-AP   Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Nepal and some of the world’s other poorest countries helped lead the way over the past year as U.N. member states began meeting their unprecedented pledge of more than $40 billion for maternal and child health, a new study of the spending says. The spending report is being released Tuesday at a high-level event chaired by U.N. Secretary-General Mr. Ki-moon, who has made raising money for the health of...

-The United Nations   A United Nations human rights expert today called for taxing unhealthy food, regulating harmful marketing practices and standing up to the food industry, urging world leaders not to miss the chance at a summit next week to end a state of affairs that kills nearly 3 million adults each year. “Voluntary guidelines are not enough. World leaders must not bow to industry pressure,” Special Rapporteur on the Right to...

-The United Nations   The United Nations is set to launch an all-out attack next week on non-communicable diseases (NCDs), bringing together dozens of heads of State to promote the lifestyle changes needed to curb the soaring toll of a scourge that already causes over 63 per cent of all the world’s deaths. The high level General Assembly meeting, held at the start of its annual General Debate on Monday and Tuesday, is...

-PTI   A staggering number of around one lakh HIV-AIDS positive people are availing the anti-retro viral therapy (ART) in government medical facilities of Maharashtra, which is the number two state in the country in prevalence of the dreaded disease. Maharashtra, which comes next to Andhra Pradesh in HIV-AIDS prevalence -- accounting for 18 per cent of the afflicted population in India -- has launched a multi-pronged drive to curb the menace, initiating...

-The United Nations   A new report by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) highlights significant gaps in areas such as education and health, mostly favouring males, as boys and girls in developing countries grow older. “While there is little difference between boys and girls in early childhood with respect to nutrition, health, education and other basic indicators, differences by gender appear increasingly more pronounced during adolescence and young adulthood,” said Geeta Rao...