Health News Roundup: GSK's long acting HIV injection gets boost from study; Gender minority college students at increased mental health risk

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

GSK's long acting HIV injection gets boost from study

GlaxoSmithKline's experimental HIV injection is as effective when given every other month as monthly, according to a study, a convenience that could help the British drugmaker in its battle against a rival drug from Gilead Sciences.GSK's two-drug injection was as effective as a monthly dose of the same regimen in maintaining viral suppression at 48 weeks in a late-stage study, said ViiV Healthcare, GSK's HIV unit. Detailed results will be presented at an unspecified medical conference, the company added.

Fewer U.S. teens participating in substance abuse prevention programs

Fewer U.S. adolescents are participating in programs designed to prevent substance abuse, a study suggests. Participation in these programs has dropped significantly since the early 2000s, researchers found.

GSK builds oncology pipeline as drug shown to help myeloma patients

GlaxoSmithKline said an experimental multiple myeloma treatment has shown a meaningful response in patients that have run out of three previous treatment options, in a boost for the British drugmaker's cancer drug business. Two doses of belantamab mafodotin helped subdue the disease in adults who had received three prior treatments for multiple myeloma, a cancer of the white blood cells, GSK said on Friday. The company intends to seek market approval and submit data from the trial to regulatory bodies this year.

FDA pegs Edwards Lifesciences Sapien delivery system recall as severest

The U.S. health regulator on Thursday categorized the recall of Edwards Lifesciences Corp's Sapien 3 Ultra delivery system as extremely serious, highlighting health risks associated with its use, but the products will remain on the market. The system is used to deliver and deploy a transcatheter heart valve to replace a diseased aortic valve without open-heart surgery.

WHO says eradicating malaria 'can be done', but first aim is to control it

Eradicating malaria is biologically feasible and a lofty aim, the World Health Organization said on Friday, but the focus, for now, should be getting the funds, tools and political will to control it. Launching the findings of a three-year-long analysis of the global fight against malaria, WHO experts said that while ending the mosquito-borne disease "can be done", it's not yet possible to put a price tag or target date on achieving eradication.

Hospitals treat patients without admitting them, to avoid penalties

(Reuters Health) - Hospitals appear to be treating Medicare patients in emergency departments (EDs) and observation areas to avoid readmissions and the financial penalties associated with them, according to a new U.S. study. "We have noticed that patients who come back to the hospital shortly after discharge are increasingly being treated in the ER or as observation stays - many of our colleagues across the country have also conveyed that they are being nudged to provide care in these settings, to make hospitals' readmission rates look lower," said Dr. Rishi K. Wadhera from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School in Boston, who led the study.

South Africa pledges fiscal discipline in sweeping health reform

A proposed switch to universal health coverage in South Africa will be managed in a fiscally responsible way, a senior presidential aide told Reuters, forecasting the landmark reform would cost the state $2.2 billion per year by 2025/26. The National Health Insurance (NHI) program, to be debated in parliament soon, is one of the country's biggest policy changes since white minority rule ended in 1994, and a cornerstone of government plans to fix a crisis-ridden system in which deep racial disparities persist.

Exclusive: India proposes ban on e-cigarettes, with jail terms for offenders - government documents

India's health ministry has proposed a ban on the production and import of electronic cigarettes, documents seen by Reuters showed, potentially jeopardizing the expansion plans of big firms like Juul Labs and Philip Morris International. The ministry has proposed that the government issue an executive order banning the devices in the public interest, saying it was needed to ensure e-cigarettes don't become an "epidemic" among children and young adults.

Gender minority college students at increased mental health risk

Gender minority students in U.S. colleges and universities are four times as likely as other students to experience mental health problems, researchers say. Students who identify as transgender, gender non-conforming, genderqueer and nonbinary need gender-affirming services on campus, as well as screening for mental health concerns, the authors of a new study conclude in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Explainer: What are the obstacles to Bayer settling Roundup lawsuits?

Bayer AG is in mediation to potentially settle thousands of U.S. lawsuits claiming that the company's Roundup weed killer causes cancer, but some legal experts said the cases raises novel questions that may prevent an easy settlement. More than 18,400 plaintiffs claiming Roundup causes a type of cancer called non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)