New United Nations data shows that global HIV/AIDS infection rates and deaths are down and treatment is up, but new infections remain a serious challenge in certain high-risk groups.In a report launched Tuesday ahead of World AIDS Day on Dec. 1, UNAIDS reports that of the nearly 38 million people globally living with HIV — the virus that causes AIDS — more than 24 million patients are receiving antiretroviral therapy (ARVs). That is a significant increase from nine years ago, when about 7 million people were accessing the life-saving treatment.UNAIDS says about 8 million people do not know they are infected with HIV.AIDS-related deaths worldwide are also down by more than half since 2004. Some 770,000 people died of the disease last year.”The gains continue to be made against the epidemic, but those gains are getting smaller year after year,” said Ninan Varughese, director of the UNAIDS New York office.He …

More than one-third of the United Nation’s Ebola responders in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo city of Beni were relocated Tuesday amid growing insecurity in the area, while the other responders remained to help combat the deadly outbreak.The World Health Organization said a surge in violence in Beni forced 49 “non-critical” staff members to be moved south to Goma.Seventy-one essential staff remained to harness the outbreak in Congo that has left some 2,200 dead, the U.N. health agency said.Violence has hindered efforts to rein in the outbreak that began in August 2018.The military said at least four protesters were killed Monday when they stormed a U.N. compound over a perceived failure of U.N. peacekeepers to prevent attacks by rebel militia groups.Seventy-seven civilians have been killed in the recent surge in violence since November 5, according to the non-profit Congo Research Group.WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier acknowledged the spike in violence …

The majority of Americans, including a growing share of moderate Republicans, are dissatisfied with U.S. government efforts to curb global warming, researchers said on Monday.In a survey by the Pew Research Center, a Washington-based non-partisan think-tank, two-thirds of Americans said U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration was “doing too little” to reduce the effects of climate change. Since taking office, Trump has rolled backed Obama-era rules limiting planet-warming emissions from sectors of the economy such as electricity, transport, and oil and gas.The Trump administration filed paperwork this month to pull the United States out of the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change, while his opponents have championed a “Green New Deal” that seeks to slash U.S. emissions within a decade.In the Pew survey, the proportion of people who said the government was taking too little action to tackle climate change was unchanged from a year ago – but unease among moderate …

More college students are turning to their schools for help with anxiety, depression and other mental health problems, and many must wait weeks for treatment or find help elsewhere as campus clinics struggle to meet demand, an Associated Press review of more than three dozen public universities found.On some campuses, the number of students seeking treatment has nearly doubled over the last five years, while overall enrollment has remained relatively flat. The increase has been tied to reduced stigma around mental health, along with rising rates of depression and other disorders. Universities have expanded their mental health clinics, but the growth is often slow, and demand keeps surging.Long waits have provoked protests at schools from Maryland to California, in some cases following student suicides. Meanwhile, campus counseling centers grapple with low morale and high burnout as staff members face increasingly heavy workloads.”It’s an incredible struggle, to be honest,” said Jamie …

Atmospheric levels of climate-changing greenhouse gases hit a record high in 2018, “with no sign of a slowdown, let alone a decline,” the World Meteorological Organization said.In a report released Monday, the WMO said despite international pledges made under the Paris Agreement, the levels of carbon monoxide, methane and nitrous oxide all surged by higher amounts in 2018 than average for the past decade.The global average of carbon dioxide concentration reached 407.8 parts per million in 2018, up from 405.5 parts per million in 2017, the U.N. agency said. The concentration of methane was the highest recorded since 1998 while the levels of nitrous oxide, which is responsible for eroding the ozone layer was the highest ever recorded.”This continuing long-term trend means that future generations will be confronted with increasingly severe impacts of climate change, including rising temperatures, more extreme weather, water stress, sea level rise and disruption to marine …

Twenty-two people have died from measles in Samoa.All the deaths, except one, were of children younger than five years old, according to Reuters.The South Pacific island has declared a state of emergency, with nearly 2,000 cases of measles reported.The government has initiated a mass mandatory vaccination program.  Samoa said Saturday that 153 cases had been reported in the last 24 hours.  One mother who lost her two-year-old son to the disease told an Australian Broadcasting Company crew that her three oldest sons had been inoculated against the disease, but she was too poor to afford to have her two year old inoculated.  …

As climate change ramps up weather extremes, good forecasts are increasingly important. A new system makes weather predictions anywhere in the world with the same high resolution that previously was only available in wealthy countries. VOA’s Steve Baragona has more. …

U.S. health officials Friday told people to avoid romaine lettuce grown in Salinas, California, because of another food poisoning outbreak.The notice comes almost exactly one year after a similar outbreak led to a blanket warning about romaine.Officials urged Americans not to eat the leafy green if the label doesn’t say where it was grown. They also urged supermarkets and restaurants not to serve or sell the lettuce, unless they’re sure it was grown elsewhere.The warning applies to all types of romaine from the Salinas region, include whole heads, hearts and pre-cut salad mixes.“We’re concerned this romaine could be in other products,” said Laura Gieraltowski, lead investigator of the outbreak at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Voluntary labelingOfficials said their investigation led to farms in Salinas and that they are looking for the source of E. coli tied to the illnesses. Salinas is a major growing region for romaine …

After weeks of mixed signals from President Donald Trump about his administration’s plans to ban flavored vaping products, the White House convened a meeting Friday between proponents and opponents of the electronic cigarette industry.In a spirited discussion that the White House billed as a “listening session,” Trump heard from anti-vaping stakeholders who pleaded with him to stick to his September commitment to ban all flavors in e-cigarettes, including menthol.Anti-vaping activists insist that youth e-cigarette usage is an epidemic fueled largely by kid-friendly flavors such as mango and cotton candy.“We have stories of young people who say, ‘I started because this is cool and literally within days I lost control,’ ” Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said. “Kids sleep with these products, because they need to wake up [to vape] in the middle of the night.”“Parents are in pain and we need you,” Penny Nance, president of Concerned …

The World Health Organization warns escalating violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s North Kivu and Ituri provinces is threatening to reverse major gains made in bringing the region’s Ebola epidemic to an end.  The agency reports 3,298 cases of Ebola, including 2195 deaths, resulting in an overall fatality rate of 67%.Health officials are pleased with the progress that has been made in tackling the Ebola outbreak in recent weeks.  Last week, the World Health Organization recorded only seven cases of this deadly disease, an all-time low.Unfortunately, the agency says an uptick in violence between the national army, FARDC, and the rebel Allied Democratic Forces is threatening these gains.  Executive Director of the WHO Health Emergencies program Mike Ryan says the prevailing lack of access and lack of security is a major obstacle to international efforts to prevent the Ebola virus from spreading.      “We believe we have the resources on …

A new report finds most adolescents around the world do not get enough physical activity on a daily basis to be healthy and to stay healthy as adults. This World Health Organization study presents the first-ever global estimates of insufficient physical activity among adolescents ages 11 to 17.Data for this study was collected from 1.6 million adolescents across 146 countries. It finds girls were less active than boys in all but four countries —Tonga, Samoa, Afghanistan and Zambia.The report says the biggest gender gaps are seen in the United States and Ireland where 15 percent more girls than boys were physically inactive. The World Health Organization recommends adolescents do moderate or vigorous exercises for one hour every day of the week to stay fit.Benefits of exerciseRegina Guthold is a scientist in the WHO’s Department of Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health, and lead author of the study. She says the …

Once a week, a horse track in Harare invites children born with cerebral palsy, a neuromuscular disorder, to visit. But the children don’t simply watch the horses.     Trish Lillie of the Healing with Horses Therapeutic Centre in Harare says her organization is helping kids who cannot afford the recommended speech and physical therapies. Nov. 21, 2019. (Columbus Mavhunga/VOA)The charity is supported by donations from companies and individuals with a mission to help heal children and communities. Stanley Dzingai, 37, brings his 4-year-old child for regular sessions.    “At first my son used to refuse horse therapy, but he is changed and you can see the progress,” Dzingai said. “He couldn’t stand, but now he is standing; he couldn’t sit, and now he can sit. We started recently, but we can see an improvement, a huge one,” in one month’s time. Stanley Dzingai brings his 4-year-old child for regular horse therapy sessions at the Harare site. Nov. 21, 2019. (Columbus Mavhunga/VOA)The U.N. Children’s Fund says the prevalence …

In central Somalia’s Beledweyne district, families still reeling from food shortages and livestock deaths after another year of poor rains were surprised by a new disaster last month: brutal floods that completely submerged homes after the Shabelle River burst its banks.Across the district, 230,000 people were driven from their homes, the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR reported, some fleeing through neck-deep water.“The situation was devastating,” Ahmed Omar Ibrahim, an aid worker with Save the Children, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.In the flood’s aftermath, “all the people (were) out from the town, scattered.”But such disasters may soon no longer catch people unaware. A mobile phone alert system is set to roll out across Somalia, designed to text residents a warning before they are hit by droughts or floods.Such warning systems are increasingly common around the world, but the Somali effort will mark the first time a nationwide mobile phone-based alert system has …

Former Vice President Al Gore said that even though President Donald Trump wants to back out of the Paris Climate Agreement, the U.S. cannot legally pull out until the day after next year’s presidential election.“If there’s a new president — pardon me for a minute,” Gore said to laughs and then loud applause, as he stretched out his arms and looked up. “Now don’t you dare interpret that as a partisan gesture. I have freedom of speech and freedom of prayer,” he joked.Gore’s spirited speech Wednesday night kicked off a series of climate presentations that continued around the globe on Thursday. Called “24 Hours of Reality,” it’s an endeavor of The Climate Reality Project, founded by Gore to educate the public and inspire action on climate change.Gore said some of the more than 20,000 climate activists he’s trained will present their own takes on climate change as the event continues …

With urban populations surging around the world, cities will struggle to keep residents safe from fast-growing heat risks turbo-charged by climate change, scientists and public health experts warned this week.Heat is already the leading cause of deaths from extreme weather in countries including the United States. The problem is particularly severe in cities, where temperature extremes are rising much faster than the global average, they said.Even today, areas where the world’s population is concentrated, such as in Asia’s cities, are seeing warming of four times the global average temperature increase, a Lancet report on health threats from climate change noted this week.”It’s a worldwide problem — in cities in North America, Europe, Asia, Africa,” said Joy Shumake-Guillemot, who leads a joint climate and health office in Switzerland for the World Health Organization and World Meteorological Organization.In coming decades, urban warming “is going to put populations in a position where they’re …

Around the world, national leaders and diplomats have expressed their hopes that the United States will reverse its decision to pull out of the Paris Agreement on fighting climate change. In Washington, some others have chosen to act in small ways rather than wait.    Ambassadors and aides from all 28 members of the European Union joined forces last week with volunteers from Casey Trees, a local conservation group, to plant trees in a Washington city park, hoping to earn goodwill and make a symbolic point with their labor. EU countries’ representatives joined National Park Service staff and volunteers from Casey Trees to plant oak, holly, tuliptree and American elm trees at Montrose Park in northwest Washington, Nov. 15, 2019. (Natalie Liu/VOA)Trees soak up and store some of the excess planet-warming carbon dioxide that human activities produce.”The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago,” the enthusiastic planters were told …