Child survival in Asia and the Pacific has improved considerably deepening economic disparities have meant that the region's poor are often unable to get proper health care, the United Nations said.

The region's robust economic growth, the fastest in the world since 1990, has lifted millions out of poverty and led to numerous improvements, including in child and maternal health, according to a new report by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)

A genetic anomaly found in families with the rare Li-Fraumeni syndrome, may lead to a blood test to detect tumors early.

LFS is a rare hereditary disorder in which the sufferer has greater susceptibility to cancer. It is linked to the mutation of a tumor suppressor gene, which usually helps control cell growth

- A new report released by the Center for Disease Control says that the rate of annual new H.I.V. infections in the United States are 40 percent higher than previously thought.

The study concludes that the infection rate is 56,300 per year as opposed to the 40,000 a year that was thought to have been the average rate for the last several years. The new findings, experts say, are not necessarily due to more infections, but are a result of improved tests and a more accurate and new statistical methods

An anticipated rise in health problems among Canadians, caused by climate change, has motivated Health Canada to urge the government to take immediate action.

In a 500-page report released Friday, the health agency forecasts more incidents of heat-related ailments, deaths due to outbreaks of infectious diseases unknown to the medical community, respiratory and cardiovascular disorders

President George Bush on Wednesday approved $48 billion for fighting AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis around the world for next five years.

The amount authorized for the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the successful U.S. global AIDS program, is $18 billion more than what Bush had requested. The measure will triple funding for these three diseases