GOVERNMENTS worldwide must do more to work together in the fight against SARS, the head of the UN health agency said yesterday, as delegates gathered for the WHO's annual meeting, wearing badges to show they have been screened for the virus.

EUROPEAN Union health ministers have backed away from a proposal to screen travellers from areas affected by the SARS virus after taking advice from a senior UN health official.

The head of the World Health Organisation told European health ministers today to remain vigilant, predicting the deadly SARS virus had “not seen a peak” in China yet.

THE World Health Organisation said last night it was lifting its warning against unnecessary travel to Toronto less than a week after it was imposed amid fears over the spread of the SARS virus.

The World Health Organisation today declared that Vietnam the world’s first country to contain the deadly SARS bug.

Elton John and American singer-songwriter Billy Joel have called off their joint concert in Toronto following the alert over the Sars virus, it emerged today.

PEOPLE must eat more fruit and vegetables, cut down on fats and exercise daily to avoid diseases that kill more than 30 million annually, the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned yesterday.

One person commits suicide roughly every 40 seconds, one person is murdered every 60 seconds and one person dies in armed conflict every 100 seconds, the World Health Organisation said today.

The head of the World Health Organisation, Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland, said today she had decided not to stand for a second term in office.

A new round of negotiations on an international tobacco-control treaty opened today amid fears by health campaigners that it will be too weak to prevent cigarette-related deaths rising to 10 million a year by 2030.