1. Brazil court upholds ban on missionaries trying to contact isolated Indigenous
“Brazil’s highest court has upheld a ban on missionaries entering reserves that are home to isolated and recently contacted Indigenous people during the pandemic.
The decision comes in response to a lawsuit filed by Indigenous organizations against a law passed in July 2020 that allowed missionaries to remain inside these reserves despite the pandemic, in violation of Brazil’s official policy in place since 1987.”
2. India to provide free healthcare for transgender people, including sex change operations
“Ayushman Bharat, the Centre's flagship health insurance scheme for the poorest of the poor, will now provide medical cover to transgenders and support medical intervention like sex change operations.”
“Students in Ontario will have access to free menstrual products this fall after the Doug Ford government partnered with Shoppers Drug Mart to give students equitable access to the essential hygiene item.
The three-year program, announced by Education Minister Stephen Lecce Friday, will see six million sanitary pads distributed to school boards across the province annually, which can then be accessed by students in school washrooms free of charge.”
“A new industry-academic partnership between the University of Oxford and biopharmaceutical company NuCana as found that chemotherapy drug NUC-7738, derived from a Himalayan fungus, has 40 times greater potency for killing cancer cells than its parent compound.”
5. A malaria vaccine is approved by the World Health Organisation
“This implementation programme, in which RTS,S reduced by 30% the number of cases of severe malaria which led to hospital admissions, therefore measured what kind of efficacy can be expected if the vaccine is rolled out widely across Africa.
Some may think that 30% efficacy is not much. But in parts of sub-Saharan Africa children contract malaria six times a year on average. Each year more than 260,000 African children die of it before their fifth birthdays. Those who survive often suffer lifelong harm, including stunting, a form of impaired growth that affects the ability to learn. The impact of RTS,S will thus be huge.”
Even at 30% it will save almost 80,000 lives per year! Yay science!
6. 3-year-old Texas boy found alive after going missing in woods 4 days ago
A 3-year-old boy who went missing after wandering into the woods was found alive and safe on Saturday, rescuers confirmed, ending a frantic four-day search. Christopher Ramirez was "dehydrated as well as hungry" when he was found but "in overall good spirits," a local sheriff said.
Read more here
7. Drug treatment for Lyme disease could lead to its eradication
The discovery that a chemical is deadly to the bacterium that causes Lyme disease but harmless to animals might allow the disease to be eradicated in the wild.
“Lyme disease is well-positioned to be eradicated,” says Kim Lewis at Northeastern University in Boston. “We are gearing up, the first field trial will be next summer.”
That's it for this week. Until next week, stay safe and don’t forget to share this newsletter with your friends :)