger's population - some 7 million people - as well as millions more in neighbouring Chad, Mali and Mauritania face hunger and malnutrition.

3 Sep 2010

IPS examines agricultural funding in Africa

Inter Press Service examines how some African countries are benefiting from the global agriculture fund the G8 pledged $22 billion to in July 2009. According to the article, the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), which seeks to increase African spending on agriculture to foster more growth, "has received a major boost as several countries have begun drawing" on the G8 money.

3 Sep 2010

WFP, UNICEF heads appeal for more flood aid for Pakistan

After touring flood-hit areas in Pakistan on Tuesday, the executive directors of UNICEF and the World Food Program appealed for more flood relief aid, VOA News reports (Maroney, 8/31).

2 Sep 2010

Tooth brush in a teenager’s stomach

A 15-year-old girl in New Zealand came to the emergency department at an Auckland hospital after accidentally swallowing her 19-centimetre toothbrush. The case study was published in the New Zealand Medical Journal.

31 Aug 2010

Anti-smoking measures beefed up

Tasmanians are looking at one of the tightest tobacco control measures ever adopted. The Tasmanian Government is proposing a no-smoking zone at almost all public places including shopping malls and sporting venues and introducing smoke-free buffer zone around children's playgrounds.

31 Aug 2010

SCIPP discusses improvements since Hurricane Katrina's impact

Five years ago, New Orleans was hit by one of the worst natural disasters in U.S. history. Three years later - almost to the day - the city survived another major hurricane with barely a scratch. What happened to make the outcomes of Hurricane Gustav so much different from Katrina? LSU's Climate Center, part of the Southern Climate Impacts Planning Program, or SCIPP, which partners LSU with the University of Oklahoma, released "Beyond Katrina: Lessons Learned," to evaluate the progress New Orleans, the state of Louisiana and the Gulf Coast region have made since Katrina's devastating impact in 2005.

31 Aug 2010

QPIP observes 1st anniversary

Quality Physicians Insurance Program, a risk purchasing group providing professional liability insurance to physicians in Maryland, Washington DC and Virginia, recently celebrated the company's 1st anniversary.

31 Aug 2010

Scientists find effective training regimens to determine exercise intensity

For competitive bicyclists with goals - whether competing in the Tour de France or aiming for the podium at a local race - faster cycling comes from training regimens based on various zones of exercise intensity. New research from exercise scientists at the University of New Hampshire has found that effective training regimens, which generally are created after expensive, time-consuming laboratory tests, can be developed from a relatively simple, do-it-yourself test.

31 Aug 2010