ENVIRONMENT: Motorcycles Emit Most Air Pollution in West Africa – Study

Ageing motorcycle taxis, which cover 80 percent of transport needs of Togo, Benin and Niger, produce air pollution, causing health and environmental problems, particularly in the cities.

HEALTH-CONGO: Typhoid Fever Linked to Fast Food

With little awareness of the risks of typhoid fever, residents of Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of Congo, buy fast foods from makeshift lunch counters that have sprung up all over the city.

HEALTH-WEST AFRICA: River Blindness Campaign Ends

The river blindness campaign, run by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and 11 West African countries, has ended after 28 years of operation.

TRADE: Industrialised North Puts Brakes on WTO Medicine Accord

Negotiators at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) failed Friday to reach an agreement to ensure poor countries access to essential medicines. Health activists blame the fiasco on opposition from the United States and a handful of other industrialised countries.

HEALTH: More Child Deaths as Funds for Vaccines Dip – Report

Donor fatigue will condemn more people in developing countries to die from vaccine-preventable diseases, warns a report released globally on Wednesday.

HEALTH: Success Against River Blindness Can Be AIDS Model – U.N.

Millions of lives could be saved from deadly diseases like AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis if the world learned from the success of efforts to eradicate oncoceriasis - or river blindness - from Africa, say United Nations officials and public health advocacy groups.

HEALTH-ZAMBIA: Fishermen Threaten Anti-malaria Programme

Zambia's campaign against malaria, using treated mosquito nets, is being threatened by fishermen who use lifesaving gauze to catch fish in major rivers and lakes.

HEALTH-BURKINA FASO: WHO Appeals for Funds to Fight Meningitis

Fearing an explosion in the number of meningitis cases in the coming months, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has appealed for 11 million U.S. dollars for vaccines to tackle the disease.

UNITED STATES: Immigrants Enter, Whites Leave California

It is no contradiction to Californians that their population is growing even though people are leaving the 'Golden State' in droves.