Researchers of McGill University have found an HIV test using saliva to be effective in preventing pregnant Indian mothers from passing the virus to their newborns.

The OraQuick test, which was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2004, lets doctors know within 20 minutes if a laboring pregnant mom is HIV-infected. The early detection of infection allows doctors to immediately administer anti-retroviral drugs to HIV-exposed infants, a method proven effective in preventing infection of babies from the virus that causes AIDS

Nearly all babies born to HIV positive mothers can be free from the deadly disease if appropriate treatment is given to a woman in her pregnancy, a new study shows.

Nearly 99 percent of babies were born uninfected if recommended interventions were followed during pregnancy, University College London said in a study

At least 10 million children under age five die annually from treatable ailments, mostly in developing countries, because they lack basic health care needs, a U.S.-based non-profit organization said Wednesday.

According to Save the Children, poor children face the risk of dying at a younger age compared to children in wealthier countries

Children who breast-feed during the first months of life appear to have better verbal IQ than their non-breast fed counterparts, a study has found.

The study that appears in Archives of General Psychiatry tracked nearly 14,000 children born between June 1996 and December 1997 in Belarus. Half of the infants and mothers were assigned to an experimental program designed to promote breast-feeding, while the remaining infants and mothers received regular pediatric and follow-up medical care

The U.S. breastfeeding rate has hit an all time high in the past 20 years, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday.

More than three out of four new moms now breast-feed their infants, the report said. About 77 percent of new mothers breast feed, at least briefly, up from 60 percent in 1993-1994, a survey found