Global Health

Perhaps you were thinking that removing your pubic hair was giving you a nice clean look? Think again, says a group of dermatologists. Writing in a sister publication of the British Medical Journal , two French dermatologists and a global health researcher from Emory University have suggested that an upsurge in the spread of the sexually transmitted molluscum cantagiosum virus over the last decade may be attributable to the trend of shaving...

Perhaps you were thinking that removing your pubic hair was giving you a nice clean look? Think again, says a group of dermatologists. Writing in a sister publication of the British Medical Journal , two French dermatologists and a global health researcher from Emory University have suggested that an upsurge in the spread of the sexually transmitted molluscum cantagiosum virus over the last decade may be attributable to the trend of shaving...

Health-supplement maker Global Health Sciences Inc. in Orange said Tuesday that a New Jersey company has agreed to buy the assets of Global unit American Ingredients Inc. Terms were not released. Global, which defaulted on $225 million in debt payments in November and filed for bankruptcy protection in January, said in a press release that Pharmachem Laboratories Inc. in Kearny will buy the unit through bankruptcy court proceedings, subject to a higher bid.

NEW YORK -- Rajat Gupta, among the world's most prominent businessmen, may spend years in prison for his role in the Galleon Group insider-trading scheme. Or, Gupta may perform community service as punishment after a judge sentences him Wednesday on three counts of securities fraud and another of conspiracy. A jury convicted him in June. His lawyers have proposed sentencing him to work for a homeless youth shelter in New York or in Rwanda, helping improve health care and develop agriculture in rural areas.

Health-supplement maker Global Health Sciences Inc., which filed for bankruptcy protection in January, said Thursday it has named Dennis Simon interim chief executive. Simon is managing principal at Crossroads LLC, an Irvine consulting firm hired recently by Global Health to assist in the restructuring. Before falling on hard times, Global Health was the largest supplier to Herbalife International Inc., the Los Angeles distributor of herbal and weight-loss supplements.

Nutritional supplement company NBTY Inc. recently acquired Global Health Sciences Inc. in Orange, as well as certain affiliates, for $40 million in cash, less adjustments. NBTY, based in Bohemia, N.Y., was the successful bidder in a court-ordered auction for Global, which filed for bankruptcy protection in January. Before falling on hard times, Global Health was the largest supplier to Herbalife International Inc., the Los Angeles distributor of herbal and weight-loss supplements.

One of every three women worldwide has been beaten, raped or somehow mistreated, according to a sweeping new report that says violence against women should be treated as a global health problem rather than just a law enforcement matter. "I see the health care setting as an opportunity--and right now, it's an opportunity lost," said co-author Lori Heise, who visited at least 20 countries during the last decade, collecting data from 2,000 domestic violence studies.

Ronald Reagan started it, and Bill Clinton stopped it. George W. Bush reinstated it, and now Barack Obama is reversing it. As much as Obama is right to overturn the ban on funding for foreign aid groups that provide or even mention abortions, it's time to end the eight-year whiplash cycle for nonprofits. Congress should make it law that this country will fund abortion services as part of its international health aid.

A large Southern California nutritional supplement company is in dire financial trouble after losing much of its business supplying Herbalife International Inc. after the sudden death of Herbalife founder Mark Hughes in May. Orange-based Global Health Sciences Inc. faces a Nov. 1 deadline to make a $12.4-million interest payment on $257.

Worldwide deaths for children younger than 5 dropped to an estimated 9.7 million last year, the lowest level since record-keeping began in 1960, the United Nations Children's Fund announced Wednesday. Even as the world population has grown, the number of early childhood deaths has shrunk to less than half its modern peak in 1960, the agency found. At that time, an estimated 20 million children died before reaching their fifth birthday.

WASHINGTON — The World Bank selected Jim Yong Kim, president of Dartmouth College and an expert in public health, as its next president, continuing a seven-decade practice of installing an American citizen to lead the institution. There had been complaints from developing countries that their citizens should have a chance to run the bank. Two other nominees sought the job — Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and a former Colombian finance minister, Jose Antonio Ocampo.

President Obama's decision to nominate a South Korean-born educator and health expert to lead the World Bank — and not someone with experience in global finance or diplomacy — reflects the increasingly fractious politics of international agencies and the need to address growing demands for representation outside the U.S. and Europe, analysts say. Obama's nomination of Dartmouth College President Jim Yong Kim to succeed Robert Zoellick comes...

It’s going to be hard for British teenagers to get a cheap winter tan as it’s now  illegal for under-18s in England and Wales to have access to potentially lethal indoor suntans.   Health clubs, gyms and tanning salons – any business that offers an artificial suntan -- will be fined up to $32,000 (£20,000) for allowing under-18s to use a tanning bed, according to a new law introduced this month.   The Sunbed Regulation Act 2010 has been welcomed by doctors, nongovernmental cancer organizations and health campaigners.  Tanning beds are used by 6% of young Britons, and in cloudier northern England an estimated 11% of 11-17-year-olds are regular sun bed users, says a leading British cancer charity, Cancer Research UK . The charity also says that every year more than 900 young people between age 14 and 34 are diagnosed with skin cancer.  At the rate of two a day, this figure has more than tripled since the late 1970s.

LONDON -- Alarm bells rang in some parts of Britain's health sector as the government unveiled its Health Responsibility Deal on Tuesday. The initiative seeks pledges from industry and public welfare services to tackle growing health problems in society, particularly alcohol abuse. The Responsibility Deal is an appeal to food and drink industry outlets as well as sports and leisure centers to agree to a list of principles that encourage healthier lifestyles with responsible consumption of food and drink.

LONDON — Britain's Department of Health announced a ban on displaying cigarettes in stores around the country on Thursday, the nation's annual "no smoking day. " The action relegates cigarettes to a product kept below the counter. The new law will be introduced gradually, according to a statement from the health agency. It says that in large stores and supermarkets, the visible display of cigarettes, cigars and tobacco products will be illegal from April 2012, while in smaller stores it goes into force in 2015, "except for temporary displays in certain limited circumstances.

A team of European doctors has tested an “artificial pancreas” aimed at helping pregnant women with Type 1 diabetes control their blood sugar. The goal? To lower their risk of having an abnormal birth or a fatal episode of hypoglycemia. Funded by the charitable foundation Diabetes UK , the research explores the during-pregnancy potential of a device the size of a cellphone. This "pancreas" has a continuous glucose monitor and an insulin pump that maintains a reliable level of blood sugar.

A surgeon general's report in 2006 that called on Americans to help tackle global health problems has been kept from the public by a Bush political appointee without any background or expertise in medicine or public health, chiefly because the report did not promote the administration's policy accomplishments, according to current and former public health officials. The report described the link between poverty and poor health, urged the U.S.

WASHINGTON — The World Bank selected Jim Yong Kim, president of Dartmouth College and an expert in public health, as its next president, continuing a seven-decade practice of installing an American citizen to lead the institution. There had been complaints from developing countries that their citizens should have a chance to run the bank. Two other nominees sought the job — Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and a former Colombian finance minister, Jose Antonio Ocampo.