An experimental drug has been found effective against coronavirus in a major breakthrough that can potentially be a game changer as countries around the world struggle to contain the number of new cases and deaths from COVID-19.
Category: Medicine
Disruption of vaccination poses threat to children’s health
UNICEF on Tuesday warned that South Asia could face yet another health emergency if children across the region do not receive their life-saving vaccine shots.
400 CSOs for fair benefit sharing of corona medical products
Geneva, 27 Apr (Kanaga Raja) – Nearly 400 civil society organizations (CSOs) and individuals have called for the operationalization of fair and equitable benefit sharing arising from the sharing of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) digital sequence information and…
Doctors dismantle Trump’s Coronavirus treatment comments
On Thursday, during the White House coronavirus taskforce briefing, President Donald Trump attracted widespread criticism after he suggested research into whether Covid-19 might be treated by injecting disinfectant into the body.
Doctors struggle to stay true to science but not cross Trump
It’s becoming a kind of daily ritual: President Donald Trump and a phalanx of doctors file into the White House briefing room each evening to discuss the coronavirus, producing a display of rhetorical contortions as the medical officials try to…
France testing whether nicotine could prevent coronavirus
Nicotine could protect people from contracting the coronavirus, according to new research in France, where further trials are planned to test whether the substance could be used to prevent or treat the deadly illness.
Malaria drug for COVID-19 showed no benefit
A malaria drug widely touted as a potential cure for COVID-19 showed no benefit against the disease over standard care — and was in fact associated with more deaths, the biggest study of its kind showed Tuesday.
BCG Vaccine Fighting Coronavirus in South Asia?
By Darini Rajasingham-Senanayake COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, Apr 20 2020 (IPS) – Numerous studies in many parts of the world have linked the BCG (Bacillus Calmette-Guerin) vaccination, widely used in the developing world with fewer Coronavirus cases. This is good news…
Covid-19 cases recovering fast taking test drug remdesivir
Covid-19 patients who are getting an experimental drug called remdesivir have been recovering quickly, with most going home in days, STAT News reported Thursday after it obtained a video of a conversation about the trial, reports CNN.
Access to affordable biologics in the context of Covid-19
Chetali Rao & K M Gopakumar New Delhi, India – COVID-19 has posed unique challenges for healthcare providers across the globe, as the world has been grappling with the pandemic with no approved treatments or vaccines for the disease. Researchers…
Rosatom uses radiation to sterilise medical masks
Sterion, a part of Rusatom Healthcare, has signed a contract with Delrus to sterilize more than 58 million medical masks using radiation technology. Rusatom Healthcare is a concern of Russia's state atomic energy corporation Rosatom while Delrus supplies sterile masks…
Drugs use of which may beat Covid-19 have barrier – Patents
Patents on potential anti-COVID-19 drugs allow researchers to conduct clinical trials but once they have been approved, the regulations prevent them from being marketed. by K.M. Gopakumar and Prathibha Sivasubramaniam In the absence of any vaccines to prevent COVID-19, there…
WHO cautions against use of untested drugs for COVID-19
Geneva, 29 Mar (D. Ravi Kanth) — The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has called on individuals and countries to refrain from using therapeutics that have not been tested and demonstrated to be effective…
Letter to Gilead: Ensure access to Covid-19 cure Remdesivir
Dear Mr O’Day, We write to request that Gilead takes immediate actions to ensure rapid availability, affordability and accessibility of its experimental therapy remdesivir for the treatment of COVID-19, pending the results of the clinical trials demonstrating its efficacy.
Malaria drugs’ promise for coronavirus spurs hope, shortages
Dhaka, March 24 – Excitement about treating the new coronavirus with malaria drugs is raising hopes, including with President Donald Trump. But the evidence that they may help is thin, and a run on the drugs is complicating access for…
‘First human trials of coronavirus vaccine within days’
As deadly coronavirus continues to spread across the globe, strategies for developing a safe and effective vaccine are rapidly moving forward, according to reports carried by various global news media.
Pharmacy selling genuine quality medicines opens in city
The opening of a new pharmacy dedicated to enriching the lives of the poor and selling only genuine quality medicines is good news in any part of the world.
Chinese Alzheimer’s drug to undergo global clinical trials
An innovative Chinese Alzheimer’s drug that hit the domestic market last week, will go through clinical trials on 2,000 patients overseas in 2020.
President urges physicians not to suggest unnecessary medical tests
Criticising physicians for their tendency of making extra money by asking patients to undergo unnecessary and wasteful medical tests, President Abdul Hamid on Thursday urged the doctors to refrain from such practices.
The quest to outwit superbugs
Sudhirendar Sharma Antibiotic resistance is currently the cause for an estimated 700,000 deaths globally, and a business-as-usual scenario may force this figure to swell to 10 million deaths per year by 2050.
Wild fevervine herb discovered in N. China
A survey group has found a large cluster of wild Paederia scandens (Chinese fevervine) in north China’s Hebei Province during a field investigation for the fourth national survey on Chinese materia medica resources. The wild fevervine community, concentrating with a…
Facilitate access to new biologic drugs, update guidelines
A total of 35 civil society organizations and eight concerned individuals of the world have urged the World Health Organisation (WHO) to update the guidelines for facilitating access to new biologic medicines. They have made the call in a joint…
MSF launches global campaign to lower price of crucial TB drug
Geneva, Oct (Kanaga Raja) – The medical humanitarian organisation Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has launched a global campaign on 10 October that calls on pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson (J&J) to lower the price of its life-saving anti-tuberculosis (TB) drug…
Doctors turn to thumbs for diagnosis, treatment by text
Sacramento, Oct 8 (AP/UNB) — Dr. Anna Nguyen spoke with none of the five patients she treated on a recent weekday morning. She didn’t even leave her dining room.
Drug overdose kills 3, hospitalises 4 in Pittsburgh, US
Washington, Sept. 22 (Xinhua/UNB) — A drug-related overdose killed three people and hospitalized four others in Pittsburgh, U.S. state of Pennsylvania, police said on Sunday, citing an initial investigation.
Overdose-reversing drug is tied to fewer drug deaths in USA
New York , Aug 7(AP/UNB) — Prescriptions of the overdose-reversing drug naloxone are soaring, and experts say that could be a reason overdose deaths have stopped rising for the first time in nearly three decades. The number of naloxone prescriptions…
Study: Millions should stop taking aspirin for heart health
Washington, Jul 23 (AP/UNB) — Millions of people who take aspirin to prevent a heart attack may need to rethink the pill-popping, Harvard researchers reported Monday. A daily low-dose aspirin is recommended for people who have already had a heart…
Access to medicines fundamental to enjoyment of health
Geneva, 12 Jul (Kanaga Raja) – Access to medicines and vaccines is one of the fundamental elements for the full realization of the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health and…
Medicare moving towards covering acupuncture for back pain
Washington, Jul 16 (AP/UNB) — Medicare says it’s moving toward potentially covering acupuncture for chronic low back pain as an alternative to opioid painkillers that can become addictive. The agency announced its initial decision Monday. For now, access will be…
Bladder cancer ‘attacked and killed by common cold virus’
Dhaka, Jul 8 (UNB) – A strain of the common cold virus can infect and kill bladder cancer cells, a small study suggests, reports the BBC. All signs of the disease disappeared in one patient, and in 14 others there…