MEAs aim at early access to high-cost innovative medicines at pre-determined terms that can ensure the financial sustainability of healthcare systems. However, their successful adoption hinges on a consideration of various factors to address the unique challenges faced by different nations. The a

(Reuters) – Victims of thalidomide said on Saturday an apology from the German inventor of the drug that caused birth defects in thousands of babies around the world was too little too late.Thalidomide, developed by the German firm Gruenenthal, was marketed internationally to pregnant women in the l

Even in health care systems in which doctors do not bill for each test they administer, the use of diagnostic imaging like CT and PET scans has soared, as has patients’ radiation exposure, a new study has found.The study, published online on Tuesday in The Journal of the American Medical Association

For the first time, researchers have determined virtually the entire genome of a fetus using only a blood sample from the pregnant woman and a saliva specimen from the father.The accomplishment heralds an era in which parents might find it easier to know the complete DNA blueprint of a child months

CHICAGO — A drug that delivers a powerful poison to tumors without some of the side effects of traditional treatments can delay the worsening of breast cancer and also appears to substantially prolong lives, according to results of a study presented here Saturday.Besides representing an advance in t

CHICAGO — Taking periodic breaks from a commonly used treatment for prostate cancer could shorten men’s lives, researchers reported here on SaturdayIn a large study, intermittent hormonal therapy proved to be less effective than continuous therapy for certain men with metastatic prostate cancer.The

The more controversial of two papers describing how the lethal H5N1 bird flu could be made easier to spread was published Thursday, six months after a scientific advisory board suggested that the papers’ most potentially dangerous data be censored.The paper, by scientists at Erasmus Medical Center i

More than 200 researchers investigating colon cancer tumors have found genetic vulnerabilities that could lead to powerful new treatments. The hope is that drugs designed to strike these weak spots will eventually stop a cancer that is now almost inevitably fatal once it has spread.Scientists increa

In 2007, there were an estimated 58 million deaths worldwide and, according to the WHO, more than half of these deaths (35 million) were caused by chronic diseases.  Another study estimates that the number of deaths caused by chronic diseases will rise to 50 million in 2020.  The economic burden of

The Prince Mahidol Award Conference (PMAC) 2020 took place in Bangkok between January 28th and February 2nd. This year PMAC was combined with the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) Forum, and the theme for the conference was Accelerating Progress towards UHC. Every year the conference attracts an array