Of the 74 districts monitored in February, five reported 189 incidents of child mortality as compared to the preceding month when 157 children died in seven districts.

Also, 51 such deaths were recorded in seven districts in December, says a Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) report issued here on Tuesday.

Child mortality refers to children who died before attaining five years of age.

While on average there were seven deaths per district in December and 22 in January, the month of February had on average 38 children dying before their 5th birthday.

Over 100 people in Munjai village of Lower Dir have been suffering from cutaneous leishmaniasis, a skin disease caused by a bite of a specific mosquito or sand fly, which a local doctor say has no medical cure.

Relief International district project manager Mr Abdullah told media persons here on Friday that people of every age, including children, in the village were found with leshmniasis.
He said that during a visit to the village he noted that the disease was fast spreading.

The World Health Organisation said Monday it was ‘concerned’ about an outbreak of a mysterious skin disease in central Vietnam which has killed 19 people, mostly children.
More than 170 people have fallen ill with the unidentified illness, which causes stiffness in the limbs and ulcers on victims’ hands and feet that look like severe burns.
‘We are concerned about this. WHO is very aware of this case,’ said Wu Guogao, the organisation’s chief officer in Hanoi, adding Vietnam had not asked for help with an investigation into the outbreak.

The recent reports on arsenic contamination throughout the country are alarming. Over 7 crore people are said to be at risk from arsenic contamination, while over 2 crore people are actually drinking unsafe water. Though the current government in its last election manifesto had promised arsenic-free water supply to the people, it is yet to fulfil the promise.

Skin cancer is on the rise among young adults, according to a US study published Monday that suggests indoor tanning beds and childhood sunburns may be to blame.
Between 1970 and 2009, the rate of melanoma among women increased eightfold and quadrupled among men, according to the research by Mayo Clinic experts who studied all medical records for a county in Minnesota over that time-span.
However, death rates from melanoma fell during the same period, suggesting that early interventions may be helping to save some lives, said the researchers.

Farmers and the food industry are asking the Obama administration to ease coming federal guidance that will advise consumers to minimize their intake of dioxins, chemicals that may be harmful at certain levels.

The standards would, for the first time, set a limit on how much dioxin Americans can be exposed to and still be safe. The Environmental Protection Agency is expected to release the guidelines in January.

Agartala: Garbage collections in Agartala Municipal Council (AMC) area remained halted for the eighth consecutive day on Tuesday following blockade by the residents around the existing dumping ground of the city.

Thailand's hundreds of thousands of flood victims are at risk of water-borne diseases and infections, the World Health Organisation said Saturday, though no major outbreaks have been reported yet.

The spread of communicable diseases such as diarrhoea, respiratory illness and conjunctivitis among displaced flood victims in shelters was a key concern, the country's WHO representativeMaureen Birmingham told AFP.

Flood-affected people also faced an increased risk of skin fungal infections and leptospirosis, a bacterial infection spread through contaminated water, she said.

The sacred sindoor (vermilion), a symbol of married Hindu women and also liberally used at Hindu shrines, will have to comply with safety standards.
The Drug Technical Advisory Board has decided to regulate the sale and quality of sindoor. It is being brought under Schedule S of the Drugs and Cosmetics rules, making it a “cosmetic”.

About 90 per cent of people in Dodo Panhwar village in the vicinity of evaporation ponds of the BHP-Zamzama gas plant, 15 kilometres from here, suffer from skin, eye and abdominal diseases apparently because of toxic fumes spreading in the air from the ponds.

Hafiz Abu Bakar Panhwar, who lives in the village which is separated from the ponds by only a narrow road strip, said that the water in the ponds was highly toxic and emitted toxic fumes, which had caused chest diseases among all his family members.