Health News Roundup: WHO member states agree to fix 'rotten' funding model; Lawmakers grill U.S. FDA on response to Abbott baby formula safety and more

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Spain to buy monkeypox vaccine as cases reach 55

Spain will buy monkeypox vaccine, the health minister said on Wednesday, as the number of cases in the country reached 55. Health Minister Carolina Darias said the government would purchase Imvanex vaccine, which is made by the Danish company Bavarian Nordic, but she did not specify the number of doses.

U.S. will cover baby formula cost for low-income families -agriculture agency

The U.S. Department of Agriculture will temporarily cover the cost of baby formula for low-income families dependent on government discounts in states contracted with formula makers Nestle SA and Reckitt Benckiser Group's Mead Johnson, the agency said Wednesday. A nagging shortage of infant formula has limited access to the vital product nationwide, and families participating in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program administered by USDA have been particularly constrained.

Roche develops test kits to detect monkeypox virus

Roche on Wednesday said the company and its unit have developed three test kits to detect the monkeypox virus, as the disease spreads in regions outside Africa, where the virus is not normally found. There have been more than 200 suspected or confirmed cases in Europe and North America of monkeypox, according to the World Health Organization.

Bacteria with antibiotic resistant genes discovered in Antarctica, scientists say

Bacteria in Antarctica have been discovered with genes that give them natural antibiotic and antimicrobial resistance and have the potential to spread out of the polar regions, according to scientists in Chile. Andres Marcoleta, a researcher from the University of Chile who headed the study in the Science of the Total Environment journal in March, said that these "superpowers" which evolved to resist extreme conditions are contained in mobile DNA fragments that can easily be transferred to other bacteria.

WHO member states agree to fix 'rotten' funding model

World Health Organization members formally agreed on Tuesday to a plan to overhaul its funding model which has been described as "fundamentally rotten" due to its over-reliance on the whims of donors. The plan, which members had already agreed to on a preliminary basis last month, is seen as one of the most important likely outcomes of the U.N. agency's ongoing annual World Health Assembly in Geneva this week, at which the body is seeking a central role in global health policy.

G20 pandemic fund ploughs ahead amid fears world not ready for future threats

A multi-billion dollar fund set up by G20 countries to help developing countries better prepare for pandemics could be operational within months, according to the World Bank. The bank – which will house the fund – said it was "proceeding quickly" to set up the facility, after releasing a white paper for consultation last week on how it might work.

Pfizer to sell all its patented drugs at nonprofit price in low-income countries

Pfizer Inc will make all of its patented medicines including COVID-19 treatment Paxlovid and big-selling breast cancer drug Ibrance available at a not-for-profit price to 45 of the world's poorest countries, the drugmaker said on Wednesday. These countries lack good access to innovative treatments. It can take four to seven years longer for new treatments to become available in low-income countries, according to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, if they become available at all.

Lawmakers grill U.S. FDA on response to Abbott baby formula safety

Lawmakers grilled U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials on Wednesday over what they saw as a lack of urgency in the agency's response to complaints about possible baby formula contamination at a now shuttered Abbott Laboratories plant that led to severe nationwide shortages. FDA leaders appeared before a congressional panel to answer questions about the crisis after Abbott in February recalled some products and closed its manufacturing plant in Sturgis, Michigan.

Explainer-What vaccines, treatments do we have to combat monkeypox?

With cases of monkeypox inexplicably on the rise outside of Africa - where the viral disease is endemic - public health officials are using contact tracing, isolation and targeted vaccination to curb its spread. Global health officials have tracked more than 200 suspected and confirmed cases of the usually mild viral infection in 19 countries since early May. The monkeypox variant implicated in the current outbreak has a case fatality rate of around 1%, though no deaths have been reported so far.

S.African experts don't see need for mass monkeypox vaccination

South African disease experts do not see a need for mass vaccination campaigns globally against monkeypox or believe that cases will explode in the same way as COVID-19. As of Wednesday, South Africa has not recorded any confirmed or suspected of cases of monkeypox, a usually mild viral infection that is endemic in parts of West and Central Africa.

(With inputs from agencies.)