As the World Health Organization marks World Malaria Day, April 25, Malawi has launched the pilot phase of Africa’s first ever malaria vaccine. The WHO chose Malawi, alongside Ghana and Kenya, because of the high numbers of malaria cases and treatment facilities. The pilot phase aims to vaccinate 360,000 children …
your ad hereTrump Says He Is Holding Big Pharma Accountable in Opioid Fight
U.S. President Donald Trump touted progress in the fight against opioid abuse on Wednesday and promised to hold drugmakers accountable for their part in the crisis, a day after his administration brought its first related criminal charges against a major drug distributor and company executives. America’s opioid epidemic, especially damaging …
your ad hereUN: No Screen Time for Babies; Only 1 Hour for Kids Under 5
The World Health Organization has issued its first-ever guidance for how much screen time children under 5 should get: not very much, and none at all for those under 1. The U.N. health agency said Wednesday that kids under 5 should not spend more than one hour watching screens every …
your ad hereSouth Sudan Measles Outbreak Raises Questions About Vaccines
Despondent, Akon Mathiong points to two small mounds of dirt where she buried her grandsons, 4 and 5 years old, last month. They died after contracting measles in one of the worst-hit areas of South Sudan’s latest outbreak. “Every time I see the graves I feel like crying,” Mathiong said. …
your ad hereNASA Probe Detects Likely ‘Marsquake’ – an Interplanetary First
NASA’s robotic probe InSight has detected and measured what scientists believe to be a “marsquake,” marking the first time a likely seismological tremor has been recorded on another planet, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California reported on Tuesday. The breakthrough came nearly five months after InSight, the first spacecraft designed …
your ad hereAmericans Getting More Inactive, Computers Partly to Blame
Americans are becoming increasingly sedentary, spending almost a third of their waking hours sitting down, and computer use is partly to blame, a new study found. Over almost a decade, average daily sitting time increased by roughly an hour, to about eight hours for U.S. teens and almost 6 …
your ad hereUN: Malawi is 1st Nation to Use Malaria Vaccine to Help Kids
The World Health Organization says Malawi has become the first country to begin immunizing children against malaria, using the only licensed vaccine to protect against the mosquito-spread disease. Although the vaccine only protects about one-third of children who are immunized, those who get the shots are likely to have less …
your ad hereIs Health Care Still a Basic Right as Communist Vietnam Privatizes?
Communist Vietnam is moving to privatize some parts of its health care system, raising questions about the state’s duty to guarantee care for all as a basic right, and about its budget to do so. A publicly funded medical school in Ho Chi Minh City said this month it is …
your ad hereZimbabwe Wildlife Orphanage Rescues, Educates Against Poaching
An animal orphanage in Zimbabwe is one of the organizations leading efforts to ensure poaching and development do not wipe out the wildlife of the southern African nation. About half an hour drive southeast of Bulawayo is a special orphanage caring for abandoned and injured animals. The Chipangali Wildlife Orphanage …
your ad hereDumping Plastic Waste in Asia Found Destroying Crops and Health
The world’s recyclable plastic is being shipped to Asia where it is illegally dumped, buried or burned in the country with the lightest regulations, environmentalists warned on Tuesday calling for greater transparency in the global waste trade. A report by Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) and Greenpeace East Asia …
your ad hereUS Records 71 New Measles Cases Last Week as Outbreak Spreads
The United States recorded 71 new measles cases last week, a 13 percent increase as the country faces its second-worst outbreak of the disease in almost two decades, federal health officials said on Monday. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it had recorded 626 cases of the …
your ad hereMeasles Could Be Eradicated. Instead, It’s Making A Comeback
Today as we observe World Immunization Week, we’re going to focus on a disease that could be eradicated from the earth, just like smallpox was, and as just as international programs are doing with polio. But instead, as we hear from Carol Pearson, this deadly disease is making a comeback. …
your ad hereLondon Climate Protesters Seek Talks With Government
Climate change protesters who have brought parts of London to a standstill said Sunday they were prepared to call a halt if the British government will discuss their demands. Some 963 arrests have been made and 42 people charged in connection with the ongoing Extinction Rebellion protests. On the seventh …
your ad hereEarth Day 2019 Looks at Human Effect on Planet
On April 22, more than 1 billion people in 192 countries are expected to take part in a global day of political and civic action for the Earth. People will march, plant trees, clean up their cities, parks, beaches and waterways, politicians will announce policies, and corporations will pledge to …
your ad herePrecious Companionship: How Assistance Dogs Change Lives
Trained to aid and accompany people with disabilities at all times, assistance dogs are much more than dedicated friends, they are the ears, the eyes and the moral support that is so needed, whether their companion has a physical disability or an emotional one, like PTSD. Anush Avetisyan learned more …
your ad hereLong Road to Recovery for Children After Cyclone Idai
The U.N. children’s fund says at least 1.6 million children in Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe need help right away to recover from the affects of Cyclone Idai, which battered their countries more than one month ago. Cyclone Idai, the deadliest storm to hit southern Africa in more than two decades, …
your ad hereTwo-Wave US Flu Season is Now the Longest in a Decade
Three months ago, this flu season was shaping up to be short and mild in the U.S. But a surprising second viral wave has made it the longest in 10 years. This flu season has been officially going for 21 weeks, according to reports collected through last week and released …
your ad hereHow the Smallest Bears ‘Talk’ to Each Other
One of the key components of empathy is what scientists call facial mimicry. It seems complicated, but is as simple as smiling when someone smiles at you, and that conveys a lot of information. Scientists have always thought that animals who do it, humans included, are a small group, but …
your ad hereOfficial: Taliban, IS Deprive Afghan Kids of Polio Vaccine
Some information in this report came from Reuters. More than 1 million Afghan children, particularly in conflict-stricken regions of the country, were deprived of polio vaccinations in 2018 because of actions taken by Taliban and Islamic State militants, Afghanistan health officials tell VOA. “Overall, 1.2 million children were deprived of …
your ad hereJudge Upholds NYC’s Mandatory Measles Vaccination Order
A Brooklyn judge on Thursday ruled against a group of parents who challenged New York City’s recently imposed mandatory measles vaccination order, rejecting their arguments that the city’s public health authority exceeded its authority. In a six-page decision rendered hours after a hearing on the matter, Judge Lawrence Knipel denied …
your ad hereIsraeli Team: Human Error May Have Caused Spacecraft Crash
The Israeli start-up behind last week’s failed lunar landing says human error may have caused the spacecraft to crash into the moon. SpaceIL, the non-profit that undertook the botched lunar mission, said Thursday that its engineers collectively decided to restart the inertial measurement unit, a critical part of the spacecraft’s …
your ad hereGroundbreaking Indian Ocean Science Mission Reaches an End
The British-led Nekton scientific mission on Thursday completed a seven-week expedition in the Indian Ocean aimed at documenting changes beneath the waves that could affect billions of people in the surrounding region over the coming decades. Little is known about the watery world below depths of 30 meters (yards), the …
your ad hereYale Study Revives Cellular Activity in Pig Brains Hours After Death
Yale University scientists have succeeded in restoring basic cellular activity in pigs’ brains hours after their deaths in a finding that may one day lead to advances in treating human stroke and brain injuries, researchers reported Wednesday. The scientists emphasized that their work did not even come close to reawakening …
your ad hereGermany Struggles in Push to Address Sexual Violence
A German-led bid to step up efforts to combat sexual violence in conflicts has run into resistance at the U.N. Security Council, diplomats said Wednesday, just days before Nobel laureate Nadia Murad is to appear before the U.N. body to issue a call for justice. Germany is pushing for the …
your ad hereAstronaut to Eclipse Record for Longest US Spaceflight by a Woman
A female astronaut is due to set a record for the longest spaceflight by a woman, the U.S. space agency said Wednesday, the same astronaut who was to have been in the first all-female spacewalk scrapped over lack of a right-sized spacesuit. Astronaut Christina Koch, who completed the space walk …
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