Free Republic

December 3, 2002 C.I.A. Hunts Iraq Tie to Soviet SmallpoxBy JUDITH MILLER he C.I.A. is investigating an informant's accusation that Iraq obtained a particularly virulent strain of smallpox from a Russian scientist who worked in a smallpox lab in Moscow during Soviet times, senior American officials and foreign scientists say. The officials said several American scientists were told in August that Iraq might have obtained the mysterious strain from Nelja N. Maltseva, a virologist who worked for more than 30 years at the Research Institute for Viral Preparations in Moscow before her death two years ago. The information came to...

The World Health Organization says the health of young people throughout Eastern Europe and Central Asia is suffering, as they are increasingly exposed to the so-called "benefits" of western life. The European Committee of the WHO concluded a week-long session in Vienna to discuss the increasing health problems of young people in Eastern and Central Europe, Russia, Turkey, the Caucasus and central Asia. More than 300 representatives from 52 countries paid special attention to the increasing problems faced by children and adolescents related to alcohol and drug abuse and smoking, as well as behaviour problems and violence. Studies show that...

Agreement reached on global Framework Convention on Tobacco Control "Major step forward for health of peoples and nations" - Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland 1 March 2003 | GENEVA -- 171 Member States of the World Health Organization (WHO) have finalized a groundbreaking public health treaty to control tobacco supply and consumption. They agreed on a final text for a WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) governing tobacco taxation, smoking prevention and treatment, illicit trade, advertising, sponsorship and promotion, and product regulation. The negotiations, the final round of which began on 17 February, conclude four years of work to...

WHO sets out world's deadly top 10 Andy Coghlan 12:00 30 Oct 2002 Just 10 avoidable risk factors, including malnutrition, unsafe sex, smoking and poor sanitation, account for a massive 40 per cent of global deaths each year, warns the World Health Organization. The WHO's new data on patterns of death and illness appear in its World Health Report 2002, launched on Wednesday. The WHO says that cheap remedies exist and that governments of all countries can do more to prevent unnecessary and premature death. It concludes such countermeasures could extend average life expectancy by five to 10 years. "This...

<p>Americans have donated more than $10.3 million to aid Afghan children in the 10 months since President Bush asked them to help in a televised address.</p> <p>But the program was marred last week when two men who worked at Bolling Air Force Base in Washington, D.C., screening White House mail were arrested and charged with stealing thousands of dollars, including cash donations sent by children.</p>