Health Reviews List: When the world considers health and life

Health Reviews List: When the world considers health and life

Telemedicine links Africans to Indian expertise
India launched the ‘telemedicine’ project in Ethiopia last July at a cost of $2.13 million. The project links hospitals in Ethiopia with those in India. The scheme is part of the pan-African e-network, a 5.42 billion-rupee ($135.6-million) joint initiative between the African Union and India. Indian officials estimate that 100 patients in Africa have benefited from the pan-African e-network which is plugged in to 12 specialist hospitals in India.

Indian berries may fight dengue mosquitoes
Synthetic insecticides are increasingly useless in fighting disease-spreading mosquitoes, such as the Stegomyia aegypti that can spread dengue and yellow fever viruses. However, berries of a common weed found in India may be effective in fighting mosquitoes that spread dengue fever, a study has found.

Mexico City bans smoking
Mexico City on Thursday banned cigarette smoking in all public places to reduce the amount of carcinogens inhaled by residents of the smog-filled capital. The city, home to some 18 million people in the metropolitan area, is the latest large city around the world to pass a smoking ban to improve public health and protect nonsmokers from secondary smoke.

Most Russians feel happy, poll shows
A recent poll finds that Russians consider themselves happy, a statistic that has changed over the past 10 years from a 60 per cent happy population to 77 per cent happy.

China: Olympic Beijing tries to kick smoking
A ban on smoking in most Beijing public places, similar to efforts in major North American, European, and Asian cities, is expected to take effect in May, aimed at meeting China’s pledge of a smoke-free Olympics. City Hall is expected to unveil the new rules soon.

US: Report says shift to organic would cut pesticide risks in diet
Converting the country’s eight million acres of produce farms to organic would reduce dietary pesticide risk by 97 per cent, the non-profit Organic Center organization concluded recently.

Czech Republic: Organic food consumption up 70 per cent in 2007
In 2006, Czechs spent Kc 760m on organic food, while in 2007 organic food consumption grew by 70 per cent to Kc 1.29 billion, according to a survey by the Green marketing agency.

US: Army’s post traumatic stress disorder treatment could be Transcendental Meditation
The United States Army is investigating ways to help the returning troops cope with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTDS), and Transcendental Meditation is one of the alternative healing methods that could be used to heal the troops.

United Kingdom: Government considers measures to discourage young people from smoking
Britain’s government is considering a string of measures to discourage young people from taking up smoking, including banning displays, removing cigarette machines from restaurants, and making nicotine patches and gums more readily available. The proposals are the subject of a public consultation to be launched in May.

US: Wal-Mart’s private-label milk to have no artificial growth hormones
Wal-Mart Stores Inc said on Thursday that its private-label Great Value milk is now being sourced only from cows that have not been treated with artificial growth hormones, such as recombinant bovine somatotropin (rbST). Wal-Mart said it made the change in response to customer demand. Wal-Mart is the world’s largest retailer.

Health Reviews List: When the world considers health and life. Editing by Nancy Edwards