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

To support government decision-making to address the COVID-19 outbreak, the National Data Management Center (NDMC) of the Ethiopia Public Health Institute (EPHI) conducted a systematic review of the economic evaluations of public health measures for the prevention and control of pandemics. The study

Vaccines have been a game-changer in the fight against COVID-19. Yet, vaccine hesitancy has impeded its uptake, impacting public health efforts. At the outset of the pandemic, people had doubts about this unfamiliar virus and subsequently, the vaccine: misinformation, rumours, and doubts about COVID

Clare True had autism and periodic seizures, but nothing prepared her family for Christmas Eve in 2006, when the 26-year-old went to bed after watching a movie and stopped breathing.“I got home from a party, went to check on her just after midnight, and she was — she was gone,” said her mother, Jane

Time-lapse photography has shown that embryos of smoking women develop more slowly.French academics in an IVF clinic took regular pictures of an egg from the moment it was fertilised until it was ready to be implanted into the mother.At all stages of development, embryos from smokers were consistent

More rationing of care and charging for services in the NHS need to be considered as it faces at least a decade of austerity, experts say.The Institute for Fiscal Studies says the coming years will be the toughest since the early 1950s when dental and prescription fees were introduced.Other measures

To learn how best to prescribe powerful drugs to children, Congress passed a law in the 1990s that rewarded drug makers for conducting clinical studies involving children. Among the incentives for cooperating companies was a possible six-month extension of protection from generic competition after a

Merck, the second-biggest U.S. drugmaker, on Wednesday said outside monitors recommended that its late-stage study of odanacatib, a new type of treatment, be stopped early because data has already shown it reduces fractures. Shares of Merck rose 4.2 percent on Thursday, on boosted hopes for the medi