One in ten of the world's population will have diabetes by 2035 according to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF). The latest edition IDF Diabetes Atlas, published today on World Diabetes Day, estimates that people living with diabetes will surge from 382 million to 59 2 million people by 2035, many in low and middle income countries and the majority under 60. This surge will form the backdrop of the World Diabetes Congress (#WDC2013) in Melbourne, Australia this December.
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International partnership receives funding to develop a drug product to fight schistosomiasis (bilharzia) in children
An international public-private partnership (PPP) was launched in July last year to develop a new pediatric formulation to combat schistosomiasis - commonly known as bilharzia - in preschool children. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation grants $1.15 million to support some research & development activities before Phase I clinical trials.
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Investigation into safety of new diabetes drugs
The BMJ and Channel 4 Dispatches investigated and found that evidence suggesting potential harm from the drugs in industry studies has not been published. Some independent studies challenge the conclusions of the drugs manufacturers' own research. Now some medical experts and patient groups are calling on the pharmaceutical companies to be more transparent in reporting of study data and to enter into dialogue about safety concerns.
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Global recommendations on child medicine
Transparent information on the evidence supporting global recommendations on paediatric medicines should be easily accessible in order to help policy makers decides on what drugs to include in their national drug lists, according to international experts from Ghana and the UK writing in this week's PLOS Medicine.
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Breakup of physician, drug company relationship could improve health care, cut cost
A new report suggests that improved health care and significant reductions in drug costs might be attained by breaking up the age-old relationship between physicians and drug company representatives who promote the newest, more costly and often unnecessary prescription drugs.
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€196 million pan-European drug discovery platform launched
Large pharmaceutical companies join forces with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and academia in an IMI-supported public private partnership (PPP) to enhance early drug discovery and so address the ever-increasing need for innovative therapeutics to tackle unmet medical needs.
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World Cancer Day 2013
The Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) today announced that 1.5 million lives which would be lost to cancer, could be saved per year if decisive measures are taken to achieve the World Health Organization's (WHO) '25 by 25' target; to reduce premature deaths due to non-communicable diseases (NCDs) by 25% by 2025.
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