The health ministry here said on Monday it plans to co-host an annual biotechnology convention next month with the World Health Organization (WHO), bringing experts together to discuss strategies for a stable global healthcare supply chain.

Under the theme "Future investment for a healthy and secure decade," the World Bio Summit 2024 will kick off in Incheon, west of Seoul, on November 11-12, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

"The World Bio Summit 2024 will serve as a venue for discussions to address and prepare for global health care threats," Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong said, reports news agency.

Listening to music may help patients recover from surgery through a lower heart rate, reduced anxiety levels, less opioid use and lower pain, according to researchers.

A reduction in cortisol levels when listening to music may play a role in easing patients’ recovery, according to a meta-analysis presented at the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Clinical Congress 2024 in San Fransisco.

“When patients wake up after surgery, sometimes they feel really scared and don’t know where they are,” said Eldo Frezza, professor of surgery at California Northstate University College of Medicine. “Music can help ease the transition from the waking up stage to a return to normalcy and may help reduce stress around that transition.”

At least 3.71 million children under the age of 10 have been vaccinated against polio in Kenya as part of the government's latest effort to stop the disease.

Deborah Barasa, cabinet secretary in the Ministry of Health, said in a statement issued on Friday night that the vaccination took place in nine counties identified as vulnerable, including the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.

"The ministry successfully conducted a polio vaccination campaign from October 2 to 6 following confirmation of the poliovirus in the Turkana, Nairobi, and Mbale regions bordering Kenya," Barasa said.

Polio is a disabling disease caused by the poliovirus, which can lead to paralysis and, in some cases, may be life-threatening, news agency reported.

World Health Organization (WHO) teams have been on the ground delivering supplies to health facilities before the second phase of the polio vaccination campaign starts in southern Gaza, UN humanitarians said.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Friday said the second phase of the polio vaccination campaign in southern Gaza is to start on Saturday and aims to provide more than 293,000 children with the second dose of the vaccine and more than 284,000 with vitamin A supplements, reports news agency.

The second round of the polio vaccination campaign concluded in central Gaza on Wednesday, with more than 181,000 children receiving the vaccine and over 148,000 children getting vitamin A supplements, following the first round conducted from September 1 to 12, reaching more than 559,000 children across the Gaza Strip.

At least 39 per cent of Indian workforce in India have noticed real benefits from their company’s mental health programmes, a survey said on Friday.

Additionally, 48 per cent of employees rated these initiatives as “highly effective,” suggesting that many companies are moving in the right direction to support their employees' well-being, according to the survey by Naukri.com.

However, the data also revealed critical gaps, highlighting the need for more targeted efforts to create a workplace environment where open conversations around mental well-being are encouraged.

The findings revealed what employees need to feel more comfortable discussing mental health at work.

The AIDS Society of India (ASI) on Friday urged the government to include HIV self-testing and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) medicine, taken to prevent from HIV, in its policies and programmes without much delay.

One in five people living with HIV in the country do not know their HIV status. The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended HIV self-testing as part of HIV care cascade as it is an important approach to address gaps in HIV diagnoses, especially among key populations, in 2019.

“We need to ensure that 100 per cent of people living with HIV know their status so that they can receive full cascade of HIV care services and stay virally suppressed (undetectable viral load) – which is essential for them to live full and healthy lives – as well as to end AIDS,” said Dr Ishwar Gilada, President-Emeritus, AIDS Society of India (ASI).

In a historic step in the fight against the deadly disease that has killed thousands of children under the age of five in Africa's most populous nation, Nigeria has rolled out a new malaria vaccine that will be given free of cost.

Nigerian Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Ali Pate, on Thursday said that 846,200 doses of the vaccine have been procured in partnership with global vaccine group Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).

Some 153,800 more doses are expected for delivery before the end of this month, totalling 1 million doses of the vaccine, he added.

The Philippines continues to log more leptospirosis cases and deaths, data from the country's Department of Health (DOH) showed on Friday.

From January to October 5, the DOH recorded 5,835 cases, 16 per cent more than in the same period last year. Meanwhile, 509 deaths have been reported across the country.

"As we expect more rain to come, we must always be mindful of what to do especially if there is flooding. Avoid floodwaters as much as possible," Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa said.

Sudan has recorded 2,520 dengue fever cases, including 13 deaths, in five states, its Health Ministry announced in a statement.

The infections were reported in the states of Khartoum, North Kordofan, Kassala, Gedaref, and Sinnar, the ministry said on Thursday, stressing the need to step up epidemic combating campaigns.

Dengue fever is a viral infection transmitted to people via mosquito bites. It is more common in tropical and subtropical climates, news agency reported.

While the majority of infected individuals show no symptoms, those who do typically experience high fever, headaches, severe abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, skin rash, low blood pressure, and difficulty in breathing. In severe cases, dengue fever can be fatal.

Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and cancer account for nearly 90 per cent of deaths in the Western Pacific region, according to a new World Health Organisation (WHO) report released on Thursday.

"While infectious diseases and injuries were previously major causes of illness and death in the Western Pacific, the region is undergoing a significant epidemiological shift," said the Health Statistics in the Western Pacific Region 2023: Monitoring Health for the Sustainable Development Goals.

It added that the region is also experiencing rapid population ageing, as it is home to more than 245 million people aged 65 and older, many of whom are living with NCDs, news agency reported.

The report said that alcohol and tobacco use remains a major risk factor for NCDs. Consumption of alcohol in the region has risen by 40 per cent since 2000. While tobacco use declined from 28 per cent of adults smoking in 2000 to 22.5 per cent in 2022, this was still above the global average of 20.9 per cent.