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Doctors' handwriting has never been renowned for its elegance, but an Indian medical group is so concerned about sloppy scrawls that it has started an awareness drive to prevent fatal errors. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-doctors.html Other Fri, 14 Sep 2012 04:25:52 EST news266815546 An outbreak of Ebola haemorrhagic fever has claimed possibly as many as 31 lives in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo since May, Health Minister Felix Kabange Numbi said Thurday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-ebola-deaths-dr-congo-minister.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 13 Sep 2012 13:08:40 EST news266760509 Australia slammed as a "sick joke" Wednesday new cigarette packs on sale as part of the national phase-in to plain packaging which play on drab branding and claim it's "what's on the inside that counts." http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-australia-slams-sick-cigarette.html Health Wed, 12 Sep 2012 04:20:02 EST news266641439 (AP)—Indonesian men rank as the world's top smokers, with two out of three of them lighting up in a country where cigarettes cost pennies and tobacco advertising is everywhere. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-two-thirds-indonesian-men-tops-world.html Addiction Tue, 11 Sep 2012 07:41:17 EST news266568069 Three people have died in the first ever outbreak of the West Nile virus in Serbia, in which 35 contracted the disease, health authorities said Saturday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-dead-serbian-west-nile-virus_1.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Sat, 08 Sep 2012 14:23:56 EST news266333007 One of the world's most body-conscious countries, Brazil is now threatened by growing obesity rates, with half of the population already overweight. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-body-conscious-brazil-overweight.html Overweight and Obesity Fri, 07 Sep 2012 04:10:01 EST news266208987 An outbreak of the West Nile virus in Serbia has killed an elderly woman and infected 20 other people with the mosquito-borne disease, health officials said Tuesday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-dead-serbian-west-nile-virus.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 04 Sep 2012 10:03:51 EST news265971390 An Australian state was Wednesday considering a ban on cigarette sales to anyone born after the year 2000 in an initiative that would see a "tobacco-free generation". http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-australian-state-mulls-cigarette-sales.html Addiction Wed, 22 Aug 2012 05:51:15 EST news264833469 British American Tobacco (BAT) launched an advertising campaign in New Zealand Wednesday opposing plans to introduce plain packaging, in a move the government immediately dismissed as a waste of money. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-tobacco-ad-blitz-zealand-branding.html Addiction Wed, 22 Aug 2012 03:08:01 EST news264823672 About 117,000 babies were saved from HIV infection last year under South Africa's scheme to prevent mothers from passing on the disease during childbirth, health official said Thursday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-south-africa-success-newborns-hiv.html HIV & AIDS Thu, 19 Jul 2012 10:57:46 EST news261914258 (AP) — The World Health Organization is giving China's health minister an award for battling smoking in a country whose people and government remain prodigiously addicted to tobacco. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-awards-china.html Addiction Tue, 17 Jul 2012 07:00:02 EST news261726063 Spain's cash-strapped government is eliminating state subsidies for more than 450 medicines, ranging from cough remedies to the pain-killer codeine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-spain-subsidies-medicines.html Medications Thu, 28 Jun 2012 04:00:28 EST news260074818 A second person has died following an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease in Scotland, which has led to almost 90 confirmed or suspected cases, health authorities said Friday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-death-scottish-legionnaires-outbreak.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Fri, 15 Jun 2012 08:26:54 EST news258967607 A Scottish whisky distillery at the centre of an investigation into an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease that has infected up to 74 people has temporarily halted production, it said Friday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-legionnaires-outbreak-scottish-distillery-halt.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Fri, 08 Jun 2012 18:20:12 EST news258398400 Hundreds of Moroccan women a day are resorting to backstreet abortions, a leading doctor has estimated, prompting calls for reform in a country where the termination of pregnancies remains illegal. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-moroccan-campaigners-abortion.html Other Mon, 04 Jun 2012 04:28:06 EST news258002880 Hong Kong health authorities on Saturday urged the public not to panic after the southern Chinese city reported its first human case of bird flu in 18 months in a two-year-old boy. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-hong-kong-human-bird-flu.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Sat, 02 Jun 2012 13:24:32 EST news257862265 Chile will soon cover sex change surgeries under its public health plan in order to allow citizens of limited means to "recover their true sexual identity," Health Minister Jaime Manalich said. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-chile-sex.html Other Fri, 25 May 2012 08:00:01 EST news257150859 India's Health Ministry said Friday it had set up an expert panel to review the operations of its drug regulatory agency, accused of colluding with pharmaceutical firms to approve drugs without trials. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-indian-expert-panel-probe-drugs.html Medications Fri, 11 May 2012 09:41:02 EST news255948057 In China, life expectancy should reach 74.5 years by 2015, Chinese Health Minister Chen Zhu said on Thursday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-china-aims-years-life-minister.html Health Thu, 12 Apr 2012 15:52:49 EST news253464762 In Brazil, a country known for girls in mini-bikinis and where body-consciousness borders on obsession, nearly half the population is overweight, a study by the Ministry of Health released Tuesday found. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-brazil-alarmed-obesity.html Health Tue, 10 Apr 2012 18:47:34 EST news253302443 (AP) -- China will abolish the transplanting of organs from executed prisoners within five years and try to spur more citizens to donate, a top health official says. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-china-phase-prisoner-donation.html Other Fri, 23 Mar 2012 04:02:19 EST news251694124 Executed prisoners were still the main source of organs used in transplant operations in China due to the lack of voluntary donations, a top health official was quoted saying Wednesday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-death-row-inmates-main-source-china.html Other Wed, 07 Mar 2012 08:11:47 EST news250330300 Some 3,000 cases of typhoid have been reported in Zimbabwe's capital of Harare since the first case was detected in a working-class suburb in January, state media reported on Sunday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-typhoid-cases-soar-zimbabwe.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Sun, 04 Mar 2012 05:23:17 EST news250060982 Six specialised teams, each with a doctor, will criss-cross the Netherlands as of Thursday to carry out euthanasia on patients at home whose own doctors refused to do so, a pro-mercy killing group said. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-dutch-mobile-mercy-teams.html Other Wed, 29 Feb 2012 18:13:34 EST news249761606 India was taken off a list of polio endemic countries by the World Health Organisation on Saturday, marking a massive victory for health workers battling the crippling disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-india-polio-major-milestone.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Sat, 25 Feb 2012 13:09:32 EST news249397736 (AP) -- Britain's health minister was angrily heckled Monday over health care reforms that the government says will improve efficiency but opponents claim threaten the foundation of the country's state-funded health care service. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-british-minister-heckled-health-reforms.html Health Mon, 20 Feb 2012 18:22:17 EST news248984531 Brazilian Health Minister Alexandre Padilla on Thursday warned that Rio de Janeiro faced a major dengue epidemic, although he said the virus strain prevalent was not fatal. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-rio-dengue-epidemic-brazil-health.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 16 Feb 2012 18:19:37 EST news248638762 Belgium's health authorities on Wednesday advised women with defective breast implants made by French firm PIP to have them removed. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-belgium-women-pip-breast-implants.html Other Wed, 01 Feb 2012 12:32:51 EST news247321965 South Africa, home to the highest number of HIV cases in the world, should see a massive reduction by the end of the decade after a sea-change in government policy, a UNAIDS official said Thursday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-massive-fall-south-africa-aids.html HIV & AIDS Thu, 19 Jan 2012 10:29:51 EST news246191377 France vowed on Tuesday to investigate failures to detect faults with the French-made breast implants at the centre of a global health scare, as a senior lawmaker urged a full parliamentary probe. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-france-vows-probe-breast-implant.html Other Tue, 03 Jan 2012 08:35:12 EST news244802107