The Union Health Ministry implemented a ban on 156 "irrational" FDC medicines, effective immediately. These medicines, including widely used antibiotics, painkillers, and multivitamins, were commonly used to treat fever, cough, and infections. The ban was imposed due to the associated health risks and lack of therapeutic justification for the ingredients in these FDCs.

What are FDC medicines?

FDCs or fixed-dosed combinations, also known as "cocktail drugs," are medications that combine multiple drugs in a single pill. They are designed to treat multiple symptoms or conditions simultaneously. While they offer convenience, they can pose significant risks. These risks include the possibility of overdose, adverse interactions between the drugs, and the development of antibiotic resistance. Additionally, many FDC medicines lack sufficient scientific evidence to support their safety and efficacy.

Expert opinions on FDC medicines

Experts have raised concerns about the use of FDC medicines. They believe that many of these combinations lack sufficient scientific evidence to support their safety and effectiveness. Additionally, the combination of multiple drugs in a single pill can increase the risk of adverse side effects and interactions with other medications.

Experts have also found that FDC medicines may not be as effective as individual drugs in treating certain conditions. It is important to note that safer and more effective alternatives are available for most of the medical conditions that FDC medicines were used to treat. One particular concern is the inclusion of antibiotics in some FDCs. Overuse of antibiotics can contribute to the development of antibiotic resistance, a major public health threat.

The risks of FDC medicines

The use of FDC medicines can lead to adverse effects, including serious ones. Additionally, safer alternatives, tested in clinical trials, are available to treat the same medical conditions. Experts recommend prescribing drugs individually based on a patient's clinical symptoms rather than combining them in FDCs.

The ban on irrational FDC medicines by the Union Health Ministry can be seen as a positive step towards promoting rational drug use and protecting public health. The goal is to eliminate unnecessary and potentially harmful drug combinations. This is a step forward in reducing the risks associated with medication and ensure safer and more effective treatment options for patients.

Australia has become the 30th country in the world to eliminate trachoma as a public health problem, announced the World Health Organization (WHO).

Trachoma is the world’s leading infectious cause of blindness, which is preventable but cannot be reversed.

According to the WHO, Australia is among a growing number of countries that have successfully eliminated trachoma, contributing to global progress towards the targets set out in the WHO road map for neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) 2021–2030.

“WHO congratulates Australia on this important achievement,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.

“This success reflects sustained commitment, strong partnerships, and a focus on reaching populations most affected by health inequities. It brings us closer to a world free from the suffering caused by trachoma," he added.

How Australia Eliminated Trachoma

Australia has achieved the milestone after decades of targeted public health action, particularly in remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, where trachoma persisted despite its earlier disappearance from the rest of the country.

The country established the National Trachoma Management Program in 2006 to boost efforts to fight the disease.

The program implemented the WHO-recommended SAFE strategy:

• Surgery for trichiasis,
• Antibiotics to treat infection,
• Promotion of facial cleanliness,
• Environmental improvement.

Other measures undertaken include

• Regular screening of all communities classified as at-risk of trachoma
• Targeted treatment based on community-level data rather than mass drug administration,
• Prevention activities, including improvements in housing, water, sanitation, and hygiene,
• Strong integration with environmental health programs.

“Elimination of trachoma is a win for the eye health of communities across Australia, particularly those whose lives have been impacted by a disease that is entirely preventable,” said Mark Butler, Minister for Health and Ageing, Australia.

In addition to trachoma, Australia has several endemic NTDs, including Buruli ulcer, leprosy, and scabies.

Validation of elimination of trachoma as a public health problem marks the first time that WHO has confirmed the elimination of an NTD in Australia, which becomes the 63rd country globally and 16th in the Western Pacific Region to have eliminated at least one NTD.

What is Trachoma?

Trachoma is caused by the bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis.

It spreads through close contact with infected individuals, contaminated surfaces, and flies that carry eye and nose discharge.

Environmental risks like poor hygiene, overcrowded households, and inadequate access to water and sanitation facilities can also lead to trachoma.

Repeated infections can lead to scarring of the eyelids, turning eyelashes inward, and ultimately causing blindness if untreated.

As per the WHO, trachoma is responsible for the blindness or visual impairment of about 1.9 million people.

Blindness from trachoma is difficult to reverse.

In areas where trachoma is endemic, active (inflammatory) trachoma is common among preschool-aged children, with the proportion of such children affected sometimes being as high as 90 per cent infection becomes less frequent and shorter in duration with increasing age.

Infection is usually acquired when living in close proximity to others with active disease, and the family is the main setting for transmission.

An individual’s immune system can clear a single episode of infection, but in endemic communities, re-acquisition of the organism occurs frequently.

Trachoma is one of 21 diseases and disease groups that are regarded by the WHO as NTDs.

Together, NTDs affect more than 1 billion people worldwide, primarily in underserved populations with limited access to essential services such as clean water, sanitation, and health care.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed that the Salmonella outbreak that infected 34 people in 13 states in the country is linked to backyard poultry.

The CDC, in its latest report, noted that backyard poultry, like chickens and ducks, can carry Salmonella germs even if they look healthy and clean. To date, no deaths have been associated with this outbreak, which started on February 26 and lasted up to March 31. However, 13 people have been hospitalized, the federal agency said.

Notably, the CDC analysis revealed that the Salmonella strain may be resistant to the antibiotic fosfomycin. Samples from eight of those patients showed there could be resistance to other antibiotics commonly used in Salmonella infections.

States Reporting Salmonella Outbreak

Michigan has the most cases, with six, followed by Wisconsin and Ohio, each of which has five cases.

Indiana, Kentucky, and Maine each have three cases. Florida, Illinois, Mississippi, New Hampshire, and Tennessee have each confirmed a single case.

Children Under Age 5 More Affected

Forty-one percent of case-patients in this outbreak are under the age of 5 years, and of the 29 people interviewed by investigators, 23 (79%) reported contact with backyard poultry in the days prior to illness.

“Children younger than 5 years old shouldn't handle the birds (including chicks and ducklings) or anything in the area where the birds live and roam. They are more likely to get sick from Salmonella,” the CDC said.

“Of 14 people who reported owning backyard poultry, 13 (93%) bought or obtained poultry since January 1, 2026,” the CDC said. “People reported getting their poultry from various places, including agricultural retail stores.”

The CDC said it will continue to investigate the hatcheries associated with cases.

What Can You Do To Be Safe?

• Always wash your hands for 20 seconds after touching birds, their supplies, or collecting eggs.
• Use a pair of dedicated shoes or boots for your coop and don't wear them inside your house.
• Keep birds and supplies outside the house to prevent spreading germs into your house.
• Children younger than 5 years old shouldn't handle the birds (including chicks and ducklings) or anything in the area where the birds live and roam. They are more likely to get sick from Salmonella.

The CDC also advised businesses to

• Source poultry from hatcheries that take steps to reduce Salmonella contamination.
• Clean and sanitize poultry display areas between shipments of new poultry.
• Provide handwashing stations or hand sanitizers next to poultry display areas and tell customers to wash their hands right after leaving these areas.
• Display poultry out of reach of customers, especially chil­dren, so they cannot easily touch the poultry.

What is Salmonella?

As per the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Salmonella is a group of bacteria that can cause gastrointestinal illness and fever called salmonellosis. It can be spread by food handlers who do not wash their hands and/or the surfaces and tools they use between food preparation steps. It can also happen when people consume uncooked and raw food. Salmonella can also spread from animals to people.

The FDA notes that people who have direct contact with certain animals, including poultry and reptiles, can spread the bacteria from the animal to food if hand washing hygiene is not practiced.

Pets, too, could spread the bacteria within the home environment if they eat food contaminated with Salmonella.

Most people infected with Salmonella develop diarrhea, fever, and stomach cramps 6 hours to 6 days after being exposed to the bacteria.

The illness usually lasts 4 to 7 days, and most people recover without treatment.

In some people, the illness may be so severe that the patient is hospitalized.

Children younger than 5, adults 65 and older, and people with weakened immune systems are more likely to have severe illness.

US President Donald Trump-backed decision by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to stop recommending giving infants a dose of the hepatitis B vaccine within 24 hours after birth is likely to lead to hundreds more infections, deaths, and millions of dollars in higher costs, according to new research.

The research, published in JAMA Pediatrics, comes as federal vaccine advisers to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. voted in December 2025 to reverse the long-standing recommendation to delay the first shot until at least two months of age for infants born to mothers who test negative for the virus.

While pediatricians, public health experts, and dozens of medical groups warned that it could harm children and their families, the new JAMA studies modelled the potential impact of the policy.

What Did The Studies Predict?

The first study estimated that delaying the first hepatitis B vaccine dose by two months for babies born in a single year to mothers who tested negative — about 80 percent of the 3.6 million US births annually — would increase lifetime health-care costs by at least $16 million, The Washington Post reported.

If vaccination were delayed by seven months, it would cost an additional $19.8 million.

The second study modeled what would happen if only 10 per cent of babies born to unscreened mothers received a birth dose; an additional 628 babies would get infected.

“One of the most concerning implications is how many more infected Hep B babies will we see,” said co-author Rachel Epstein, a pediatric and adult infectious diseases clinician at Boston Medical Center.

“A universal birth dose helps prevent a substantial number of infections in babies of a lifelong condition that we do not have a cure for,” she added.

CDC Had No evidence To Overturn Hepatitis B Vaccine Policy

Since 1991, all infants born in the US have received the first dose of hepatitis B vaccine within 24 hours of birth, a strategy that led to close to a 99 percent decline in infections among children.

Calling the universal birth-dose policy "a safety net", public health and medical experts noted that nearly 15 percent of pregnant women miss recommended hepatitis B screening. More than half of those who test positive do not receive appropriate follow-up care.

Delaying the initial dose also decreases the likelihood that a child will complete the three-shot series needed for full protection, hepatitis experts have said.

The authors argued that the CDC advisory panel departed from standards established for over three decades and failed to weigh key evidence.

“We noticed that the committee did not have the evidence they needed to inform their decision,” co-author Eric Hall, an assistant professor of epidemiology at Oregon Health and Science University, was quoted as saying to The Post.

“But this group kind of blew past all that and didn’t make any effort to fill the evidence gaps that they might have had. They just went ahead anyway.”

Also read: Hepatitis Infections Claims 1.3 Million Lives Worldwide, India Among Top Contributors: WHO

What is Hepatitis B?

Hepatitis B is a viral infection that affects the liver. It is highly contagious and spreads when blood, semen, or other bodily fluids from a person who carries the virus enter the body of someone who is not infected.

Hepatitis B can also pass from an infected mother to her baby during childbirth, whether through a vaginal delivery or a C-section. It is the most common route of transmission.

Vaccination is the most reliable way to prevent hepatitis B. The shots offer strong protection in infancy and continue to shield individuals well into adulthood.

Babies usually receive a three-dose series. A scientific review by the Vaccine Integrity Project found that 95 percent of healthy infants develop enough immunity after the third dose. The vaccine also lowers the risk of infection by nearly 70 percent in babies born to mothers who have hepatitis B.