Health

Doctors in the north east of England could be facing legal action from two of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies for offering sufferers of a serious eye condition the choice of a safe, effective and cheaper drug, according to the BMJ.

It is estimated that prescribing Avastin (bevacizumab) could save the cash-strapped NHS up to £13.5m (€15.4m) in the region over the next five years, and £500m a year if rolled out across the service.

The distribution of treated mosquito nets has commenced across the 18 local government council areas of Ondo State after the exercise was flagged off on Friday in Akure by Gov. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu.

The distribution exercise witnessed large turnout of residents at various distribution points in all the local government areas of the state.

An Italian man has been jailed for 24 years after intentionally infecting 30 women with HIV.

Valentino Talluto is said to have had unprotected sex with at least 53 women after his HIV diagnosis in 2006, the youngest of whom was 14 at the relationship’s start.

Electric stimulation to spinal cord has helped a 32-year-old man - who was left paralysed from the waist down after a motorcycle accident - stand on his feet and move again, researchers say.

The paraplegic man has lost the use of his legs following completely severing his spine in the crash, and had made no progress despite 80 sessions of regular physiotherapy.

Doctors in India have successfully separated conjoined twin boys who were attached at the skull in a marathon surgical procedure that lasted more than 36 hours and involved 40 doctors.

The two-year-old twins, who suffered a rare condition occurring once in about 2.5 million births, underwent the operation at a government-run hospital in New Delhi on Wednesday.

Africa will need about 11 million doctors, nurses, and teachers by 2030 to carter for millions of children who will be the result of a population boom.

According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), a social and economic disaster that could propel millions to migrate is imminent if the professionals are not sought.