Latest Public health News

Navajo plans to test limit of tribal law restricting the transportation of uranium on its land

Oct. 03, 2024 20:48 PM EDT

PHOENIX (AP) — The Navajo Nation planned Tuesday to test the limits of a tribal law that sets conditions for hauling uranium on its land by ordering tribal police to stop trucks carrying the ore and return to the mine where it was extracted in northern Arizona. But before tribal...

Is the food in the fridge still good? California wants to end the guessing game

Oct. 01, 2024 17:30 PM EDT

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California wants to help end the everyday household debate over whether the food in the fridge is still good to eat. Food labels that say “sell by” or “best before” are misleading because they have no universal meaning under current laws. Now...

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signs laws to curb oil and gas pollution near neighborhoods

Sep. 25, 2024 17:18 PM EDT

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed laws Wednesday to reduce oil and gas pollution — the Democrat’s latest move in an ongoing battle against the fossil fuel industry and its impacts on the environment and public health. The new laws set out to give...

Fluoride in drinking water poses enough risk to merit new EPA action, judge says

Sep. 25, 2024 17:07 PM EDT

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge has ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to further regulate fluoride in drinking water because high levels could pose a risk to the intellectual development of children. U.S. District Judge Edward Chen cautioned that it's not certain...

New York resident dies of rare mosquito-borne virus known as eastern equine encephalitis

Sep. 24, 2024 11:36 AM EDT

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — A person has died in New York state from eastern equine encephalitis, prompting Gov. Kathy Hochul to declare the rare mosquito-borne illness an imminent threat to public health. The death that was reported Monday in Ulster County is apparently the second death...

IOC candidate Samaranch urges European lawmakers to invest in sport as a public health policy

Sep. 24, 2024 08:39 AM EDT

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — IOC presidential candidate Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr. has urged European lawmakers to regard investing in sport as a public health policy in his first keynote speech of a six-month Olympic leadership campaign. “Let’s make this simple: Sport saves lives...

Tulane's public health school secures major gift to expand

Sep. 18, 2024 18:18 PM EDT

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A longtime donor who has given more than $160 million to Tulane University is the new namesake of the university's expanding 112-year-old school of public health, Tulane officials announced Wednesday. The amount of Celia Scott Weatherhead's latest gift wasn't...

Fortified bouillon cubes are seen as a way to curb malnutrition in Africa as climate worsens hunger

Sep. 17, 2024 15:36 PM EDT

IBADAN, Nigeria (AP) — In her cramped, dimly lit kitchen, Idowu Bello leans over a gas cooker while stirring a pot of eba, the thick starchy West African staple made from cassava root. Kidney problems and chronic exhaustion forced the 56-year-old Nigerian woman to retire from teaching, and she...

Boar's Head closing Virginia plant linked to deadly listeria outbreak

Sep. 13, 2024 17:43 PM EDT

Boar’s Head said Friday it’s closing the Virginia plant tied to a deadly listeria outbreak. The Sarasota, Florida-based company said it will also permanently discontinue production of liverwurst, the product that was linked to the deaths of at least nine people and...

How a traveling 'health train' has become an essential source of free care in South Africa

Sep. 12, 2024 06:50 AM EDT

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Thethiwe Mahlangu woke early on a chilly morning and walked through her busy South African township, where minibuses hooted to pick up commuters and smoke from sidewalk breakfast stalls hung in the air. Her eyes had been troubling her. But instead of going to...