Health officials working across Latin America and the Caribbean are recommending a new method of cervical cancer prevention they say is a simpler and more cost-effective alternative to the traditional Pap smear in certain regions of the world.

Food is the top product seen advertised on television by children ages 2-17, and the bulk of those ads feature snack foods and candy, according to a study released in late March by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

American Indian and Alaska Native women in the United States suffer disproportionately high levels of rape and sexual violence, yet the federal government has created substantial barriers to accessing justice, Amnesty International asserted in a 113-page report released in late April.

While drinking alcohol has long been known to cause cancers of the oral cavity, pharynx, larynx, esophagus and liver, the addition of breast cancer and colorectal cancer, two of the most common cancers worldwide, to the list indicates that the burden of cancer attributable to alcohol consumption is higher than previously thought.

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in April announced it is awarding $23 million per year for seven years to establish six Centers of Excellence for Influenza Research and Surveillance.

A committee convened by the World Health Organization has published a report endorsing population-wide strategies to reduce salt consumption as a cost-effective means of lowering blood pressure, thus preventing heart disease, stroke, and other serious health problems.

The gateway to drinking often swings open at home, with parents being the primary suppliers of alcohol to young adolescents, according to a new study from the University of Florida and the University of Minnesota.

Despite the potential for conflict of interest, virtually all practicing physicians in the United States have some form of relationship with pharmaceutical manufacturers. But the nature and extent of those relationships vary, depending on the kind of practice, medical specialty, patient mix, and professional activities, according to a study in the April 26 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

The 1918 Spanish influenza pandemic struck different cities with varying severity, according to two independent studies funded by the National Institutes of Health, not only because of how but also how rapidly different cities responded.

New research has identified an association between mental disorders and nicotine dependence among pregnant women in the United States, not unlike what has been reported in the general population.

People are more likely to walk when they live in neighborhoods where there are more four-way intersections and a diverse mixture of businesses, according to a Rand Corporation study issued in late February.

Most people who take to the wheel after drinking don’t think they’ll wind up behind bars, according to recent University of Florida research.

A neglected tropical disease that has afflicted people since ancient times has moved a step closer towards eradication, according to the World Health Organization. In early March, 12 more countries were declared guinea worm-free by the International Commission for the Certification of Dracunculiasis (guinea-worm disease) Eradication.