Health News Roundup: Asia's COVID deaths surpass 1 million; Fate of Ukrainians with disabilities a 'crisis within a crisis' and more

Raisa Kravchenko, from VGO, a Ukrainian network of more than 100 local NGOs supporting people with intellectual disabilities, spoke to reporters in a virtual news conference on Thursday from her home in war-torn Ukraine. Asia's COVID deaths surpass 1 million - Reuters tally Asia passed the grim milestone of 1 million coronavirus-linked deaths on Friday, a Reuters tally showed, as a spike in Omicron variant infections spreads across the region after starting in nations such as Japan and South Korea.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Analysis-Drugmakers look to help Ukrainians in drug trials after Russian invasion

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has left drugmakers scrambling to find ways for patients enrolled in clinical trials there to receive their medicines as millions seek shelter from bombardment and flee to neighboring countries. Ukraine, as well as Russia, have become important countries for studying new drugs because patients there have a dire need for medicines to treat cancer, neurological and gastrointestinal disorders. Russia and surrounding countries account for 10% of people in clinical trials, analysts estimate.

Texas judge to rule on probes of transgender kids' parents

A Texas judge on Friday will consider a request she block state investigations of parents who get gender-transitioning care for their children that Governor Greg Abbott calls "child abuse." The Austin hearing is part of a pushback against proposals in dozens of U.S. states to criminalize the provision of gender-affirming treatment to trans youth.

Fate of Ukrainians with disabilities a 'crisis within a crisis'

A Ukrainian disability campaigner could barely hold back the tears when she told of a young man with cerebral palsy who she said was killed in a Russian air strike near Kyiv. Raisa Kravchenko, from VGO, a Ukrainian network of more than 100 local NGOs supporting people with intellectual disabilities, spoke to reporters in a virtual news conference on Thursday from her home in war-torn Ukraine.

Asia's COVID deaths surpass 1 million - Reuters tally

Asia passed the grim milestone of 1 million coronavirus-linked deaths on Friday, a Reuters tally showed, as a spike in Omicron variant infections spreads across the region after starting in nations such as Japan and South Korea. The death toll in Asia, home to more than half the world's population, reached 1,000,045, contributing 16% of global deaths related to COVID-19, the tally showed.

China allows COVID antigen self-test kits for public as cases hit two-year high

China on Friday said it would for the first time allow the general public to use COVID-19 antigen self-test kits that do not need medical workers to take samples, in a bid to augment its testing regime that has been put under pressure by Omicron.

The general public will be able to buy self-test kits in stores and online, while medical institutions can offer antigen tests that require samples collected by professionals, the National Health Commission (NHC) said on its website.

Exclusive-WHO says it advised Ukraine to destroy pathogens in health labs to prevent disease spread

The World Health Organization advised Ukraine to destroy high-threat pathogens housed in the country's public health laboratories to prevent "any potential spills" that would spread disease among the population, the agency told Reuters. Like many other countries, Ukraine has public health laboratories researching how to mitigate the threats of dangerous diseases affecting both animals and humans including, most recently, COVID-19. Its labs have received support from the United States, the European Union and the WHO.

GeoVax vaccine targeting virus in two places shows promise; virus may become resistant to antibody drugs

The following is a summary of some recent studies on COVID-19. They include research that warrants further study to corroborate the findings and that has yet to be certified by peer review. Two vaccine targets on virus may be better than one

England's COVID R number rises, cases could be growing

The estimated range of England's COVID-19 reproduction "R" number is between 0.8 and 1.1, the UK Health Security Agency said on Friday, adding that daily cases could be growing each day. An R number between 0.8 and 1.1 means that for every 10 people infected, they will on average infect between 8 and 11 other people. The previous week's range was 0.8 to 1.0.

Texas top court deals blow to clinics seeking to block abortion law

Texas's high court on Friday effectively ended a challenge by clinics to a state law that banned most abortions in Texas by ruling that state officials including those tasked with doctor licensing have no role in enforcing the law. The Texas Supreme Court ruled that only private citizens, not state officials, can enforce the law known as SB8 by suing anyone who performs or assists a woman in obtaining an abortion after about six weeks of pregnancy.

French COVID-19 infections again up 25% week-on-week, trend upward again

New COVID-19 infections in France rose by more than 25% on Friday compared to a week ago after rising more than 24% on Thursday, as a downward trend that had started late January reversed. The health ministry registered 72,399 new infections on Friday, while the seven-day moving average of new infections also rose, for the fourth day in a row, by nearly 16% to more than 60,000.