LISBON -- Free state-funded health care is one aspect of the post-WWII political settlement of which Europeans are most proud. But now it could be under threat as governments are strapped for cash, and in Portugal, one of the continent’s poorest performers, the question of whether free health provision is still affordable is pressing. Portuguese citizens have their vices like anyone else. But if their health deteriorates, they know, like most Europeans, there is a high quality yet mainly ...

French President Francois Hollande has defended his plan to withdraw combat troops from Afghanistan by the year's end, during a surprise visit to the restive country Friday. During his brief visit to Afghanistan, President Francois Hollande met with his Afghan counterpart, Hamid Karzai, and French forces in the country's restive Kapisa province - many of whom will be heading home this year. Hollande told the soldiers that although France will withdraw its combat troops by the ...

One of the largest studies ever conducted of dementia in moderate-income countries has found the incidence similar to that in more affluent Western countries.  For years, health experts have believed that dementia -- the degenerative loss of memory and other brain functions -- was less common in middle-income countries than in wealthier, developed countries.  But when researchers from Kings College, London conducted a 10-year survey of six developing countries -- Cuba, China, the ...

Makerere professor of medicine says newly established consortium has revolutionized training of Ugandan doctors