Global health

Mefloquine should be last resort for military personnel, MP committee says

The antimalarial treatment mefloquine (Lariam) should be considered a “drug of last resort” when used by UK military personnel because of its potential to cause severe psychological side effects, according to an influential committee of MPs.…

Government review says antibiotics should not be prescribed without rapid diagnostic test

Patients in developed countries should not be prescribed an antibiotic without first having a rapid diagnostic test to ensure the drug is appropriate and drug companies must be forced to do more to find new antibiotic drugs, the final report of the UK government’s Review on Antimicrobial Resis…

WHO announces cheaper drug treatment for multidrug resistant tuberculosis

The World Health Organization (WHO) has published new recommendations that seek to speed up detection and enhance cure rates for patients with multidrug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). The WHO recommends the use of a shorter and cheaper treatment regimen, which is taken for 9–12 months,…

Yellow fever vaccine shortages could be on the cards, warns WHO

The World Health Organization has warned that there may be a shortage of yellow fever vaccine if there are any new outbreaks of the viral haemorrhagic disease this year. …

Life-saving drugs continue to be excluded from Syrian humanitarian aid convoys

The Syrian government continues to exclude life-saving drugs from international humanitarian aid convoys destined for opposition held areas and is ignoring calls by United Nations officials for unimpeded access.…

Antimicrobial resistance is a deadlier threat than cancer, UK chancellor warns

Antimicrobial resistance will pose “an even greater threat to mankind than cancer” does today unless coordinated global action is taken, UK chancellor George Osborne has warned.…

Diabetes has quadrupled across the globe, WHO says

The number of adults living with diabetes across the world has increased four-fold since 1980, but access to insulin is a big problem in poor nations, says the World Health Organization (WHO).…

GSK softens approach to patents to widen access to its medicines

GlaxoSmithKline has announced a series of measures designed to widen access to its medicines in the world’s poorest countries.…

The Zika virus: how Brazilian pharmacists are fighting back

Origins of the Zika outbreak and its potential threat

Researchers are working to understand more about the Zika virus — how it is transmitted, its link to microcephaly and Guillain-BarrÃ© syndrome and whether a vaccine can be developed.…