To many people, tuberculosis evokes images of 19th-century sanatoriums. It seems like an old-fashioned disease that was conquered long ago. Or else TB is seen as a "marginal" illness affecting only the down-and-out.

More than hundred children were killed by dengue fever this year in Cambodia and it is expected that the disease will spread when the rainy season peaks during the next few months, health officials said Friday.

The United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) today called on countries to provide a network of community health services to alleviate the hardships faced by the nearly 54 million people around the world suffering from mental disorders as well as those caring for them.

U.S. health officials have quarantined an airline passenger who may have exposed others to a potentially dangerous form of tuberculosis. The unusual decision was made after the passenger took flights from the U.S. to Europe, then to Montreal, Canada before reentering the United States.

The U.N. health agency issued its strongest recommendations to ban smoking at indoor workplaces and in public buildings. Tobacco use is the world's leading cause of preventable death, accounting for 10 percent of adult fatalities, according to WHO.

Two of three promised samples of bird flu in China have arrived in the U.S., the WHO said. The samples are the first sent by Beijing in a year. The sample updates of the H5N1 virus from China's Health Ministry are awaiting customs clearance, said Joanna Brent, a spokeswoman for WHO's Beijing office.

The supreme decision-making body of the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) wrapped up its annual session today, reaching last-minute agreements on pandemic influenza preparedness and access to medicines for the poor.

The World Health Assembly is considering a Global Action Plan Against Cancer that emphasizes prevention as the best cure. The World Health Organization reports cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide, with more than 70 percent of these deaths occurring in low and middle income countries.

The effort to contain deadly yellow fever, recently resurgent in West Africa, received a boost today at the annual policy meeting of the United Nations health agency, with the launch of an immunization campaign backed by a $58 million contribution.

Another African epidemic is taking the spotlight, cancer. Experts say aging and infectious diseases are increasing Africa's cancer burden. A new non-governmental group is trying to raise global awareness of the problem and held a meeting recently in London that brought together African health ministers and other interested participants.

In an opening address to the 60th World Health Assembly, the decision-making body of the World Health Organization, WHO Director-General Margaret Chan promised to vigorously work to improve health for Africans and for women. In a wide-ranging review of global health issues, Dr. Chan also reaffirmed her commitment to address the threat of an avian flu pandemic.

The 60th World Health Assembly (WHA) announced Monday that a proposal on making Taiwan a "member state" of the World Health Organization (WHO) will not be included in the conference's provisional agenda.