CDC study: Drug deaths surpass traffic fatalities in 16 states

ATLANTA — In 16 states and counting, drugs now kill more people than auto accidents do, the government said Wednesday.

CDC: Drug deaths surpassing traffic fatalities in more states; states affected double to 16

ATLANTA — Drug-related deaths outnumber those from motor vehicle accidents in a growing number of states, according to new government data that highlight a shift in the top cause of deaths after disease and illness.

UN report: Death rate for children under 5 still declining

UNITED NATIONS — It is unacceptable that 8.8 million children die every year before their fifth birthday — 40 percent of them in India, Nigeria and Congo, the U.N. children’s agency said Thursday.

Amnesty International says rural and Indian pregnant women in Peru get unequal health care

LIMA, Peru — Peru’s government doesn’t provide adequate care for pregnant women in the impoverished highlands and jungle, a failure reflected in one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the hemisphere, a human rights group said Thursday.

Russian study: Alcohol to blame for half of Russian deaths in era following Soviet collapse

MOSCOW — A new study by an international team of public health researchers documents the devastating impact of alcohol abuse on Russia — showing that drinking caused more than half of deaths among Russians aged 15 to 54 in the turbulent era following the Soviet collapse.

PROMISES, PROMISES: For many American Indians, free health care is a treaty promise not kept

CROW AGENCY, Mont. — Ta’Shon Rain Little Light, a happy little girl who loved to dance and dress up in traditional American Indian clothes, had stopped eating and walking. She complained constantly to her mother that her stomach hurt.

Mexico’s caseload grows but no new deaths as flu-fighters seek answers

MEXICO CITY — Mexican officials were cautiously optimistic Saturday that the worst of the swine flu epidemic is over for Mexico, with no new flu deaths reported overnight. But the virus keeps spreading around the world, with new cases confirmed in Europe and Asia, and some governments banning flights and preparing quarantines for travelers from Mexico.

Inside flu-fighters’ nerve center in Mexico, multinational science team seeks answers

MEXICO CITY — The leader of an international team helping Mexico face down the swine flu outbreak said it should soon learn whether the epidemic is really stabilizing in Mexico, but that many key questions about how the disease kills still need to be answered.

Flu presents challenge to scientists: How lethal is it and why so much deadlier in Mexico?

ATLANTA — Mexico’s health secretary may have thought he was allaying fears about swine flu when he suggested that the nation’s swine flu death rate was 6 or 7 percent. In reality, that would mean a monstrous killer virus — and no experts are close to saying that. The secretary’s comment reflects how much remains unknown about the new flu virus — most notably how lethal it is and why it seems so much deadlier in Mexico than anywhere else.