Health accountability
Public health policy can differ dramatically between countries, as we saw during the Covid-19 pandemic before the vaccines saved the day. Australia and New Zealand went for a vision zero approach trying to avoid all infections; several Asian countries (pre-warned as they narrowly escaped a SARS pandemic in 2002/03) also took drastic measures to keep infections down.
Phosphorus in focus
Six elements are crucial for the existence of all life on our planet, namely carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and sulfur. Of these six, phosphorus is by far the most limited in its general availability.
Taiwan plans four-year pharma resilience upgrade programme
The Taiwanese government has unveiled a four-year national pharmaceutical resilience preparedness programme with a budget of NewTaiwan$24bn. The programme will focus on three areas: domestic production for domestic use, smart allocation, and international partnerships to comprehensively build Taiwan’s pharmaceutical supply, from source production to clinical use.
Leader: Resilience climbs up the agenda
Resilience is generally understood to mean the ability to weather and overcome difficulties – the ability to bounce back, to recover and persist during challenges. And the world’s economic resilience is being challenged as it currently experiences major difficulties due to the conflict in the Middle East.
Re-imagining skincare: The rise of neurocosmetics
Cosmetics and skincare products don’t just affect our appearance, but emerging neurocosmetics are also claiming to change our mood – and even our health and wellbeing. Maria Burke reports
Researchers look at how psilocybin targets brain circuits to relieve pain
Researchers have investigated how psilocybin targets brain circuits to relieve pain. A single dose of the compound reduced pain and depression-like behaviours in lab mice with nerve injury and inflammatory pain. Those effects lasted for almost two weeks.
Fluoride-ion battery research: Charging into the future
As battery needs become more demanding to support sectors such as aviation or long-haul container shipping, alternative ‘beyond-lithium’ battery chemistries are highly sought-after. XiaoZhi Lim reports on research into fluoride-ion alternatives.
Click chemistry helps scientists map cellular targets of drugs
A collaboration between researchers in the US and Canada has yielded a method that reveals precisely where drugs end up in a mammalian body. Their method used click chemistry and was demonstrated with two cancer drugs, afatinib and ibrutinib.
Antibiotics: World Health Organization publishes three target product profiles
The World Health Organization (WHO) has published three new Target Product Profiles (TPPs) for antibiotics designed to address key drug-resistant bacteria causing infections in at-risk populations worldwide.
Comment: Global medicine use
Increasing usage of medicines, and the associated amount being spent, have become central issues in health policy and international trade discussions in recent years, including the potential reshaping of global markets and drug pricing that is being proposed by the US administration.