| Other news EU invests €2 million to support work on Long COVID Yesterday (10 September) the Commission launched a €2 million project to address Long COVID, with the support of the OECD and the WHO. The project aims to establish a unified definition, a better understanding of prevalence, improved clinical guidelines and the launch of a stakeholder group and a citizen’s panel. “Long COVID is not a major and global public health challenge,” said Health Commissioner, Stella Kyriakides. 100 organisations call for action on brain health The European Brain Council (EBC) has gathered 100 supporting organisations to support their ‘No Health Without Brain Health’ campaign. On 9 September, they released a statement urging policymakers to publicly endorse brain health and research initiatives in Europe. The overall goals of the campaign are to “establish a European Parliament Intergroup on Brain Health and Research” and “support for National and EU Brain Plans.” EU and Canada launch Health Policy Dialogue On 9 September, Health Commissioner, Stella Kyriakides, and Canada’s Health Minister, Mark Holland, unveiled the new EU-Canada Health Policy Dialogue. The chief aim is to exchange information about antimicrobial resistance, health security and non-communicable diseases. “Through this partnership, the EU and Canada will share knowledge, scientific evidence, and best practices to advance the health and safety of people in Europe, Canada and around the world,” said Kyriakides. EMA recommends guidelines to minimize metamizole side effects The European Medicines Agency (EMA) suggested ways to combat agranulocytosis, a known side effect of the painkiller metamizole. Agranulocytosis involves a dangerous lowering of the white blood cell count and can lead to serious injuries. EMA said that this side effect is not caused by the dosage level and can occur during treatment or shortly after stopping. They provided detailed information for patients and healthcare professionals on how the medicine works and when it would be best to stop taking it. Endometriosis drug linked to potential increased risk of brain tumours The EMA's Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee (PRAC) has warned healthcare professionals about the increased risk of meningioma, a common brain tumour, in patients taking medroxyprogesterone acetate in high doses or for a long period of time. Medroxyprogesterone acetate is a medicine often used to treat hormonal conditions including endometriosis. PRAC recommends that patients taking high doses of medroxyprogesterone acetate should be monitored for meningioma symptoms and if they are diagnosed, treatment should be stopped. WHO delivers EU doses to the Democratic Republic of Congo WHO and UNICEF has delivered the first 99,100 mpox vaccines donated by the European Commission’s Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) to the Democratic Republic of Congo. “WHO is working with our partners to coordinate vaccine demands, share information on doses available, and ensure those doses are directed to areas where they can contribute to controlling the outbreak,” Dr Tedros says. New data shows a 13% increase in cholera The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported that cholera cases increased by 13% and resulted in over 4,000 deaths in 2023. This is a large increase from the 2,349 reported cholera deaths in 2022. WHO completes first phases of polio campaign in Gaza The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that over 187,000 children aged 10 and under in central Gaza received their oral polio vaccine during the first phase of their polio vaccination campaign. The campaign led by UNRWA, UNICEF and WHO has been successful, but Philippe Lazzarini tweeted, “While this is good progress, civilians across Gaza continue to be killed on a daily basis including overnight in Al Mawassi which the Israeli Authorities refer to as a ‘safe zone’.” Confirmed human bird flu with not animal exposure raises concern On Friday, 6 September, the Missouri Department of Health reported a human case of H5 virus, it is the first incidence where the patient reported no animal exposure. The CDC also released a statement confirming that the patient, who had unspecified “underlying medical conditions” had properly recovered and was discharged from the hospital and that additional testing was being carried out. | 