Vietnam has asked international health experts to help investigate a mystery illness that has killed 19 people and sickened 171 others in Quang Ngai Province, an official said Friday.

The special squad formed by the food safety designated officer in the district raided eight tanker trucks that distribute drinking water and took samples from eight water sources from the Thiruvankulam and Irimpanam areas on Monday.

The raids were conducted after the squad received a tip-off that there had been a huge volume of contamination in the distribution of water across the district.

Government could soon force cigarette makers to sell plain, brand-free packets as it seeks to encourage more smokers to quit.

SHILLONG: The rise in the number of cancer cases in Meghalaya with a total of 2620 reported cases during the last five years is a matter of concern for the State Government, said Meghalaya Health Minister Rowell Lyngdoh. The disease in on the rise and the State Government has taken up various health programmes to control the disease.

Talking to reporters, Lyngdoh said that the statistics available with the Health Department recorded that in 2006, the reported cases of cancer was only 303. In 2007, the number of people affected with the disease went up to 457 and in 2008, it was 464. In 2009,

Inadequate sanitation causes Pakistan economic losses totalling $5.7 billion or Rs 343.7 billion each year. This is equivalent to 3.9 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).

With swine flu cases being reported from various parts of the country, the Delhi government on Tuesday said hospitals in the capital were prepared to deal with the virus.

"Delhi hospitals are well prepared for swine flu. Hospitals have been earmarked for swine flu patients," said Delhi Health Minister Ashok Walia.

Scientists claim to have developed a “universal” cancer vaccine that can train patients’ own bodies to seek out and destroy tumour cells.

A team from Tel Aviv University and drug company Vaxil Biotheraputics say the therapy targets a molecule found in 90 per cent of all cancers, and could soon pave the way for a universal injection that allows patients’ immune systems to fight off common cancers including breast and prostate cancer.

Doctors suspect virus could have mutated

The ghost of Influenza A (H1N1) which spooked the State three years ago has returned to haunt it again. The State Health and Family Welfare Department has said that the disease has killed three persons since January 2012.