Health
AstraZeneca’s Farxiga reduces death risk in heart failure patients
AstraZeneca's (AZN.L) blockbuster diabetes drug Farxiga led to significant reductions in the risk of hospitalization and death in people with all types of heart failure, according to study data released on Saturday.
The drug belongs to a class of medicines called SGLT2 inhibitors that were initially approved to treat type 2 diabetes. Since then, the drugs have been shown to benefit patients with chronic kidney and heart disease and prevent heart attacks.
Farxiga is the first heart failure medication to show mortality benefit across all forms of heart failure, the company said as reported by Reuters.
Detailed data from a study called 'DELIVER’ evaluating Farxiga in patients with a form of heart failure characterized by mildly reduced or preserved ejection fraction was presented at the European Society of Cardiology congress in Barcelona. Ejection fraction measures the heart's ability to pump oxygen-rich blood into the body.
Farxiga met the study's primary goal, inducing a statistically significant reduction in the risk of heart-related death, heart failure hospitalization and urgent heart failure visits by 18%.
A pooled analysis of DELIVER and another trial involving about 11,000 heart failure patients combined showed Farxiga reduced the risk of death from cardiovascular causes - including heart attacks - by 14%, and death from any cause by 10%. The drug also cut the risk of hospital admissions for heart failure by close to a third.
Heart failure occurs when the heart muscle becomes unable to pump blood as efficiently as it should, and can cause a range of serious health problems and death. Of the estimated 64 million heart failure patients globally, roughly half have reduced ejection fraction, which is equal to or less than 40%. The remainder have mildly reduced or preserved ejection fraction.
Health
UNICEF ensures 6.1 million people have access to basic health services in Afghanistan
More than six million people accessed essential health and nutrition services at UNICEF-supported health facilities last month, the UN agency said in its latest Humanitarian Situation Report for September 1 to 30.
UNICEF said of the 6.1 million people who accessed essential health and nutrition services, half of them were children under the age of five.
In addition, 50 schools in 10 provinces gained access to safe water, handwashing facilities, and newly constructed or rehabilitated toilet facilities.
However, as of September, UNICEF’s Humanitarian Action for Children (HAC) appeal for children in Afghanistan is only 41 percent funded.
Afghanistan remains one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises, with 23.7 million people in need of humanitarian assistance following decades of conflict, extreme climate shocks, and severe economic decline.
UNICEF also stated that this year, 33 percent of the population receives most of their income from unsustainable income sources, compared to 26 percent in 2023.
Health
Polio vaccination campaign kicks off in Afghanistan
Public Health Ministry officials have confirmed that a polio vaccine campaign across 16 provinces was launched on Monday.
Sharaft Zaman Amarkhil, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Public Health, says that the campaign got underway on Monday in a number of provinces including Kabul, Kandahar, Helmand, Uruzgan, Zabul, Farah, Nangarhar, Laghman, Kunar, Nuristan and some other provinces.
Amarkhil said the campaign will last for three days and an estimated 6.2 million children under the age of five will receive the anti-polio vaccine.
Zaman called on parents, religious scholars and ethnic elders to cooperate with the ministry's vaccinators in implementing the anti-polio vaccination campaign for children under five years old in the mentioned provinces.
The World Health Organization meanwhile published its latest Polio Bulletin on Monday and confirmed Afghanistan has recorded 23 cases of Wild Polio Virus so far this year.
Pakistan meanwhile reported two new cases this week - one in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and the other in Balochistan province.
Pakistan has recorded a total of 41 cases of polio so far this year, bringing the total between the two countries to 64, against last year’s total of 12 (Afghanistan 6 and Pakistan 6).
World Polio Day
Marking World Polio Day last week, UNICEF pointed out that the current data issues a stark warning that the life-threatening disease continues to thrive in areas where conflict, natural disasters, humanitarian crises, and other destabilizing factors make it difficult to deliver critical healthcare.
“In conflict, children face more than bombs and bullets; they are at risk of deadly diseases that should no longer exist,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell.
“In many countries, we are witnessing the collapse of healthcare systems, destruction of water and sanitation infrastructure, and the displacement of families, triggering a resurgence of diseases like polio. Children are being left paralyzed, unable to walk, play, or attend school."
A global decline in childhood immunization has also led to an increase in polio outbreaks, including in countries that had been polio-free for decades.
Nowhere is this more evident than in conflict-affected areas, with 15 out of 21 such countries – including Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, South Sudan, and Yemen – currently battling polio.
In recent months, UNICEF and partners have intensified emergency responses to surges in polio outbreaks.
In Gaza, for example, UNICEF, in partnership with WHO, reached nearly 600,000 children under 10 years during the first round of a polio vaccination campaign in mid-September. The second and final round has been successfully implemented in south and central Gaza, but renewed mass displacement and bombings have delayed the process in the north.
The campaign follows the return of polio to Gaza for the first time in 25 years.
Health
AIJU seals deal with private hospital for Afghan media workers
The MoU was signed during a ceremony in Kabul on Tuesday, between Hojatullah Mujadadi, the head of the union, and the director of the private hospital Abdullah Yousafzai.
The Afghanistan Independent Journalists Union (AIJU) says it has signed a three-year memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a private hospital in Kabul to provide discounted health services to journalists.
The MoU was signed during a ceremony in Kabul on Tuesday, between Hojatullah Mujadadi, the head of the union, and the director of the private hospital Abdullah Yousafzai.
Mujadadi welcomed the move and said this was part of the union’s efforts to ensure media workers are provided with adequate health services.
According to the AIJU, media workers and their immediate families, which include their parents, siblings, spouse and children, will be entitled to substantial discounts for medical treatment at the hospital.
The AIJU said charges would be discounted by between 50% and 70% for media workers.
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