Indonesia polio outbreak nearly contained
Indonesia has nearly contained its first polio outbreak in a decade because of fast action in vaccinating children in affected areas and a willingness to seek international help, health officials said on Monday.
Indonesian officials have detected eight polio-infected patients since discovering the first case last month about 100 km (62 miles) south of Jakarta. Several suspected cases are under investigation and a mass vaccination is set for May 31.
UK ruling on terminally ill patients goes to court
Britain’s General Medical Council (GMC) went to court on Monday to clarify how much treatment should be given to terminally ill patients.
Last year 45-year-old Leslie Burke, who has a degenerative brain condition, won a court ruling to stop doctors letting him starve to death should he become too ill to feed himself or communicate.
Optimistic Gates doubles funds for disease research
Microsoft founder Bill Gates more than doubled his financing for key health research to $450 million on Monday after telling assembled health ministers the world had a “historic chance” to tame killer diseases.
In a speech to the opening session of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) annual assembly, the world’s richest man said a combination of “astonishing” scientific advances and rising global awareness of the suffering caused by disease gave real hope for progress.
