A World Health Organization independent committee of experts says the spread of monkeypox in a number of countries around the world is worrisome but does not constitute what the WHO calls a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. In early May, the World Health Organization was alerted to an outbreak …

A Texas group that helps women pay for abortions halted its efforts Saturday while evaluating its legal risk under a strict state ban. Mississippi’s only abortion clinic continued to see patients while awaiting a 10-day notice that will trigger a ban. Elected officials across the country vowed to take action …

The World Health Organization’s chief said Saturday that the monkeypox outbreak was a deeply concerning evolving threat but did not currently constitute a global health emergency. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus convened a committee of experts Thursday to advise him whether to sound the U.N. health agency’s strongest alarm over …

The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which has guaranteed a woman’s constitutional right to an abortion for almost 50 years, is set to activate anti-abortion laws in at least 13 states. While some of the so-called “trigger laws” have been in place for years, others have …

The U.S. Supreme Court has struck down the decades-old Roe v. Wade decision, which said women have a constitutional right to have an abortion. States will now decide whether to permit the procedure; it’s expected that roughly half could do so. VOA’s Laurel Bowman reports. …

NASA’s next moon mission scores a win despite another setback. Plus, South Korea launches one of its own rockets to space, and the UK readies what it hopes will be its first domestically launched satellites. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi brings us The Week in Space …

Federal health officials on Thursday ordered Juul to pull its electronic cigarettes from the U.S. market, the latest blow to the embattled company widely blamed for sparking a national surge in teen vaping.  The action is part of a sweeping effort by the Food and Drug Administration to bring scientific …

An advisory panel for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended Wednesday that people ages 65 years and older choose higher-dose flu shots or ones that include an ingredient to boost immune response. The CDC commonly adopts the recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, but in …

The United States is expanding its capacity to test for monkeypox by shipping tests to five commercial labs. The Department of Health and Human Services said Wednesday the effort will “dramatically expand testing capacity nationwide and make testing more convenient and accessible for patients and health care providers.” Health care …

The U.S. mission to the United Nations said Wednesday that Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield tested positive for COVID-19. Spokesperson Melissa Quartell said in a statement that Thomas-Greenfield is fully vaccinated and received a booster vaccination, and that she was “experiencing mild symptoms.” Quartell said the ambassador would be working from home …

Nearly 1 in 5 American adults who reported having COVID-19 in the past are still having symptoms of long COVID, according to survey data collected in the first two weeks of June, U.S. health officials said Wednesday.  Overall, 1 in 13 adults in the United States have long COVID symptoms …

The Black Death, a plague that killed up to 60% of people in western Eurasia from roughly 1346 to 1353, likely originated in the Tian Shan mountains of central Asia, new research shows. Scientists recovered two genomes of an ancient strain of Yersinia pestis, the bacterium that causes plague, from …

Risk of infection from the disease, which causes paralysis in children in under 1% of cases, was low because of high vaccination rates …

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is proposing a limit on the amount of nicotine allowed in cigarettes with an aim to make it easier for people to quit using them and to prevent young people who experiment with cigarettes from becoming addicted.  The proposed limit appeared Tuesday among a …

A magnitude 6.0 earthquake shook Taiwan on Monday morning. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.  The quake struck at 9:05 a.m. at a depth of 6.8 kilometers (4.2 miles) in Hualien county, halfway down the east coast of the island, Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau said.  It was …

New York City is making a push to give city workers fired earlier this year for not getting the COVID-19 vaccine a chance to get their old jobs back — if they get fully vaccinated. In February, Mayor Eric Adams fired more than 1,400 workers who failed to comply with …

The U.S. on Saturday opened COVID-19 vaccines to infants, toddlers and preschoolers. The shots will become available next week, expanding the nation’s vaccination campaign to children as young as 6 months. Advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended the vaccines for the littlest children, and the final …

The World Health Organization is calling for a radical change in the treatment of mental health disorders, saying existing care systems are largely ineffective and often abusive.  Nearly a billion people were living with a mental disorder in 2019. That number has grown, with new data showing conditions such as …

Weather disasters that happen more often because of climate change create conditions in which gender-based violence often spikes, according to new research.     The study, published in the journal The Lancet Planetary Health, reviewed research from five continents and found increased violence against women and girls in the aftermath of …

More than 1,600 confirmed monkeypox cases and almost 1,500 suspected cases have been reported this year from seven countries where monkeypox has been detected for years and 32 newly affected countries, according to the World Health Organization director-general, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “Europe remains the epicenter of this escalating outbreak,” …

People infected with the earliest version of the omicron variant of the coronavirus, first identified in South Africa in November, may be vulnerable to reinfection with later versions of omicron even if they have been vaccinated and boosted, new findings suggest. Vaccinated patients with omicron BA.1 breakthrough infections developed antibodies …

Many people are trying to live more eco-friendly lives. But what about more eco-friendly deaths? For VOA, Svitlana Prystynska introduces us to the business of corpse composting. First, a caution: Some may find the subject matter disturbing. …

In marking the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, the United Nations is calling for better land management and regreening initiatives to tackle the twin disasters.  Europe is struggling with an unusually early and intense heat wave, which has spread from North Africa. That has been preceded by a …

Abortion providers in some places where the procedure could be banned if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade are bracing for a ruling by halting scheduling for the procedure, transitioning staff to help patients travel to other states and creating networks of clinics that will span across regions …

Data from a European space observatory tells the history of our galaxy and may even predict its future. Plus, the full moon was as close to Earth as it will be this year, and a look back at a true space pioneer. VOA’s Arash  Arabasadi  brings us The Week in Space. …