London, United Kingdom (AHN) – UK Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency officials in July will begin asking everyone who applies for a driver’s license if they want to be an organ donor.

With 8,000 people waiting for organs and approximately 1,000 people dying each year while they wait, health officials want to boost the number of organ donors.

Surveys find that about 65 to 90 percent of the population indicate they are in favor of donating their organs, but only about 27 percent of the population are registered organ donors.

Under the old system, people filling out an application for a driver’s license could skip the question. Despite that about 8 million people did sign up.

The new program requires the applicant to register to donate, say they have already signed up or state that they do not wish to answer the question.

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flu season approaches, a survey of 525 nurses from America’s leading hospitals reveals that 93 percent of nurses are confident that hospitals are “far better prepared” to handle a poten

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Fifty Pakistani students are due to arrive in the United States in the first week of 2011 under an exchange program.

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New research reinforces the importance of prenatal supplements

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The National Council on Fireworks Safety reminds you to be safe and use common sense when setting off your own fireworks.

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Menopausal women who take a certain type of soy supplement long-term aren’t at increased risk for breast cancer or any other ill effects, a new two-year study suggests….

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Manila, Metro Manila, Philippines (AHN) – Philippine President Benigno Aquino III signed Monday the $36.4 billion (PHP 1.6 trillion) national budget for 2011. The biggest allocation went to education, followed by national defense and public works and highways.

It was the first time since 1999 that the Philippine budget was signed into law on the same year it was submitted, indicating improved relationship between the executive and legislative branches of government. It used a zero-based budgeting approach in which allocations were justified before they were approved, unlike the previous budgets in which the existing allocations were merely added or reduced.

With the highest allocation to education, Aquino said the budget would permit the building of new classrooms and employment of new teachers.

The president also vetoed 13 items in the budget, which is 6.8 percent higher compared to the current budget. Aside from placing top priority on education, the budget also focuses on social programs by including a $478.3 million (PHP 21 billion) allocation for a cash handout program to poor Filipino families.

Aquino gets in the budget a $27.3 million (PHP 1.2 billion) confidential and intelligence fund that does not have to go through the Commission on Audit.

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NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The McCarton Foundation Rings The Opening Bell at the New York Stock Exchange on December 27, 2010 in New York City. Please visit http://www.youtube.com/user/nysetv1 for a brief video of The McCarton Foundation’s visit to The NYSE. About the McCarton Foundation The McCarton Foundation is dedicated to increasing the educational opportunities for children with autism and making a better life for them and their families. The McCarton Foundation was founded in 2002 by Cece

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Atlanta, GA, United States (AHN) – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials said Thursday that alfalfa sprouts have been linked to a multi-state salmonella outbreak that has sickened 89 people.

The first case was identified as beginning on Nov. 1 in Illinois. CDC officials say the first case linked to consuming alfalfa sprouts was apparently at a national sandwich chain.

Salmonella cases have affected 89 people in 15 states and resulted in 23 percent of the people sickened requiring hospitalization. However, no one has died. Salmonella is a bacteria.

CDC officials say preliminary results of the investigation indicate people were sickened after consuming alfalfa sprouts at a national sandwich chain.

Jimmy John’s restaurants said they were informed that approximately 23 of the people who were sickened reported eating at their restaurants, so they pulled alfalfa sprouts from the menu. But they said tests for Salmonella on the alfalfa sprouts were negative and their supplier reported negative results as well.

There have been 50 cases of salmonella in Illinois as well as cases in Connecticut, Washington D.C., Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin.

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Officials say more than one in five of the chronically homeless suffers from mental illness and is hard to reach

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