Following is a summary of current health news briefs.
Singapore pharma on recovery path after worst output indecades
Singapore's pharmaceuticals business, among the pillars ofthe city-state's manufacturing sector, is set to return tostrength this year as big global drugmakers ramp up output andadvance automation at their production sites across the country.A recovery from dismal 2017, which marked the sector's worstcontraction in two decades, would underpin Singapore's economicgrowth. Pharmaceuticals is the No.2 contributor to the country'smanufacturing output and accounts for 3 percent of its GDP.
Roche's Tecentriq cocktail adds to lung cancer survivalsuccess
Roche's Tecentriq immunotherapy combined with otherdrugs boosted lung cancer patients' survival versus an oldercocktail, the Swiss company said as it seeks an edge on Merckand Bristol-Myers Squibb. Mixing Tecentriq withAvastin and carboplatin and paclitaxel boosted overall survivalin first-line treatment of non-squamous non-small cell lungcancer, Roche said on Monday, compared to patients who receivedonly Avastin plus the two chemotherapies.
Drug shortages cripple Angola's health service
Apart from a few packs of medicine and plastic jars, theshelves at the Okanautoni health center in southern Angola arebare and lack basic drugs for saving lives. Hours from thenearest town in Cunene province, the clinic has no first-linetuberculosis drugs, no antiretrovirals for HIV, no generalantibiotics and just three anti-malarial pills.
Israel to launch Big Data health project
Israel will invest nearly 1 billion shekels ($287 million)in a project to make data about the state of health of itspopulation available to researchers and private companies, PrimeMinister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday. Almost all ofIsrael's nine million citizens belong to four health maintenanceorganizations (HMOs) who keep members' records digitally, thuscomprising a huge medical database.
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