Every year more than 15 million people worldwide suffer injuries and illnesses that leave them unable to walk according to the World Health Organization. But new technological advances and physical therapy could help some of them walk again. Among the most promising – is the use of robotic exoskeletons. As …

The French news agency AFP is reporting five new suspected cases of the deadly Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. AFP reported Saturday that DRC health authorities had recorded two new cases of illness in the Wangata area and three new cases in Bikoro. Both areas are …

U.S. health officials say five people have now died from an E. coli outbreak involving romaine lettuce. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Friday that another four people had died from the outbreak. The patients who died were from Arkansas, California, Minnesota and New York. The agency …

There is hope that the world’s latest Ebola virus outbreak may be contained in the coming weeks, top experts from the World Health Organization and Doctors Without Borders (Medicins San Frontieres) say. However, they told VOA this week that dangers remain as hundreds of international and local workers battle the outbreak …

The World Health Organization has expanded its Ebola vaccination campaign in the Democratic Republic of Congo to include high risk people in three areas. Latest WHO figures show 37 confirmed cases and 13 probable ones. Since the start of the Ebola vaccination campaign in May, the World Health Organization said …

After President Donald Trump said the United States was getting out of the Paris climate agreement because it put the U.S. at a “big economic disadvantage,” the last two holdouts said they were getting in. Nicaragua and Syria announced late last year that they would join the global agreement to …

Student photographer Madeline Morales takes her camera everywhere she goes. She is always looking for something interesting to shoot.   “I try to look at things with a lot of light; a lot of what draws me is positivity – something that means love or happiness,” said Morales.   At …

Cancer is not just an illness of the body, it also takes a toll on a patient’s emotional well-being. To fight feelings of isolation and depression, an organization called the Pablove Foundation created a program that teaches photography to children living with cancer. Through a camera lens, young cancer patients …

Health workers in the Democratic Republic of Congo are racing against time to contain an outbreak of Ebola. So far, the World Health Organization reports at least 25 people have died out of the 58 people who have gotten the virus. VOA’s Carol Pearson reports that efforts to vaccinate people …

President Donald Trump is overstating progress against the opioid epidemic, claiming “the numbers are way down” despite an increase of opioid-related deaths and overdoses in his first year in office. A look at his comments during a political rally in Nashville on Tuesday night: TRUMP: “We got $6 billion for …

The American Cancer Society is recommending people start testing for colon and rectal cancer at age 45, rather than 50 as currently prescribed. It also recommends people who are in good health and with a life expectancy of more than 10 years continue regular colorectal cancer screening through the age …

Fewer people are smoking worldwide, especially women, but only one country in eight is on track to meet a target of reducing tobacco use significantly by 2025, the World Health Organization said Thursday. Three million people die prematurely each year because of tobacco use that causes cardiovascular diseases such as heart attacks and stroke, the world’s …

U.S. President Donald Trump signed legislation Wednesday to give patients with deadly diseases the “right to try” experimental drugs that might extend their lives. At a White House signing ceremony, Trump called the measure a “fundamental freedom” for people with life-threatening conditions to use medications that have shown promise in …

The California public health system will start delivering healthy meals to 1,000 patients with congestive heart failure or type 2 diabetes… and little purchasing power. The patients, who are part of a pioneering three-year pilot program, will receive a personalized diet and nutritional education to determine the impact of good …

The U.S. said it is hosting a senior-level Chinese delegation to witness its drug prevention and treatment efforts, even as the United States continues to battle opioid abuse that is killing more than 60,000 people annually. The State Department said Tuesday the Chinese will visit drug abuse prevention programs in …

Health officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo began a vaccination drive to control an Ebola outbreak that has infected more than 50 people and killed as many as 25. But as aid workers and health experts say this vaccination drive is a careful, methodical process in which trust is …

Every morning, Asma’u Muhammadu removes the wet sheets from her bed and sets them out to dry. She opens the door to let in the fresh breezes that will air out the smell of urine in the mud-walled room. Along with the sheets, she brings out wet rags she uses …

A computer was better than human dermatologists at detecting skin cancer in a study that pitted human against machine in the quest for better, faster diagnostics, researchers said Tuesday. A team from Germany, the United States and France taught an artificial intelligence system to distinguish dangerous skin lesions from benign …

Hundreds of women’s rights activist rallied in Belfast on Monday to put pressure on British Prime Minister Theresa May to reform Northern Ireland’s highly restrictive abortion rules after neighboring Ireland’s vote to liberalize its laws. Voters in Ireland on Friday backed the removal of a constitutional abortion ban by two-to-one. …

Officials began vaccinating health workers and others on Monday in Bikoro, where Congo’s current Ebola outbreak was first declared at the beginning of May. Congo’s Health Minister Oly Ilunga traveled to oversee the Ebola vaccinations of at least 10 people in Bikoro, where at least five of 12 Ebola deaths …

Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, under severe stress in a warmer, more acidic ocean, has returned from near-extinction five times in the past 30,000 years, researchers said Monday. And while this suggests the reef may be more resilient than once thought, it has likely never faced an onslaught quite as severe …

More than three million cases of dengue fever, the world’s fastest-spreading tropical disease, could be avoided annually if global warming is capped at 1.5C, said a study that purports to be the first to show the health benefits of a cooler planet. The mosquito-borne viral infection causes flu-like symptoms and …

Archaeologists using drones have discovered more than 25 geoglyphs etched into a swath of coastal desert in southern Peru near the Nazca Lines, a culture ministry official said Monday. Most of the newly found geoglyphs, which include figures of a killer whale and a woman dancing, appear to have been …

In Kenya and many parts of the world, family planning is mostly considered a woman’s responsibility.  Procedures that affect men, like vasectomies, are often shunned and stigmatized.  But in Kenya, vasectomies are slowly gaining acceptance. In April, a group of doctors performed about 70 free vasectomies on men in Nairobi. …

Elton John, on a visit to Ukraine to raise awareness about AIDS, said Ireland’s vote to liberalize its abortion laws showed how mindsets can change. The 71-year-old singer has traveled regularly to Ukraine and spoken out for gay rights in the eastern European country, including at an AIDS charity concert …