By Lara Holmes

The Mexican government patented the first vaccine against heroin, as part of efforts to combat addiction in the country, reported yesterday the national press.

The Health Secretary Salomon Chertorivski made ​​the announcement during a ceremony program called Technology Transfer Network for the Care of Addictions.

By Lara Holmes

The credit rating agency Standard and Poor's (S & P) warned Monday that rising government spending on health is likely to harm the sovereign creditworthiness of the G20 countries from 2015.

In a report published Monday in London, the agency expected a deterioration in the credit health of these countries if they do not control health spending through a policy of additional measures

By Lara Holmes

The study, published in its latest issue the journal Neurology, involved 1450 elderly aged 70 and 89 years who were followed for three years.

In this period, a total of 296 participants developed this deterioration, which suggests an incidence rate of 6 percent annually. However, when analyzing the data by sex was observed that, among men, the incidence rate was 7 percent, compared with 5 percent found in women.

By Lara Holmes

Until last Friday in Hidalgo there were recorded 212 cases of influenza of all types, of which 207 are for A-H1N1, and they have confirmed five deaths associated with other diseases and / or risk factors, as well as the late service request, evolving favorably 9 out of 10 patients with outpatient treatment, which were released.

This was announced by the Ministry of Health of the State of Hidalgo, after cutting that is performed every Friday at the national level to inform, evaluate and point out the plan of intent to the seasonal flu and prevention measures to be applied in Federal states and the District local authorities and the federal IMSS and ISSSTE in the states.

By Lara Holmes

Between 2004 and 2009, the number of home births in the U.S. increased by 29 percent, leading to 29,650 babies born at home in 2009. This new trend was reported in the report, Home Births in the United States, 1990-2009 by the National Center for Health Statistics.

The cause of this developing trend remains unclear. However, between 1990 and 2004, the number of reported home births was decreasing, from 0.67 percent to 0.56 percent. In 2009, 0.72 percent of babies are born at home.

By Lara Holmes

Jean-Claude Mas,the owner of a French breast implant maker that sparked a safety scare, faces charges of involuntary injury, his lawyer says.

He said Poly Implant Prothese (PIP) founder Jean-Claude Mas, 72, had been freed on bail of 100,000 euro ($130,000).

By Lara Holmes

With a total of three deaths and 44 cases of leptospirosis recorded in 2011, the Ministry of Health in Barbados is urging residents to protect themselves against the disease.

According to Senior Medical Officer of Health - North, Dr Karen Springer, there were six recorded cases in the first half of the year and that number tripled for the last six months of 2011.

By Lara Holmes

The President of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos, on Tuesday asked the new Minister of Health, Beatriz Londoño Soto, to have as one of the priorities of her management of the hospital system the recovery in the country making a great effort for hospitals under intensive care.

The request was made by the Head of State during the inauguration of the official, who was in the presidential palace, along with the new director of the National Planning Department, Mauricio Santamaria.