Health | WPN World People News

On October 2, the federal court of appeals for the Third Circuit ruled that individuals whose drinking water was contaminated with PFAS chemicals from neighboring military bases can proceed with their lawsuit against the U.S. Navy. The suit asks the Navy to pay for medical surveillance of exposed families so that serious health problems associated with this toxic class of chemicals can be detected early, increasing the chances of a favorable outcome.

“We have a unique opportunity to improve health outcomes for those with Down syndrome by increasing their inclusion in research,” said NIH Director Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D. “People with Down syndrome are at risk for many of the same conditions as the general public such as Alzheimer’s disease, sleep apnea, heart disease, and autism, and it is my hope that this effort will provide meaningful insights to find treatments that benefit both populations.”

The Task Force on Research Specific to Pregnant Women and Lactating Women (PRGLAC) has submitted to the Secretary of Health and Human Services final recommendations for research on therapies used by pregnant women and nursing mothers.

The world will not reach the goal of universal sanitation coverage – where every person in the world has access to toilets that safely contain excreta – by 2030 unless countries make comprehensive policy shifts and invest more funds, WHO warned as it launched the first global guidelines on sanitation and health, on October 1st.

Heads of state and government committed to 13 new steps to tackle noncommunicable diseases including cancers, heart and lung diseases, stroke, and diabetes, and to promote mental health and well-being, on September 27.

The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors approved US$20 million from the International Development Association for strengthening Saint Lucia’s public health care system by improving accessibility, efficiency and responsiveness of key health services, on September 28.

A health worker checks a patients blood sugar levels with blood glucose meter.

Delivery of corticosteroids directly into the eye is more effective than injections adjacent to the eye, according to results from a comparative clinical trial of macular edema in patients with noninfectious uveitis. The study was funded by the National Eye Institute (NEI), part of the National Institutes of Health.

A small group of people living with HIV sensitive to two potent anti-HIV broadly neutralizing antibodies (link is external) (bNAbs) — 3BNC117 and 10-1074 — tolerated multiple infusions of the antibodies and suppressed HIV for more than 15 weeks after stopping antiretroviral therapy (ART).

Tuberculosis (TB) is the leading infectious cause of death worldwide, killing roughly 1.6 million people in 2017. In the past 200 years, TB claimed the lives of more than 1 billion people — more deaths than from malaria, influenza, smallpox, HIV/AIDS, cholera and plague combined.