More than 56,000 children in Asia will die as a result of the economic crisis gripping the world economy, according to the Asian Development Bank.

The sliding growth rate will bring

Chickenpox is a rather common infectious illness among children, particularly those under the age of 12 years. The maximum incidence of the disease is in those aged 1-6 years while children older than 14 years account for only about 10% of cases. Annual global incidence is estimated to be around 80-90 million cases.

Jessica Shepherd

Up to 250,000 children are at risk of malnutrition and disease in southern Madagascar as a political crisis and tropical cyclones exacerbate severe food shortages, the UN children agency said.

UNICEF said that the rains had failed again in the Indian Ocean island's southern region, devastating the last harvest and reducing the amount of safe water available for human consumption.

ICDDRB, the biggest centre for treating intestinal disorders, is reportedly taking 700 diarrhoea patients daily, on average, in Dhaka city. The number of people coming to it's hospital for diarrhoeal treatment, every day, appears to suggests a sort of epidemic. There are different reasons for diarrhoea attacks specially suffered by children. But the main one is unsafe water supply.

A bakery located in Kings Road, Trincomalee has been sealed following a report of the death of an old man and the hospitalizing of 148 others including schoolchildren after consuming buns and other bakery products.

Police spokesman SSP Ranjith Gunaskera said Selvaraja Dhuraisingham (62) died possibly from food poisoning after admission to the Trincomalee hospital.

Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid yesterday said the government wants to set up schools at around 2000 remote villages which lack presence of education institutions.

The lagging performance of American schoolchildren, particularly among poor and minority students, has had a negative economic impact on the country that exceeds that of the current recession, according to a report released on Wednesday.