The American Red Cross is supporting three relief workers who are joining the international response to flooding in Africa. Extremely heavy rains and flooding have affected more than 1.5 million people in at least 18 countries, driving thousands from their homes, destroying crops and displacing livestock. [click link for full article]

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) thanked France or its proposal to provide naval escorts to protect ships carrying food off the Horn of Africa from pirate attacks. “We are grateful to the Government of France for this generous offer, which would reduce the threat of piracy and allow WFP to feed more hungry people in Somalia,” said WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran at UN headquarters in New York. [click link for full article]

Metropolitan Chicago Breast Cancer Task Force Issues Breast Cancer Disparity Report on October 17 The Chicago Breast Cancer Task Force will hold a press conference at Rush University Medical Center at 10 a.m. on October 17 to announce the group’s recommendations to address breast cancer disparities and improve breast cancer care for all women. [click link for full article]

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Nepal will provide urgently needed humanitarian food aid and non-food items to 5,000 people displaced by communal violence across two districts in western Nepal. [click link for full article]

Extensively drug resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) represents a spectre for the civil society and a major challenge for the TB control community. The ERS has played a key role in fighting XDR-TB, promoting important studies and publishing some of them in the European Respiratory Journal, the scientific publication of the ERS. [click link for full article]

America’s oral health is getting a boost from a nation-wide effort to prevent tooth decay among school children. Oral Health America is working with community dental sealant programs to deliver one million sealants by 2010 to children at risk for tooth decay. Today the organization announced that over 600,000 teeth have been sealed so far. [click link for full article]

Verbal abuse by a teacher is directly associated with early onset of sexual intercourse, especially among girls. Researchers followed 312 children in primary school to examine the links between peer rejection and verbal abuse by a teacher during childhood with early onset of sexual intercourse and the mediating role of delinquent behavior and low self-esteem. [click link for full article]

The results of a large Phase III clinical trial show that women with metastatic breast cancer that has rapidly progressed after prior treatment with chemotherapy, experience 40 percent longer progression-free survival (4.2 to 5.8 months) with an investigational combination chemotherapy than with the current standard treatment. [click link for full article]

A new system to identify developmental problems including disability in premature infants has shown promise. The new system, called the Preterm-Targeted Screening and Surveillance Program, has successfully identified cerebral palsy, developmental and intellectual delays, blindness and deafness in a trial group of 202 premature babies throughout Queensland. [click link for full article]

GlaxoSmithKline Australia (GSK) has advised all pharmacists today that the Serevent (salmeterol xinafoate) Metered Dose Inhaler (MDI) will be discontinued as of 31st December 2007 as its CFC propellant is being phased out in accordance with International Standards.The Serevent Accuhaler continues to be available for the treatment of COPD and asthma and GSK is committed to its ongoing supply. [click link for full article]