Alberta health officials and Roman Catholic Church leaders in the province have turned a vaccination issue into a public debate, when the Calgary Catholic School Division disallowed schoolgirls to receive vaccination against the sexually transmitted human papilloma virus or HPV.

The Calgary Herald reported that Bishop Fred Henry believes that vaccination against STDs is in effect allowing sexual promiscuity and premarital sex among Catholic schoolgirls

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a vaccine that treats five childhood ailments in a single dose. Pentacel would reduce the number of injections children get before they are 18 months old by as many as one-third.

It is the first 5-in-1 pediatric combination for immunization against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio and Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib). The vaccine is approved for administration as a four-dose series at two, four, six and 15 to 18 months of age. The first dose may be given as early as six weeks of age

Two United Nations agencies have signed an agreement aimed at slashing costs of vaccines for Afghans and locals living in and around Pakistan's refugee settlements.

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) signed the agreement here on Sunday, a U.N press statement said Monday. UNICEF will obtain vaccines on behalf of the UNHCR based on the current UNICEF supply catalogue and price list or other estimates provided by UNICEF - which are lower than what the other agency pays, according to the memorandum of understanding

The United Nations health agency has appealed for $28 million to fund a six-month action plan to help survivors of this month's catastrophic cyclone in Myanmar.

The plan is designed for the areas most affected by Cyclone Nargis earlier this month - the Ayeyarwady Delta region and the country's biggest city, Yangon- with a particular focus on people living in temporary shelters and relocations, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a press statement

A breathing machine called an iron lung that kept a polio victim alive for almost 60 years stopped working Wednesday due to a power outage, causing the woman's death.

Dianne Odell, 61, died when family members watching her were unable to start an emergency generator to run the seven-foot long, 750-pound cylindrical chamber that helped her lungs work. Emergency crews that rushed to Odell's home near Jackson were unable to give help