WHO Sounds Alarm on Homeopathy

Health officials have been undercounting adult victims, researchers argue

(NEWSER) - Health officials have been vastly underestimating the number of people who die of malaria every year, because they've largely ignored its adult victims, according to a new report published in the Lancet . The actual death toll for 2010, according to its estimate, was 1.24 million, nearly twice the World Health Organization's estimate of 655,000. The big difference: The study's count includes 524,000 people age 5 or older (that's 42% of victims), while the WHO only counted 91,000, or 14% of victims. More»

Dozens of countries poised to eliminate disease

(NEWSER) - Countries across the globe are making giant strides against malaria, the World Health Organization says: The number of deaths from the disease has dropped more than 20% over the last 10 years, and a third of the 108 countries where the illness is endemic could be rid of it in the next decade, the BBC reports. Some 15 million more deaths could be avoided by 2015 if health targets keep being achieved, experts say. More»

We've taken big strides, but the fight's not over

(NEWSER) - When George W. Bush became president, “much of sub-Saharan Africa was on the verge of catastrophe” thanks to the HIV epidemic. So America took action, and now millions are on AIDS medication. The relief effort served US interests in helping to stabilize a region on the brink; but what’s more, taking action reflected “American character and beliefs,” Bush writes in the Washington Post . More»

Women bear larger burden from HIV

(NEWSER) - HIV/AIDS is the top cause of death and disease among women and girls, says the UNAids program, which yesterday launched a 5-year plan to tackle the problems that put women especially at risk from the disease. Part of the problem is that up to 70% of women worldwide have been forced to have unprotected sex, the BBC reports. Violence against women, "(robs) them of their dignity," says the agency's director, resulting in the loss of "the driving force that brings about social transformation." More»

(NEWSER) - Diarrhea kills 1.6 million children under 5 every year—more than AIDS or malaria—and gets a fraction of the funding. But a deceptively simple new treatment may mark a breakthrough, Time reports. Zinc supplements appear to dramatically decrease diarrhea-related deaths—one afflicted village in Mali hasn’t had a single death since the pills arrived. Zinc “has totally taken off,” a researcher says. “It looks like real medicine and is not given out for free.” More»