leaders
At Risk

WHO, China Leaders Plan Battle Against Wuhan Virus

BEIJING, China, January 29, 2020 (ENS) – Director-General of the World Health Organization, WHO, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, met Tuesday with China’s President Xi Jinping in Beijing. They shared the latest information on the novel coronavirus 2019 (2019-nCoV) outbreak and reiterated their commitment to bring the deadly virus under control. […]

Premier Li
Health

Wuhan CoronaVirus Spreading, More Than 80 Have Died

WUHAN, China, January 27, 2020 (ENS) – A new strain of coronavirus is worrying doctors at the World Health Organization, WHO, and medical officials around the world. Doctors call it 2019-nCoV, but it’s more commonly known as the Wuhan coronavirus, named after the place where the virus emerged in December, Wuhan City, the capital of central China’s Hubei Province. […]

Health

More Women, Children Surviving Perils of Childbirth

NEW YORK, New York, September 19, 2019 (ENS) – Around the world, more women and their children are surviving today than ever before, according to new child and maternal mortality estimates released today by United Nations groups led by the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, and the World Health Organization, WHO. […]

hospital
Air/Climate

Health Care’s Big Global Climate Footprint

LONDON, UK, September 13, 2019 (ENS) – If the global health care sector were a country, it would be the fifth-largest greenhouse gas emitter on the planet, according to a new report by Health Care Without Harm in collaboration with Arup, which provides engineering, design, and project management for the built environment. […]

mothers
Health

Global Population to Hit 11 Billion by 2100, Then Slow

NEW YORK, New York, June 17, 2019 (ENS) – There will be roughly 9.7 billion people living on Earth by the year 2050, an increase of two billion over today’s population, finds a UN population report released today. India is predicted to overtake China, today’s most populous country by 2050; and the population of sub-Saharan Africa is projected to double. […]

spices
Health

Curry Spices Ease Air Pollution Breathing Problems

OSAKA, Japan, April 14, 2019 (ENS) – Spices often used in curry can counteract respiratory problems caused by fine particle pollution in the air, finds a joint study by Japanese curry roux maker House Foods Corp. and a professor at state-run Kyoto University. […]

smog
Air/Climate

COP24: Cooler Climate Could Save a Million Lives a Year

KATOWICE, Poland, December 5, 2018 (ENS) – Meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement on climate could save about a million lives a year worldwide by 2050 through reductions in air pollution alone, finds a new World Health Organization report released today at COP24, the ongoing UN climate conference. […]

cancer
Health

Worldwide Cancer Burden Growing Year by Year

GENEVA, Switzerland, September 12, 2018 (ENS) – The global cancer burden is estimated to have risen to 18.1 million new cases and 9.6 million deaths in 2018, according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer, IARC, which today released the latest estimates in a new report. […]

mosquito
Health

Mosquito ‘Danger Days’ Multiply as Climate Warms

PRINCETON, New Jersey, August 14, 2018 (ENS) – Sicknesses from mosquito, tick, and flea bites have tripled in the United States during the 13 years from 2004 through 2016. Nine new germs spread by mosquitoes and ticks found in the United States during this time, according to the latest “Vital Signs” report by the Centers for Disease Control. […]

mosquito
Health

Mosquito & Tick-borne Viruses Thrive on Climate Change

BRUSSELS, Belgium, March 19, 2018 (ENS) – Enabled by climate change, international travel and international trade, disease-bearing insects are spreading to ever-wider parts of the world. They have existed in Africa and Asia for many years and are now becoming more widespread. […]

child
Health

Childhood Lead Exposure Linked to Teen Delinquency

CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts, March 13, 2018 (ENS) – Two Harvard researchers who examined the racial ecology of lead exposure as a form of environmental inequity have concluded that lead exposure in childhood is linked to antisocial behavior in adolescence, although not directly linked to arrests. […]

pones
Health

California Issues Warning on Cell Phone Radiation

SACRAMENTO, California, January 9, 2018 (ENS) – There are now more cell phones in the United States than there are people. As smartphone use continues to increase, the California Department of Public Health has issued its first guide for people who want to decrease their exposure to the radio frequency energy that cell phones emit. […]

mouse fetuses
Health

Zika Virus in Mice Blocked by New Drug

ST. LOUIS, Missouri, September 27, 2017 (ENS) – An antibody that protects against the dengue virus has also proved to be effective against the Zika virus in mice, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis announced Wednesday. […]

Minamata
Health

Minamata Convention on Mercury Enters into Force

NEW YORK, New York, August 16, 2017 (ENS) – The world’s first treaty to protect the environment and human health in nearly a decade, the Minamata Convention on Mercury, enters into force today, committing 74 countries, including the United States, to reducing the risks to human health and the environment from the release of mercury. […]

kids
Health

Baby Teeth Link Autism and Heavy Metals Exposure

NEW YORK, New York, June 1, 2017 (ENS) – Baby teeth from children with autism contain more toxic lead and less of the essential nutrients zinc and manganese, compared to teeth from children without autism, according to an innovative study funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. […]

spray
Food

U.S. EPA Greenlights Pesticide Harmful to Children

WASHINGTON, DC, April 5, 2017 (ENS) – Effective today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is denying a petition by two environmental groups who ask that the agency revoke all food residue tolerances for the pesticide chlorpyrifos. But the groups went back to court today to appeal that decision. […]

boys
Health

Flame Retardants Linked to Child Aggression, Bullying

CORVALLIS, Oregon, March 11, 2017 (ENS) – There is no doubt that flame retardant chemicals added to furniture, carpeting electronics and vehicles to halt or slow fires do save lives. But these chemicals can affect the social development of young children, new research has found. […]

child
Health

Pollution Kills 1.7 Million Children a Year

GENEVA, Switzerland, March 6, 2017 (ENS) – Every year, environmental risks such as indoor and outdoor air pollution, second-hand smoke, tainted water, lack of sanitation, and inadequate hygiene, take the lives of 1.7 million children under five years of age, warn two new reports from the World Health Organization. […]