Your weekly health news snapshot.
Birth defects: About eight million youngsters around the world are born with serious genetic birth defects each year, according to a report out today.
March of Dimes - the Birth Defects Foundation - estimated that around 6 per cent of all births worldwide involved a serious birth defect due to genetic or partially genetic factors.
But hundreds of thousands more babies are thought to be born with defects due to other, non-genetic factors, such as the mother's exposure to alcohol, rubella or syphilis, according to the foundation's report.
In the UK around 44 births per 1,000 live births involve a serious genetic birth defect.
The report - The Hidden Toll of Dying and Disabled Children - said at least 3.3 million children under the age of five died each year due to serious birth defects, such as heart defects or conditions including sickle cell disease and spina bifida.
QUOTE:
"A sizeable proportion of cancer today is due to alcohol intake and this is increasing in many regions, particularly in east Asia and eastern Europe." - Dr Paolo Boffetta of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in Lyon, France. He was commenting after research he led found that excessive drinking raises the risk of cancer of the mouth, larynx, oesophagus, liver, colon and breast.