Health News Roundup: Pakistan's anti-polio drive; AIDS in gay men and more

U.S. health agency finalizes conscience and religious freedom rule

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Thursday released a final rule allowing doctors, nurses and other health workers to opt out of procedures such as abortions and sterilizations which violate their personal or religious beliefs. The rule, proposed more than a year ago, reinforces a set of 25 laws passed by Congress that protect "conscience rights" in healthcare, HHS said. Those laws allow health providers and entities to opt out of providing, participating in, paying for or referring for healthcare services that they have personal or religious objections to, HHS said.

Monstrous rumours stoke hostility to Pakistan's anti-polio drive

His bearded face was half-covered by a shawl, but Hameedullah Khan's fear and ignorance was on full display as he delivered a chilling message for anyone who tries to vaccinate his children against polio. "I will stab anyone who comes to my house with polio drops," Khan growled, refusing to be filmed or photographed as he shopped in a fly-blown bazaar on the outskirts of Peshawar, a city scarred by years on the frontline of Islamist militancy in Pakistan.

As measles returns, U.S. states look to cut vaccine exemptions

Maine could soon prohibit parents from citing religious or personal beliefs to avoid vaccinating their children, making the U.S. state one of a half dozen cracking down during the nation's largest measles outbreak in 25 years. State legislatures in New York, New Jersey, Oregon, Vermont, Minnesota and Iowa are looking at similar bills that would only allow exemptions from vaccinations for medical reasons as determined by the child's doctor.

Congo Ebola death toll nears 1,000, expected to spread: WHO

The World Health Organization said on Friday it feared continued "intense transmission" of Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where deaths from a nine-month-old epidemic is 994 and expected to exceed 1,000 within hours. The WHO plans to introduce an unlicensed new Ebola vaccine made by Johnson & Johnson, in addition to a Merck vaccine already being used, as "another tool in the toolbox", Dr. Michael Ryan, Executive Director of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme, told a news briefing in Geneva.

AIDS drugs prevent sexual transmission of HIV in gay men

A European study of nearly 1,000 gay male couples who had sex without condoms – where one partner had HIV and was taking antiretroviral drugs to suppress it - has found the treatment can prevent sexual transmission of the virus. After eight years of follow-up of the so-called serodifferent couples, the study found no cases at all of HIV transmission within couples.

Founder, execs of drug company guilty in a conspiracy that fed opioid crisis

The founder of Insys Therapeutics Inc on Thursday became the highest-ranking pharmaceutical executive to be convicted in a case tied to the U.S. opioid crisis, when he and four colleagues were found guilty of participating in a scheme to bribe doctors to prescribe an addictive painkiller. A federal jury in Boston found John Kapoor, the drugmaker's former chairman, and his co-defendants guilty of racketeering conspiracy for engaging in a scheme that also misled insurers into paying for the drug.

Cholera outbreak declared in cyclone-hit northern Mozambique

Officials declared a cholera outbreak in northern Mozambique on Thursday, a week after cyclone winds, floods and heavy rains hit the area. Cyclone Kenneth crashed into the province of Cabo Delgado on Thursday last week, flattening entire villages with winds of up to 280 kph (174 mph) and killing at least 41 people.

Scientology cruise ship leaves St. Lucia after measles quarantine

A cruise ship quarantined for a reported case of measles left the Caribbean island of St. Lucia late on Thursday after health officials provided 100 doses of vaccine to the ship, media reports said. The Church of Scientology cruise ship was confined in port this week by island health officials after the highly contagious disease was detected on board.

GSK's 3-in-1 inhalable drug shows promise in an asthma study

British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline Plc said on Thursday that its three-in-one drug Trelegy met the main goal of a late-stage asthma study, signalling a possible boost to its lung medicines division that has been hit by generic competition. The company, along with co-developer Innoviva Inc, said the once-daily inhaler improved lung function in patients with uncontrolled asthma, compared to its other medicine Relvar/Breo Ellipta.

Maine Senate rejects ending religious exemptions for vaccinations

An effort to end all non-medical exemptions for childhood vaccinations in Maine was in limbo on Thursday after the state Senate voted to amend it to allow parents to keep opting out on religious grounds. The bill had passed the Democratic-controlled state House of Representatives last month, making Maine one of at least seven states considering ending non-medical exemptions amid the worst outbreak of measles in the United States in 25 years.