AUSTRALIA

The Rural Doctors' Association of Queensland (RDAQ) said the country's rural health system needs a boost to the tune of $1 billion additional budget per year and 2,000 additional doctors.

Many teens in secondary schools are experimenting with anabolic steroids, according to a survey of the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC).

Health authorities revealed on Thursday that there are three Australians infected with the superbug or bacteria resistant to antibiotics.

Immune System Therapeutics Ltd. (ISTL) will conduct a second trial of its patented drug for bone marrow cancer using a $1.8 million grant from the federal government's Commercialisation Australia.

A significant survey conducted on the use of muscle enhancing injections in secondary schools across Australia show that steroid use among Australian kids is higher than that of the general population.

After beating cancer, while the body is clear from harm's way, the mind of survivors may not be as ready to go back to its normal cancer-free state.

A senior virologist declared on Wednesday a very quiet flu year for Australia as influenza infection rate, including cases of swine flu, has been reduced.

The Australian Dollar continued to be sold off late yesterday and into the evening trading session ahead of the widely anticipated FOMC Meeting overnight.

A new report reveals that two children in Australia are diagnosed with type 1 diabetes every day.

In Australia, the diagnosis of Alzheimer's - that affects the lives of 150,000 Australians - is made only after the symptoms have appeared.

Illegal drug use in Australia cost the nation $3.8 billion every year, says Professor Paul Wilson, an Australian criminologist.

The U.S. dollar clawed higher against the euro and Asian stocks slipped on Tuesday, as investors braced for the outcome of a Federal Reserve meeting that could disappoint some looking for big policy changes.

The AUD has opened slightly weaker this morning currently trading at USD 0.9160 as many investors square up some positions before the Federal Reserve's meeting tonight.

Experts state that a risk of an HIV epidemic may arise if conservative Aboriginal communities don't learn from others and start taking drug management measures seriously.

Drought-devastated Russia could extend a grain export ban into next year and may cut its 2010 beet sugar output, reflecting the dimming prospects for crops in the scorched Black Sea bread basket region.

New summer drinks in the United States and longer hours in Europe helped McDonald's Corp sales beat Wall Street forecasts for July and lifted its shares to their highest ever.

A review of 88 studies on allergens since 2001 has found that allergy shots or allergen immunotherapy can reduce asthma symptoms or attacks.

McDonald's Corp reported a better-than-expected 7 percent global increase in sales at established restaurants in July, fueled by new drinks like smoothies, extended hours in Europe and strength in Asia.

Exporters canceled major contracts of drought-hit Black Sea wheat to Bangladesh on Monday, signaling the need for Asian millers to scramble for supplies from other key growers like Australia.

Oil prices rose to above $81 a barrel on Monday, as a weaker dollar supported prices that had fallen for three straight days last week, in part on poor U.S. economic data. Analysts said the dollar, which is slipping toward a 15-year low against the yen, could, along with rumblings of geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, continue to bolster oil prices that last week ended above $80 for the first since May.

U.S. wheat futures fell 4.3 percent on Monday, extending their losses to nearly 12 percent in two sessions as traders take profits from a near-doubling in prices in just over a month. With a key U.S. Department of Agriculture stocks and production report out on Thursday and the impact of a Russian decision last week to ban exports still to be felt, the market looks set for another volatile week.