Health News Roundup: Kenyan team aim to stop fatal snake bites; Smoke-free laws don't benefit all Americans equally


Reuters | Updated: 30-10-2019 02:34 IST | Created: 30-10-2019 02:30 IST
Health News Roundup: Kenyan team aim to stop fatal snake bites; Smoke-free laws don't benefit all Americans equally

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Federal judge blocks Alabama abortion ban from being enforced

A federal judge blocked Alabama on Tuesday from enforcing the strictest abortion laws in the country, saying the ban on all abortions unless a mother's health was in danger was unconstitutional. Alabama Governor Kay Ivey, a Republican, had signed the bill into law in May and it was due to come into effect on Nov. 15.

Breast cancer takes heavier financial toll on black and rural women

Black women and women in rural areas are more likely to lose their jobs or face pay cuts after being diagnosed with breast cancer than white or urban women, a new study suggests. The study authors surveyed more than 2,000 women in North Carolina who'd been diagnosed with breast cancer about two years earlier. The women, nearly half of whom were black, answered questions such as 'did you lose your job due to your diagnosis?' and 'has there been a decrease in your family income since your diagnosis?'

U.S. sanctions on Iran threaten access to certain medicines: report

U.S. sanctions on Iran threaten access by some Iranians to medicines that treat some diseases such as cancer and epilepsy despite exemptions in the measures for imports of humanitarian goods, a report said on Tuesday. "There's no acute nationwide shortage of medicine in Iran at this point," Tara Sepehri Far, a researcher at Human Rights Watch and an author of the report, said at the Atlantic Council, a think tank in Washington. "But people who are suffering from rare and special diseases are already seeing the negative effect of sanctions."

Samsung, IBM launch platform to improve first responders' safety

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd is partnering with International Business Machines Corp to help improve the work environments for police officers, fire fighters and other first responders, the companies said on Tuesday. IBM's cloud will work with Samsung Galaxy devices to track the health vitals of a worker to determine if that person needs help.

Heavy soda consumption tied to higher fracture risk after menopause

Older women who drink more soda may be more likely to suffer hip fractures than their counterparts who consume little to no soda, a recent study suggests. Researchers examined data on soda consumption, bone health and fractures for more than 70,000 women who were 69 years old on average. Half the women were tracked for at least 12 years. Overall, 2,578 hip fractures occurred during follow-up.

Smoke-free laws don't benefit all Americans equally

Smoke-free laws have helped Americans cut down on combustible cigarettes and helped protect nonsmokers from second-hand smoke, but not all United States regions have benefited equally, a study suggests. As of July 2019, 25 of the 50 U.S. states had adopted comprehensive 100% smoke-free laws in workplaces, restaurants, and bars, and 11 more had laws covering at least one of these areas, the study authors report.

U.S. pitted against Britain, France, South Africa, others at U.N. over abortion

The United States told the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday that it opposed references to sexual and reproductive health and the safe termination of pregnancies, pitting Washington against Britain, France, South Africa and others. While the United States joined its 14 council counterparts to unanimously adopt a resolution on women, peace and security, U.S. Ambassador Kelly Craft said Washington was unhappy that the text mentioned previous resolutions that promote sexual and reproductive health.

Kenyan team aim to stop fatal snake bites

Kenyan mother Beth Mwende heard her sleeping three-year-old cry out, but did not worry further after the child quickly settled - until the next morning, when she found her daughter, Mercy, semi-conscious with two fang marks in the neck. "I did not know that it was a snake," Mwende said, as she recounted going out early to fetch water from a nearby river.

China's New Hope breaks into Southeast Asia pig farming amid disease woes

In a cluster of blue and white buildings nestled deep inside one of southern Vietnam's rubber plantations, China's New Hope Liuhe is busy stocking its first overseas pig farm with young sows. New Hope's efforts in Vietnam illustrate a significant acceleration in its global expansion to increase its overseas revenue to 30% of its total in a few years, said Bai Xubo, securities representative with the company.

J&J says new tests find no asbestos in same baby power bottle that sparked recall

Johnson & Johnson said on Tuesday that 15 new tests found no asbestos in a bottle of baby powder that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration previously said had tested positive for trace amounts of asbestos. The tests are the latest effort by J&J to prove the safety of its widely used consumer product after a test by the FDA prompted J&J to undertake a nationwide recall of one lot of its Johnson's Baby Powder.

Also Read: Rugby Africa earns praises from Mensah for staging Women's Sevens

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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