Tag: africa

  • Child still critical after lightning hits 11 in Paris park

    PARIS (AP) — Eight children and three adults were struck by lightning Saturday in a Paris park after a sudden spring storm sent a bolt crashing down upon a children's birthday party, a spokesman for Paris' fire service said. He credited an off-duty firefighter with playing a critical role in getting immediate medical help to…

  • WHO to better respond to emergencies

    Member states of the World Health Organization have agreed a long-awaited reform of the agency so that it responds more quickly and effectively to emergency situations. Accused of having wasted months before declaring war on the Ebola virus in west Africa, the WHO have developed a programme to better cope with disease outbreaks and health…

  • South Africa seeks price cut for Roche’s Herceptin cancer drug

    South Africa is in talks with Swiss pharmaceutical firm Roche to reduce the price of its breast cancer drug Herceptin, which currently costs 500,000 rand ($33,000) a year to treat one person and is unaffordable to most women, the health minister said on Tuesday. Africa's most industrialised country has a history of pushing to cut…

  • Teens with ADHD have special treatment needs

    By Lisa Rapaport (Reuters Health) – – Drugs and psychotherapy can help teens with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) manage symptoms and improve in school, a new research review suggests, but adolescents still have treatment needs that are quite distinct from younger children. Both stimulants and alternative medications can help reduce symptoms such as restlessness,…

  • Exclusive: Medivation succumbs to pressure to explore sale – sources

    U.S. cancer drug maker Medivation Inc has decided to explore a sale following a $9.3 billion acquisition offer from France's Sanofi SA and interest from other companies, people familiar with the matter said on Monday. Pfizer Inc and Amgen Inc are among the companies that have signed non-disclosure agreements with Medivation, which allow them to…

  • Mosquitoes’ rapid spread poses threat beyond Zika

    By Ben Hirschler LONDON (Reuters) – As the world focuses on Zika's rapid advance in the Americas, experts warn the virus that originated in Africa is just one of a growing number of continent-jumping diseases carried by mosquitoes threatening swathes of humanity. Today, mosquito invaders are turning up with increasing regularity from Washington DC to…

  • Mosquitoes’ rapid spread poses threat beyond Zika

    By Ben Hirschler LONDON (Reuters) – As the world focuses on Zika's rapid advance in the Americas, experts warn the virus that originated in Africa is just one of a growing number of continent-jumping diseases carried by mosquitoes threatening swathes of humanity. Today, mosquito invaders are turning up with increasing regularity from Washington DC to…

  • India bans more than 300 combination drugs sold illegally

    By Aditya Kalra NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India has banned the manufacture and sale of more than 300 combination medicines, including two widely used cough syrups, being sold without government approval, a senior health ministry official said on Saturday. The move is aimed at curbing the misuse of such medicines in India, where nearly half…

  • India bans more than 300 combination drugs sold illegally

    By Aditya Kalra NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India has banned the manufacture and sale of more than 300 combination medicines, including two widely used cough syrups, being sold without government approval, a senior health ministry official said on Saturday. The move is aimed at curbing the misuse of such medicines in India, where nearly half…

  • U.S. doctor with Lassa fever en route to Atlanta from West Africa

    By Rich McKay ATLANTA (Reuters) – An American doctor who was working with missionaries in West Africa is being moved to an isolation ward at an Atlanta hospital on Friday with a suspected case of Lassa fever, a deadly hemorrhagic disease similar to Ebola, officials said. The patient, who has not been identified publicly, was…