Capsules

^APPOINTED

New USFDA chief

Robert M Califf is the United States Food and Drug Administration’s new Commissioner. As the top official of the FDA, Califf is committed to strengthening programmes and policies that enable the agency to carry out its mission to protect and promote the public health, the FDA said. Previously, he had served as the FDA’s Deputy Commissioner for Medical Products and Tobacco from February 2015 until his appointment as Commissioner in February 2016. Indian drug companies under scrutiny of the USFDA (as they sell their products in the US) will be interested in the outlook the new FDA chief has on issues governing them.

^{HEALTH EMERGENCIES}

WHO chief on working together

Medicines regulators globally should continue to work together to deal with emerging health emergencies, Margaret Chan, Director General of the WHO said at the 11th Annual lecture organised by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency in London. Chan ecognised the work done by regulators in reacting to the Ebola outbreak and fast-tracking clinical trials for vaccines. She spoke of the challenges faced by regulators across the world particularly in dealing with emerging health emergencies, such as the Ebola and Zika viruses, and how working together they assist those developing vaccines to protect public health.

^{GLOBAL WARMING}

Climate & your diet

Climate change could kill more than 5 lakh adults in 2050 worldwide due to changes in diets and bodyweight from reduced crop productivity, according to estimates published in The Lancet. The research is the strongest evidence yet that climate change could have damaging consequences worldwide. The modelling study, led by Dr Marco Springmann from the University of Oxford, UK, is the first of its kind to assess the impact of climate change on diet composition and bodyweight, and to estimate the number of deaths they will cause in 155 countries in 2050.

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