Rwanda becomes first poor country to provide eye care for all
In a country where a third of people have sight problems, specialist nurses have visited all 15,000 villages as part of a life-changing project
Public health & disease
The cancer death rate in the United States drops again
The nation’s overall cancer death rate declined 1.7 percent in 2015, the latest indication of steady, long-term progress against the disease, according to a new report by the American Cancer Society.
Thousands in the U.S. were saved between 1990 and 2012 as air pollution declined
Between 1990 and 2012, particulate matter and organic aerosols significantly declined in the United States, saving thousands of lives.
U.K. scientists claim they found a drug that significantly reverses memory loss
A team at Lancaster University in the U.K. has discovered that a drug designed to treat type 2 diabetes may hold the key to fighting the memory loss that accompanies Alzheimer’s disease.
Research breakthrough raises hope of predicting future Ebola outbreaks
Scientists optimistic of creating early-warning system after identifying two-year gap between clearance of forests inhabited by fruit bats and emergence of virus
Trump to declare opioid crisis a ‘public health emergency’
President Trump on Thursday will announce he is directing his Department of Health and Human Services to declare the opioid crisis a public health emergency
Scientists have successfully reversed advanced heart failure in mice
The discovery, which involves “silencing” the Hippo pathway in the heart, could lead to better treatments for those at risk of heart failure potentially ones that could eliminate the condition entirely.
Breast-cancer death rate in the United States drops almost 40 percent, saving 322,000 lives
Breast cancer death rates declined almost 40 percent between 1989 and 2015, averting 322,600 deaths, the American Cancer Society reported Tuesday.
Cambodia and Laos wipe out trachoma as a public health problem
Trachoma is an eye disease caused by infection with Chlamydia trachomatis bacteria. It is the leading infectious cause of blindness worldwide.
Scientists invented a pen that can screen for cancer in seconds rather than weeks
In lab settings, using mice and human tissue samples, researchers were able to correctly identify lung, ovary, thyroid, and breast cancers and do so with around 93% accuracy.