Government figures show that life expectancy in Brazil has risen more than 25 years since 1960.

The government's IBGE statistics agency says Friday that data compiled in the 2010 census shows that life expectancy for the average Brazilian went from 48 to 73.4 years between 1960 and 2010.

Government health experts said Thursday there are few reasons to continue using metal-on-metal hip implants, amid growing evidence that the devices can break down early and expose patients to dangerous metallic particles.

The Food and Drug Administration asked its 18-member panel to recommend guidelines for monitoring more than a half-million U.S. patients with metal hip replacements. The devices were originally marketed as a longer-lasting alternative to older ceramic and plastic models. But recent data from the U.K. and other foreign countries suggests they are more likely to deteriorate, exposing patients to higher levels of cobalt, chromium and other metals.

An experimental once-daily pill that combines four drugs to fight HIV is as safe and effective as commonly-prescribed treatments against the AIDS virus, researchers reported in The Lancet Friday.

Doctors tested the new drug, called Quad, for the third and final phase in which new pharmaceutical products are vetted for safety and effectiveness.

Groups supporting people with Down's syndrome on Thursday called on the European Court of Human Rights not to recognize the right to tests that would detect the condition before birth.

The Strasbourg-based court must "recognize the human condition and protect the right to life of people with Down's syndrome and those handicapped", said the 30 associations from 16 countries.

After Wang Lan delivered, she brought home a baby girl and her placenta, which she plans to eat in a soup -- adopting an age-old practice in Chinese traditional medicine.

The health-giving qualities of placenta are currently creating a buzz in Western countries, where some believe it can help ward off postnatal depression, improve breast milk supply and boost energy levels.

U.S. regulators on Wednesday approved the first drug to treat obesity in 13 years, a drug called lorcaserin, marketed as Belviq and made by Arena Pharmaceuticals.

The drug works to control the appetite through receptors in the brain and was approved as additional therapy for certain overweight and obese patients, combined with diet and exercise.

Minister of Public Works and Transportation Ghazi Aridi launched on Wednesday the last phase of a law banning smoking in public transportation vehicles, warning that violators will face a LL135,000 fine.

Lebanese Parliament adopted a draft law in August 2011 to "limit smoking and regulate the manufacture, packaging, and advertising of tobacco products in Lebanon". The law became effective in public institutions and public places September 2011 and will be applied in restaurants and cafes by September 2012.

Some 27 million people worldwide are problem drug users, with almost one percent every year dying from narcotics abuse, while cannabis remains the most popular drug, a U.N. report showed Tuesday.

"Heroin, cocaine and other drugs continue to kill around 200,000 people a year, shattering families and bringing misery to thousands of other people, insecurity and the spread of HIV," director Yury Fedotov said as he presented the 2012 World Drug Report of the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

British charity Save the Children on Wednesday said it was a "global scandal" that 50,000 teenagers die each year due to pregnancy and childbirth complications.

The charity urged the world to renew its focus on family planning with a summit set to take place in London next month highlighting U.N. figures showing pregnancy and childbirth as leading causes of death for adolescent girls,

The A(H1N1) "swine flu" 2009 pandemic probably claimed over a quarter of a million lives -- 15 times more than the 18,500 reported, a paper in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal said Tuesday.

The elevated toll underlined the need for better planning and vaccine distribution, said a team of epidemiologists and physicians who made a statistical model based on population and infection estimates to present what they believe is a more accurate picture of the pandemic's reach.