Health News Roundup: WHO certifies Belize as being malaria-free; US FDA approves Eli Lilly-Boehringer's diabetes drugs for children and more

The British drugmaker said a 'Phase III' trial showed vaccine efficacy against RSV-lower respiratory tract disease and severe disease over two full RSV seasons, including in participants with underlying medical conditions. Challenge to abortion clinic 'buffer zone' law rejected by US court A U.S. appeals court on Wednesday upheld a New York county's law barring anti-abortion activists from approaching people outside abortion clinics, teeing up potential review by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

WHO certifies Belize as being malaria-free

The World Health Organization (WHO) has certified Belize as being free from malaria, marking success for the Central American country after 70 years of continuous efforts to eradicate the disease. The number of cases of malaria, which is caused by a bite from an infected Anopheles mosquito, have dropped from about 10,000 cases in 1994 to zero indigenous cases in 2019.

GSK's RSV vaccine shows long-term efficacy in late-stage trial

GSK on Wednesday said its vaccine for the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which recently won EU approval, showed strong long-term protection in older adults in a late-stage trial. The British drugmaker said a 'Phase III' trial showed vaccine efficacy against RSV-lower respiratory tract disease and severe disease over two full RSV seasons, including in participants with underlying medical conditions.

Challenge to abortion clinic 'buffer zone' law rejected by US court

A U.S. appeals court on Wednesday upheld a New York county's law barring anti-abortion activists from approaching people outside abortion clinics, teeing up potential review by the U.S. Supreme Court. The Manhattan-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the law adopted last year by Westchester County, New York, was valid under a 2000 Supreme Court ruling that rejected a challenge to a similar law in Colorado.

Infant mortality rises when sovereign debt defaults drag on, study says

Infant mortality rises and life expectancy falls when sovereign debt defaults are not quickly resolved, a study said on Wednesday, as negotiations to restructure the debts of countries including Zambia, Sri Lanka and Ghana drag on. In countries that have come out of default within three years since 1900, infant deaths were 2.2 percentage points higher than if they had not defaulted, according to the study by researchers Clemens Graf von Luckner and Juan Farah-Yacoub.

Exclusive-Gambia tightens rules for Indian drugs after cough syrup deaths - letter

Gambia will make it mandatory for all pharmaceutical products from India to be inspected and tested prior to shipment from July 1, according to Gambian government documents reviewed by Reuters, the first known restrictions on national exports following the deaths of dozens of children linked to Indian-made cough syrups. The new rule highlights how governments are reassessing their reliance on India's $42 billion pharmaceutical industry since the contamination came to light last year. India's industry supplies nearly half of the pharmaceuticals used in Africa. In April, India's government said its officials had held meetings in Africa to ensure its drug exports did not suffer after at least 70 children died in Gambia after ingesting the cough syrup last year.

US FDA approves Eli Lilly-Boehringer's diabetes drugs for children

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Tuesday approved Eli Lilly and partner Boehringer Ingelheim's drugs Jardiance and Synjardy to treat type 2 diabetes in children. The drugs were approved as additions to diet and exercise to improve blood sugar control in children aged 10 years and above with type 2 diabetes, the most common form of the disease.

PTC Therapeutics says interim data for Huntington's disease drug shows promise

PTC Therapeutics said on Wednesday its experimental Huntington's disease drug lowered mutated protein levels that cause the neurological disease, citing interim data from a mid-stage study. At 10 milligrams dose, the study showed as much as 30% dose-dependent reductions of the mutant protein, the company said, adding the treatment was well-tolerated and no serious adverse events were reported.

Pharmaceutical trade group sues US over Medicare drug price negotiation plans

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the leading industry lobby group, and two other organizations on Wednesday said they were suing the U.S. government to block enforcement of a program that gives Medicare the power to negotiate drug prices. In a complaint filed in a federal court in Texas, PhRMA along with the National Infusion Center Association and the Global Colon Cancer Association, which counts PhRMA and some drug companies as members, said the drug price negotiation program was unconstitutional.

US CDC advisers weigh use of GSK, Pfizer RSV vaccines in older adults

A panel of advisers to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Wednesday are expected to vote on whether to recommend the use of recently approved vaccines from Pfizer and GSK to prevent severe respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections in older adults. If the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices backs the vaccines and the agency's director formally signs off on their use as expected, the shots can be rolled out ahead of the RSV season this fall. The expert panel is expected to discuss exactly who should receive the vaccines as well as how frequently.

WHO prepares for El Nino-linked spread of viral disease

The World Health Organization is preparing for an increased spread of viral diseases like dengue, Zika and chikungunya linked to the El Nino weather phenomenon, the agency's director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday. El Nino, a warming of water surface temperatures in the eastern and central Pacific Ocean, has officially returned after three years of the La Nina climate pattern. This is likely to yield extreme weather later this year, from tropical cyclones spinning toward vulnerable Pacific islands to heavy rainfall in South America to drought in Australia and in some parts of Asia.