WHO says treat HIV patients sooner, advice could double number of people who qualify for drugs

LONDON - People infected with the virus that causes AIDS should start treatment earlier than currently recommended, the World Health Organization said Monday. The U.N....More

Progress made in AIDS fight, but funds needed to ensure treatment access: doctor

TORONTO - Working in the continent hardest hit by HIV-AIDS, Dr. Michael Schull sees glimmers of hope amid the often bleak realities of the epidemic. Schull, his wife, Dr. Josee Sarrazin, and their three children began their year-long relocation from Canada to Malawi in July....More

Ontario expands access to costly cancer drug

TORONTO - Ontario is expanding access to a cancer drug that was the subject of a scathing report by the province's ombudsman earlier this year....More

Is there a 3rd wave of H1N1 in the cards for this winter? Who knows?

TORONTO - The current wave of H1N1 activity may have peaked in all provinces and territories, the Public Health Agency of Canada says in its latest assessment on the state of the pandemic....More

America wages new war in Vietnam - on AIDS

TINH BIEN, Vietnam - When her husband fell ill with AIDS, doctors at the hospital turned him away, fearing they would catch the virus. "They told him, 'There's nothing we can do for you. Just go home and wait to die,"' said Do Thi Phuong....More

Monkey business: Puerto Rican town divided over plan to breed primates for research in US

GUAYAMA, Puerto Rico - Puerto Rico has such a bad history with research monkeys running amok, some residents are stunned that its territorial government has approved a plan to import and breed thousands of primates for sale to U.S. researchers. Bioculture Ltd....More

Indian victims still haunted 25 years after the world's worst industrial disaster

BHOPAL, India - Hazra Bi wishes she could forget. But her damaged family is a living reminder of that December night 25 years ago when lethal gas leaked from a pesticide plant in Bhopal, India, in the worst industrial disaster the world has ever seen....More

First rigorous autism treatment study in children as young as 18 months finds vast improvement

CHICAGO - The first rigorous study of behaviour treatment in autistic children as young as 18 months found two years of therapy can vastly improve symptoms, often resulting in a milder diagnosis....More

Audit finds half of Manitoba nursing homes not meeting core standards

WINNIPEG - An investigation by Manitoba's auditor general has found that more than half of the province's 126 nursing homes failed to meet four of the five core standards of care set out by the government....More

Safety needle program being extended to more health care facilities

TORONTO - The provincial government is expanding a needle safety program to a third group of workplaces in Ontario. So-called safety needles are designed to eliminate or minimize the risk of needle punctures to nurses and other health care workers....More

Ont. trying to tackle dramatic increase in out-of-province OHIP visits: minister

TORONTO - Ontario is trying to tackle a huge increase in out-of-province visits covered by public health insurance over the last decade, Health Minister Deb Matthews said Thursday....More

Number of doctors in Canada rises, physician-to-population ratio improves

TORONTO - The number of doctors in Canada has risen over the last five years, and the rate of increase is greater than the rate of population growth, says a new report that was greeted Thursday with cautious optimism....More

Manufacturing changes to heparin mean decreased potency, Health Canada warns

TORONTO - Health Canada is informing Canadians who use the blood thinner heparin as well as health-care professionals that certain heparin products will soon undergo a reduction in potency....More

Italy, citing safety concerns, puts approval of RU-486 abortion pill on hold

ROME - An Italian Senate committee has decided to keep the RU-486 abortion pill off the market while its safety is evaluated....More

Alberta researcher makes stem cell breakthrough that could help premature babies

EDMONTON - An international team headed by a University of Alberta researcher has used stem cells to heal and protect the lungs of newborn rats - research that could help premature babies with chronic lung disease. Dr....More

1,400 families affected by lead poisoning to be relocated in northern China

BEIJING - China will relocate 1,400 families who live near a smelter that caused lead poisoning in about 850 children this year, state media said Friday....More

US report: No evidence that swine flu vaccine is causing serious side effects

ATLANTA - There's no evidence that the swine flu vaccine is causing any serious side effects, U.S. health officials said Wednesday, in their first report on the safety of the new vaccine....More

UN AIDS report says heterosexual sexual contact main cause for HIV's spread in China

SHANGHAI, China - The virus that causes AIDS is now spreading fastest in China through heterosexual sex, a trend demanding new strategies to stave off a rebound in the epidemic after years of progress in containing it, a United Nations report said....More

Studies, health officials say cutting global warming pollution has health benefits

WASHINGTON - Cutting global warming pollution would not only make the planet healthier, it also would make people healthier too, new research suggests....More

PHAC confirms 24 cases of anaphylaxis across Canada after H1N1 flu shots

TORONTO - There have been 24 confirmed cases of a type of severe allergic reaction called anaphylaxis in Canadians who have received an H1N1 flu shot, including one person who died after getting vaccinated, the head of the Public Health Agency of Canada said Wednesday. Dr....More