The number of deaths from AIDS is going up in Russia, contrary to a global downward trend, a senior Russian health official said Wednesday, blaming a lack of public education about HIV infection.

"Last year we registered 22,000 AIDS-related deaths, against 20,000 the year before," the head of the Russian Federal Agency against AIDS, Vadim Pokrovsky, told Agence France Presse.

Global AIDS-related deaths and new HIV infections have fallen by over a third in a decade, raising hopes of beating the killer disease by 2030, the United Nations said Wednesday.

With more than half of the 35 million people living with HIV unaware they are infected, the battle is far from over however, said Michel Sidibe, head of UNAIDS.

Swiss drug developer Novartis will team with technology giant Google to develop a "smart" contact lens that could improve some eye conditions or help diabetics manage their disease.

Terms of the agreement between the companies were not detailed in a statement released Tuesday by Novartis.

Governments have agreed new food standards calling for zero residue of veterinary drugs in meat, and limiting lead pollution in infant formula and toxins in maize, a UN body said Tuesday.

The Codex Alimentarius Commission -- the top global decision-making body for food standards -- made a raft of recommendations at its ongoing annual meeting in Geneva, Angelika Tritscher, the UN's food safety coordinator, told AFP.

Cerebral palsy, a disability of the brain linked to problems in pregnancy or birth, may have an inherited cause, according to a study published on Wednesday.

Norway researchers found that families where a close relative has cerebral palsy are at increased risk of giving birth to a child with this condition.

Mexico said Tuesday it will restrict TV ads for soft drinks, snacks and other high-calorie foods in a bid to tackle rampant obesity.

With immediate effect, such ads will be banned from open air and cable TV from 2:30pm to 9:30pm during the week and from 7:00am to 7:30pm at weekends.

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon visited Haiti on Monday, vowing to help the country end a cholera epidemic that has killed more than 8,500 people since 2010 and that some blame on U.N. peacekeepers.

Ban promised to seek $2.2 billion from international donors to help the destitute nation fight the disease, which has also infected more than 700,000 people, over the next 10 years.

A second investigation has detailed additional safety problems at federal health laboratories in Atlanta, including the use of expired disinfectants and the transfer of dangerous germs in Ziploc bags.

The new findings were disclosed Monday in a congressional committee's summary of a U.S. Department of Agriculture report on the CDC anthrax incident.

Australian authorities were Tuesday urging 399 people in eastern Victoria state to have an HIV test after a health care worker was diagnosed with the virus that causes AIDS.

The Victorian Department of Health said it had conducted a thorough investigation and was following up with selected patients who had contact with the worker in the unnamed region.

Bed-sharing is the largest risk factor for sudden infant death, particularly among very young babies, U.S. researchers said on Monday.

Sixty-nine percent of babies who died suddenly were sharing a sleeping space with another person when they died, said the report in the journal Pediatrics.