Medicine and Health
New report suggests link between power lines and risk of childhood leukemia
By Kaye Tucker, March 31, 2001
For decades controversy has persisted about the health effects of electromagnetic fields (EMFs) generated by the transmission of electricity through power lines. Now an independent advisory group to B...
Oxfam reports show adverse health impact of drug patents on developing countries
By Chris Talbot, March 3, 2001
A series of recent reports on pharmaceutical drugs in the third world by the British charity Oxfam highlight the adverse health impact patent laws are having on developing countries. In the drive to m...
Growing concern about "Mad Cow Disease" in the US
By Joanne Laurier, February 2, 2001
More than 1,200 head of cattle in Texas were quarantined last week for fear of exposure to bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as “mad cow disease”. The Food and Drug Ad...
"Economy-class syndrome" a major health threat
Airlines fail to warn of the dangers of DVT
By Kaye Tucker, January 26, 2001
Last November Emma Christoffersen, aged 28, from Newport, South Wales, collapsed in the arrival hall of Heathrow airport after flying to England from Australia. She later died. A post mortem revealed ...
BSE/"mad cow disease" crisis spreads throughout Europe
By Richard Tyler, January 23, 2001
Cases of BSE have now been identified in 10 of the 15 European Union (EU) countries, as well as Switzerland and Liechtenstein, which are not members. Although incidences are still relatively few in nu...
United Nations AIDS report confirms worst epidemic in history
By Chris Talbot, December 4, 2000
An estimated three million people will have died of AIDS in 2000, the highest annual figure yet recorded. 500,000 of these were children. Although 2.4 million of the total deaths were in sub-Saharan A...
BSE inquiry delivers report as scientists raise fresh concerns about "mad cow disease"
By Paul Mitchell, October 3, 2000
The inquiry into the BSE (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy) crisis set up by Labour shortly after coming to office in 1997 sent its final report back to the government yesterday. It covers the period ...
Hormones in the environment: how the facts were covered up
By Paul Mitchell, September 20, 2000
Every male fish in some European rivers shows pronounced female characteristics, according to Professor Alan Pickering of the Natural Environment Research Council. Speaking to the British Association'...
Britain: Ritalin ban recommended for children under five years of age
By Liz Smith, September 9, 2000
The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE), an independent watchdog that rules on the appropriate use of drugs, is to recommend that Ritalin should not be given to children under five years...
AIDS in Africa: an indictment of an outmoded social order
By Fred Mazelis, August 16, 2000
The 13th International Conference on AIDS, held in Durban, South Africa last month, highlighted the social catastrophe unfolding on the African continent. The meeting took place in the country with th...
Britain: Deaths from Human BSE reveal "statistically significant rising trend"
By Richard Tyler, July 20, 2000
Two more deaths in the last fortnight have brought to 69 the total number of fatalities in the UK from variant Cretzfeld Jakob Disease (vCJD). So far this year 14 people have died from this brain-wast...
UN report on AIDS paints a picture of devastation-Part 2
By Paul Scherrer, July 18, 2000
The United Nations and World Health Organization (WHO) report on AIDS paints a picture of devastation in Africa and warns of catastrophe in many other regions of the world, yet offers no solution to t...
