The North’s leading prosecutor has addressed confusion surrounding controversial draft abortion guidelines by insisting it is not a crime to assist a woman going elsewhere in the UK for a termination.

A ban on tobacco promotion comes into force today in a bid to cut down on the number of people smoking.

Nearly one in 10 people surveyed about drinking in the North was found to have a problem with alcohol.

Gay men will be able to give blood in the UK from today as government restrictions were officially lifted, the British Department of Health said.

IRISH tobacco manufacturers have claimed graphic images on cigarette packets will not force smokers to quit the habit.

Health chiefs have insisted breast milk provides all the nutrients a baby needs up to six months of age after experts suggested exclusive breastfeeding for that length of time is not necessarily best.

Free nicotine patches are to be offered on the UK's national health service as part of a major drive to help smokers quit their habit in the New Year.

DRINKING one or two units of alcohol a week during pregnancy does not harm a child’s development, British experts said yesterday.

The British government today said it was cutting its swine flu vaccine deal with GlaxoSmithKline in a move that will see it pay two thirds of the original value, but receive just over a third of the doses.

The British government was accused by the Opposition Conservative Party today of wrongly diverting millions of pounds from the UK National Health Service to pay for the healthcare of pensioners in Ireland.

The British Department of Health has awarded a contract worth up to £70m (€77.5m) to Hewlett-Packard for a new IT system to modernise the technology which handles hospital patient administration systems.

Children should not be given the anti-viral drug Tamiflu to combat swine flu, Oxford University researchers said today.

A fourth case of swine flu has been confirmed in the North, the British Department of Health said today.

A second case of swine flu has been confirmed in the North tonight.

Four new cases of swine flu were confirmed in the UK today, taking the British total to 107.

Eight new cases of swine flu in England were confirmed today by the British Department of Health.

Three more people in the UK have been diagnosed with swine flu, the British Department of Health (DH) said today.

A CORK micro-company which has created software aimed at helping stroke victims communicate better has secured a major contract with a British health authority.

The North's Health Minister Michael McGimpsey today announced plans to abolish prescription charges in the North.

The number of women with Irish addresses having abortions in Britain was down slightly last year, according to the latest statistics.

THE Road Safety Authority (RSA) yesterday said it did not support a ban on smoking and driving in an attempt to cut car crashes.

A common gene variant found in 16% of the population could be largely responsible for exploding rates of obesity, it has been revealed.

THE slaughter of thousands of turkeys is under way as officials battle to stamp out Britain’s outbreak of the potentially deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu.

IT’S now nearly 23 years since Roger Hall was first diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

Health officials were today closely monitoring reports of a case of human bird flu in Belgium.

FEWER Irish women travelled to Britain to have an abortion last year compared with 2003, according to statistics from the British Department of Health.

THE Government-appointed head of the Health Service Executive (HSE) has not yet formally accepted the €300,000-plus job more than one month after the Tánaiste announced his selection.

A substantial amount of illegal and counterfeit veterinary drugs destined for use in the Republic were seized north of the border in a raid today.

He was billed as the great white hope. But Catherine Shannon says Professor Aidan Halligan’s decision to turn down the opportunity to reform the health service is an embarrassment for the Government.

Thousands of patients in the UK were warned today they may have been exposed to vCJD through blood plasma products.

FEWER Irish women are travelling to Britain for abortions.

Pro-abortion campaigners were mounting a fresh bid today to win women in Northern Ireland greater access to abortion.

Pro-abortion campaigners will tomorrow mount a fresh bid to win women in Northern Ireland greater access to abortion.

IF Gianna Beretta Molla were alive today, she would be 82 years old. But she’s not, having chosen to perform a rare act of heroism.

ANTI-ABORTIONISTS in the North won a major victory yesterday after a British High Court judge dismissed a bid to introduce termination guidelines there.

The British Department of Health will provide top-up funding for "on-going" research into the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine.

bidder to run the new Adoption Register for England and Wales, British Health Minister John Hutton announced today.

A slaughterman is suspected of having contracted foot-and-mouth disease.

Evidence that contaminated meat is to blame for the human form of mad cow disease is expected to be revealed in England later today.

A British report on the health effects of living near high voltage power cables could reopen the way for millions of pounds worth of compensation claims, it was claimed today.

Police are launching an investigation into the deaths of 62 patients of Harold Shipman.