Nations United met off the coast of destroy the last virus of smallpox

Geneva - health everywhere in the world, the Ministers agreed Tuesday to put off setting a deadline to destroy the last known stocks of virus of smallpox for three more years, rejecting a U.S. plan which called for a period of five years.

After two days of heated debate, the world the 193-nation Health Assembly agreed by consensus to a compromise that calls for a further review in 2014.

The United States had proposed an extension of five years to destroy the stocks American and Russian, arguing that other necessary research and stocks could help prevent one of the deadliest diseases in the world being used as a biological weapon.

But other Ministers in the decision-making Assembly of the World Health Organization said they saw little reason to conserve stocks and objected to the delay in their destruction.

Dr. Nils Daulaire, head of the U.S. Office of Global Health Affairs and the American delegate leader in the Assembly, has expressed some disappointment but said that the compromise was satisfactory.

"Three years is a reasonable period of time of the next revision", he told journalists. "It is clear that during this period of time, we anticipate there will be significant progress in research on antivirals and vaccines and diagnosis."

The Assembly declared smallpox officially eradicated in 1980, and the United Nations health agency has been discussed, whether to destroy the virus since 1986.

Then in 2007, the Assembly asked who is Director-General to oversee a thorough review of the situation so that the 2011 Assembly can agree on the destroy the last known stocks.

WHO officials said in a statement that the Assembly "strongly reaffirmed the decision of previous assemblies that remaining stocks of smallpox (variola) virus" should be destroyed in critical research based on the virus have been completed. ""

But the Assembly will once again faced with a decision over just when that up to three years from now.

The Assembly, as the General Assembly of the United Nations, is a global forum whose decisions are not legally binding, but moral weight. Therefore even if the Assembly has finally fixed a date for the destruction of stocks, it cannot force the United States and the Russia to comply.

Mozambique aims to reduce mortality from measles by 98%: United Nations (AFP)

MARRACUENE Mozambique (AFP) - plans Mozambique for $ 3.6 million children vaccinated against measles over the next five days to reduce the mortality of 98 per cent at the end of 2012, an official of the foundation of the United Nations said Sunday.

This will bring the country of southern Africa more closely to a purpose of a world Organization (who) signed by 46 countries in sub-Saharan Africa to reduce mortality from measles from 98 per cent.

"This campaign was established in Mozambique in a position to be the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to achieve the goal of 2012," said Andrea Gay, Director General for the health of children in the United Nations Foundation.

Responsible for health across the country will be vaccinated children less than five years from Monday to Friday in a campaign of 4.5 million (three million euros).

Representatives of who, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the U.S. former Senator Bob Bennett inspected the preparations to the hospital in Marracuene district outside the capital of Mozambique Maputo before the start of the campaign.

One of the poorest countries of the world, Mozambique has improved vaccination against measles for 74.1% of the population.

"Globally we can eradicate measles by 2020," said Gay.

Increased campaign of vaccination in Mozambique has helped to reduce the number of infections an epidemic in 2010, according to a statement by UNICEF and who.

The country recorded 434 cases, down 197 000 cases in 2007.

"It is very rare for doctors to find cases of measles in Mozambique today", Health Minister Paulo Ivo Garridohe told the State AIM news agency.

The country of 22.1 million inhabitants is subject to flooding and access to medical care is limited.

End of life care differ between the United States to the Canada, study finds

 the end of life for older people with advanced lung cancer care differ from the United States and in the Canadian province of Ontario, according to a new study.

U.S. patients receive much more chemotherapy, while patients in Ontario use much more of hospital services and the emergency room, according to the analysis of data from the U.S. Government and the Ontario Cancer Registry. Information was collected for persons 65 and over who dies in non-small cell lung cancer between 1999 and 2003.

Health care services have been widely used by patients in the two countries, particularly in the last month of life. More than two times more people in Ontario died in a hospital (48.5% vs 20.4%), even though most of the patients in Ontario have said they want to die at home, the study said.

The United States and the Canada seniors receive government-funded health care, but there are differences in the coverage of end of life. In the United States, palliative care for qualified patients covered by Medicare. Ontario is no palliative care program comparable to what is available in the United States, but the province offers palliative care hospital units, ambulatory services and care at home.

According to the researchers, the lack of the Canada palliative care services contributes to higher rates of Ontario visits hospital and the room of death in the hospital and emergency.

The findings, published online may 18 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, could help to show decision makers and planners of health where changes in practices or programs could improve care for the dyingthe researchers said.

End of life care also vary from one region to the United States and Canada, Dr. David Goodman, the Dartmouth Institute for health and clinical practice policy, wrote in an accompanying editorial newspaper.

In addition, patient preferences vary from one person to another, and these preferences are often unknown, he said. The best type of end-of life care, said Goodman, involves the patient in decision making.

Food Agency of the United Nations AIDS Central Asia with the locust crisis

Food and Agriculture Organization said Thursday it will contribute to ten countries of Central Asia and the Caucasus to save farmland from a crisis of locust threatening food security for 20 million people.

"Locusts are a serious threat to agriculture, food security and livelihoods in both regions, including adjacent areas in the North of the Afghanistan and the Federation of southern Russia," the Rome-based FAO said in a statement.

Food agency said it was about to start a five-year program to save up to 25 million hectares of cultivated land, with the help of the United States.

Many countries have requested the assistance of FAO to stop the swarms of locusts, which are able to fly up to 100 kilometres (60 miles) a day and adapt readily to weather models, including climate change.

"As borders are located through traditional habitats of locusts and areas, breeding when a country faces locust infestations, it is likely that at least a neighbouring country is facing a similar situation""locust expert FAO Annie Monard said."

The Agency said that the program hopes to introduce new techniques in locust using less hazardous pesticides for the environment, including bio-pesticides.

Nursing homes in the United States of 1 to 7 cited for poor control of Infection

almost one in seven nursing homes is cited for gaps in infection control practices each year, shows new research.

Infections are the leading cause of disease and death in U.S. nursing homes, claiming nearly 400 000 lives each year.

Before receiving reimbursement for Medicare or Medicaid, nursing homes must meet certain standards. Those who do not are issued citations of deficiency.

A new study published in the issue of the American Journal of Infection Control examined the documents of reference deficiency used in Medicare and Medicaid certification between 2000 and May 2007. The data represented 96 per cent of all the facilities of nursing home of the United States, according to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health.

About 15% of U.S. nursing homes received a lack of citations for the control of the infection each year.

The researchers concluded that there is a strong correlation between the low staffing levels in these nursing homes and the receipt of a quote from infection control deficiency.

The authors of the study, "our analysis can provide clues as to the reason for the problems of persistent infection control in nursing homes," said in a press release. The researchers noted that when facing staffing shortages, aid-nurses, licensed practical nurses and nurses may be precipitated and can crop on infection control measures, such as washing their hands proper.

The high number of citations deficiency suggests there is a need for infection prevention programs protect the elderly, the study noted. A number of States have already adopted laws that apply to practices of prevention of infections in long-term care facilities.

Rising obesity rates add to the woes of arthritis in the United States. (HealthDay)

the rate of increase in obesity among the 50 million Americans with arthritis are of concern because excess weight is associated with problems increased for arthritis patients, according to a new study.

Among the people with arthritis, obesity is associated with the progression of the disease, reduced activity, disability, lower quality of life, Arthroplasty, total and poor results after the replacement of joints.

The study, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the United States researchers analyzed data from 2003 to 2009 behavioral risk factors Surveillance System and found that the prevalence of obesity in adults with arthritis was 54 per cent higher than in adults without arthritis.

During this period, the prevalence of obesity among American adults with arthritis was significantly increased in 14 States and Puerto Rico, has decreased in the District of Columbia, and remained the same elsewhere.

In 2009, the number of States in which more than 30 percent of adults with arthritis were obese increased 38 (including D.C.) in 2003 to 48. The number of States, which more than 40 percent of adults with arthritis were obese increased from zero in 2005 to seven in 2007 and 12 in 2009, investigators found.

The prevalence of obesity median State in adults with arthritis rose from 33.2% in 2003 to 35.2% in 2009. In 2003, the prevalence ranged from 40.1% in Ohio to 25.1% in Colorado. In 2009, the prevalence varied from 43.5% in Louisiana to 26.9% in Colorado.

The results highlight the urgent need to develop programs to prevent obesity in patients with arthritis and promote treatment and management of the disease, researchers said.

The study appears in the number of April 29 of morbidity and mortality Weekly Report, published by the CDC.

The United States, about 50 million adults have arthritis and approximately 72.5 million adults are obese. Estimated annual medical expenses are 128 billion for arthritis and 147 billion for obesity.