Currently browsing tag

central

China to consolidate drug market, promote traditional medicines

China plans to consolidate its huge and fragmented drug market and will support a greater role for traditional Chinese medicines (TCM), the central government said in a statement on Sunday following a meeting of the State Council. China will also strengthen safety controls and traceability of domestic drugs, the statement said, part of an ambitious program of healthcare reforms to improve home-made medicines and reduce reliance on generic and more innovative drugs from overseas. “Accelerating the development of our domestic drug industry will better serve our people's healthcare needs, help build a healthier China and unleash economic growth potential,” the statement posted on the central government website said.

India issues alert to deter use of Roche’s Avastin drug for eyes

By Aditya Kalra NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India's federal drugs controller issued an alert on Thursday, asking states to ensure Swiss drugmaker Roche's cancer treatment Avastin was not administered to treat eyes, after its usage hampered vision in 15 patients. Despite being a cancer drug, Avastin is often used by doctors globally for eye ailments even though it does not have U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for that purpose. Studies have shown eye injections of Avastin can curb vision loss.

More than one million children need urgent aid in the conflict-torn Central African Republic: U.N.

More than a million children in the Central African Republic are in urgent need of humanitarian aid while almost half of those under five are malnourished, the United Nations said on Friday ahead of Pope Francis’ visit to the conflict-torn country. Sectarian violence has plagued the country since and fresh fighting broke out in Bangui two months ago, the worst violence in the capital this year, when the murder of a Muslim man triggered reprisal attacks on a largely Christian neighborhood. Some two million children have been affected by violence which first broke out in December 2012, and 1.2 million now need urgent aid, said the U.N. children’s agency, UNICEF.

Poultry destroyed after bird flu found at Dutch farm

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – A poultry farm in the central Dutch village of Hekendorp is being cleared and a local ban has been imposed on transporting poultry after the discovery of avian influenza, Dutch authorities said in a statement late on Saturday. The government said the 150,000 birds kept at the farm were not free range and were being destroyed in accordance with European rules on avian influenza. …