Pakistan continues to be dealing with a polio outbreak as four fresh cases have emerged, pushing the national tally to 37 this year, according to health officials on October 19, 2024. Health officials said that the regional reference laboratory for polio eradication at the National Institute of Health in Islamabad confirmed wild poliovirus type-1 (WPV1) in two children-one from each Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

In recent cases, a girl has been affected from Pishin, and two boys from Chaman and Noshki of Balochistan, and a girl from Lakki Marwat in KP. These are the first detections of the virus within Noshki and Lakki Marwat this year; isolated cases of poliovirus were previously reported within Chaman and Pishin. The province of Balochistan was the worst hit with 20 cases, Sindh had 10, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had five, and Punjab and Islamabad had one case each.

A gigantic fight against polio has been on going in Pakistan- especially in Balochistan and southern KP-over the last two years. Immunisation campaigns have often been suspended or delayed because of local protests, insecurity, and community boycotts. Consequently, quite a number of children did not get the necessary vaccinations, making existing patches of vulnerability for the virus to flow within those pockets.

Noshki, located near Afghanistan's border, and Lakki Marwat have also recently reported some positive environmental samples that confirm the virus is present here, said a local reference laboratory official. Samples of latest cases are currently under genetic sequencing for checking spread of virus and origin.

As the threat of polio continues to grow, Pakistan has vowed to mount a nationwide campaign against it beginning from October 28. With the zeal to tackle the menace in the most effective manner, over 45 million children under the age of five will be vaccinated across the country.

Today, Afghanistan and Pakistan remain one of the few countries where polio has not yet been eradicated. The WHO said the virus remains a potential serious public health threat in areas with low vaccination coverage and weak surveillance.

India On Alert Against Polio

The country declared itself polio-free since 2014 and has kept the disease on bay almost a decade with very robust vaccination programs; however, two cases of vaccine-derived poliovirus cases reported in recent days from Meghalaya create some amount of doubts over a possible resurgence. Experts observe that in India, despite these detections taking place, strong coverage of vaccination at 90-95% and mandatory surveillance measures keep the risk of this widespread outbreak at bay.

The experts point out, however, that such stable situation in India requires continued surveillance. "Countries like Pakistan and parts of Africa remain at a high risk because vaccination rates in those areas are much lower," Dr. Siddharth, public health expert, said. Vaccination is an indispensable act in order to avoid the spread of this incapacitating disease that manifests most importantly as a nervous system affliction leading to the paralysis of a long period.

With concerted efforts from health authorities, there is hope someday that the scourge of polio will be completely eradicated from the face of the earth and future generations will never suffer from its effects.

The 2026 US midterm elections have delivered significant victories for Democrats, including two healthcare professionals. Physician Amy Acton defeated Republican Vivek Ramaswamy in Ohio’s gubernatorial race, while paediatrician Annie Andrews won South Carolina’s Senate race against Republican Darline Graham.

Both victories have brought healthcare professionals into the political spotlight as medical costs, insurance affordability and access to treatment remain major concerns for American voters.

Acton, a former director of the Ohio Department of Health, became widely recognised for her leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic. Andrews drew on her experience as a paediatrician to campaign on healthcare access and affordability.

"It’s the honor of my lifetime to be named your Ohio Governor-Elect," Acton said, in an Instagram post.

"South Carolina, you have shown the nation — in an era of partisan divides, of vitriol and namecalling, in a politics dominated by billionaires, special interests, and insiders in Washington — that we will not bow down. We will not back down. And we will chart our own course," added Andrews on X.

Democrats Make Major Gains In US Midterm Elections

Also read: US Midterms 2026: 125 Doctors, Nurses And Health Experts Join Election Battle

Acton's victory marks a setback for Republicans in Ohio, where the governor's office was previously held by the party. She sought to return the governorship to Democrats after two decades, despite Ohio's increasingly Republican lean in recent elections.

The closely watched contest saw Ramaswamy, a biotech entrepreneur and former 2024 Republican presidential candidate, secure the Republican nomination with endorsements from President Donald Trump and the state Republican Party.

According to the Associated Press (AP), Acton received 50.8% of the vote, against Ramaswamy's 45.9%, with 86% of ballots counted.

In South Carolina, Andrews defeated Darline Graham, the sister of the late Republican Senator Lindsey Graham. She became the first Democrat to win a US Senate seat in the state in 28 years.

What Could These Wins Mean For Healthcare Policy?

The Democratic gains could create opportunities to challenge President Donald Trump's healthcare agenda through congressional oversight and legislative action.

Healthcare affordability was a major voter concern. A Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) poll found that six in 10 registered voters worried about medical costs. Voters trusted Democrats more than Republicans on healthcare costs (42% versus 22%) and abortion policy (42% versus 27%).

Abortion-related measures also featured on ballots in Virginia, Nevada, Idaho and Missouri, where voters considered repealing existing abortion protections.

Read More: US Midterm Elections 2026: Abortion, Medicaid, Measles And Healthcare Issues At Stake

What Did Annie Andrews And Amy Acton Promise On Healthcare?

Both candidates used their medical backgrounds to build campaigns around reducing healthcare costs, protecting patients and expanding access to treatment.

Annie Andrews' healthcare promises

The paediatrician campaigned on a 'Patients and Prices Platform'. Her key promises included:

• Lower drug prices: Expand Medicare drug price negotiations and restructure insurance rules to limit corporate profits.
• Public option: Introduce voluntary public health insurance instead of Medicare for All.
• Protect Medicaid: Reverse federal Medicaid cuts and safeguard rural hospitals.
• Public health: Expand vaccine access and strengthen maternal health services.
• Reproductive rights: Restore federal abortion protections and safeguard access to contraception and fertility treatments, including IVF.

Amy Acton's healthcare promises

The former Ohio health director focused on reducing medical debt, protecting Medicaid coverage and strengthening hospitals. Her key promises included:

• Medical debt relief: Eliminate medical debt for eligible residents earning up to 400% of the federal poverty level or whose medical debt exceeded 5% of household income.
• Lower medication costs: Launch 'Ohio Rx', a state-run online pharmaceutical platform to reduce drug prices through collective purchasing.
• Protect Medicaid: Oppose coverage cuts and establish navigator programmes to help residents retain insurance.
• Support hospitals: Provide funding to vulnerable rural and urban safety-net hospitals.
• Patient protections: Address surprise medical bills, improve insurance price transparency and prevent mid-plan medication switches.
• Reproductive rights: Defend Ohio's reproductive freedom amendment and protect access to abortion, contraception, IVF and miscarriage care.

The UK's National Health Service (NHS) is launching a major trial of blood tests designed to detect 13 different cancers, including bowel, pancreatic, liver and ovarian cancer.

More than 20,000 patients with symptoms like constant bloating or abdominal discomfort are invited to participate in the trial. It spans across more than 200 GP practices in England.

Called STRIDE-RCT, the study is being led by the University of Birmingham and will assess whether three different blood tests can help GPs identify patients who may need further cancer screening sooner.

The tests detect either tiny fragments of DNA released by tumours into the bloodstream or proteins linked with the body's response to cancer.

A single blood sample could provide signals linked with several cancer types and help indicate where the cancer may have originated.

The trial is aimed to determine if certain cancers can be detected early, especially those whose symptoms may overlap with other less serious conditions.

Which 13 Cancers Can The Blood Tests Detect?

Also read: Blood Test That Could Detect 50+ Cancers Closer To Approval As FDA Raises No Major Concerns About Its Accuracy

The trial will examine the tests for their ability to identify these 13 cancers:

1. Bowel cancer
2. Small bowel cancer
3. Stomach cancer
4. Oesophageal cancer
5. Pancreatic cancer
6. Liver cancer
7. Bile duct cancer
8. Gallbladder cancer
9. Ovarian cancer
10. Endometrial cancer
11. Kidney cancer
12. Bladder cancer
13. Prostate cancer

These cancers collectively equal approximately 35,000 deaths each year in England.

The study will evaluate three blood tests. One of them, called Enlighten, was developed by UK biotechnology company Proteotype Diagnostics. It looks for proteins in the blood that indicate the immune system may be responding to early signs of cancer.

Another test, Signatera, is already used by the NHS to monitor whether certain cancers have returned. It detects circulating tumour DNAor fragments of genetic material released by cancer cells into the bloodstream.

Early Detection Of Abdominal Cancers Is Important

Also read: Multicancer Blood Test Detects 17 Cancer In A Large Study: Can It Replace Mammograms & Colonoscopies?

Many abdominal cancers are diagnosed at advanced stages because their early symptoms can be easily mistaken for digestive problems or other common conditions.

Bloating, abdominal discomfort, changes in bowel habits, unexplained weight loss and loss of appetite can have several possible causes. This can make it difficult for patients and doctors to identify cancer early.

According to the trial announcement, around nine in 10 people diagnosed with stage 1 bowel cancer survive for at least five years, compared with approximately one in 10 people diagnosed at stage 4.

Professor Peter Johnson, NHS national clinical director for cancer and chair of the Office for Life Sciences Cancer Goal, said, “Detecting abdomen cancer early is notoriously difficult because the symptoms can easily be mistaken for other less serious conditions, but the NHS is determined to find a solution.”

He added, "We are at the start of revolution in cancer diagnosis, and this trial will help us to find out whether blood tests can help GPs get the right patients to the right tests sooner, supporting earlier diagnosis when treatment is most likely to be successful."

He said it was important to gather evidence about the new technologies and thanked those participating in the research.

Health Secretary Yvette Cooper also highlighted the potential benefits of earlier diagnosis.

"The earlier cancers are diagnosed, the more chance they can be successfully treated and lives can be saved," she said. "This world-first trial will establish whether simple blood tests can help GPs identify much sooner the patients who need urgent support."

The new STRIDE-RCT trial comes after the NHS-Galleri trial, which investigated whether a single blood test could detect multiple cancers before symptoms appeared.

That trial involved more than 142,000 people aged 50 to 77 across England. Participants were randomly assigned to receive either the Galleri blood test alongside usual NHS care or usual care alone.

The Galleri test looks for patterns in tumour DNA circulating in the blood that may signal the presence of cancer.

However, results published in September 2026 showed that the trial did not meet its primary objective of reducing the combined incidence of stage III and stage IV cancers across 12 cancer types. Researchers did observe fewer stage IV cancers, but said further follow-up was needed.

Caring for a cancer patient entails much more than offering emotional support. Family members and loved ones are often tasked with managing medical appointments, monitoring medications, making decisions, handling household responsibilities and navigating financial and legal concerns.

Recognising the challenges faced by these caregivers, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) has issued its first-ever guidelines for people caring for someone with cancer, which is titled NCCN Guidelines for Patients: Caregiving for People with Cancer.

"When a loved one is diagnosed with cancer, naturally, most people want to show up for them however they can. But pretty quickly, many realize it's not just about cancer. They're also juggling everything else in their lives," said Anthea A. Gray, PsyD, of The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute, who participated in developing the guide.

"In moments when things feel scary or uncertain—or when everything starts to feel too much—having trusted, easy-to-find information matters a lot," she added. "That is why resources like the NCCN Guidelines for Patients are so helpful. They offer reputable information together in one place, so caregivers can better understand what to expect, make more informed decisions, and support their loved ones with more confidence."

What Do The New NCCN Cancer Caregiver Guidelines Include?

The guidelines cover five major areas of caregiving:

Emotional support

Cancer can affect the emotional well-being of both patients and their caregivers. The guide offers information on supporting a loved one through difficult emotions, uncertainty and the challenges that come with diagnosis and treatment.

Medical management

Caregivers may be expected to help with treatment decisions, manage medications, coordinate medical appointments and perform certain nursing-related tasks at home.

The guide explains what caregivers may need to know, provides information about cancer and its treatment, and suggests questions they can ask healthcare professionals.

Also read: After Olympian Ciara Mageean’s Death At 34, Irish Health Authorities Are Being Urged To Lower Screening Age For Bowel Cancer

Household responsibilities

Managing everyday activities can become difficult when a loved one is undergoing cancer treatment. The guidelines provide practical advice on handling household tasks and organising responsibilities alongside caregiving.

Financial concerns

Cancer treatment can bring additional expenses and financial pressures. The guide addresses financial considerations that caregivers and families may encounter while supporting someone through treatment.

Legal concerns

Caregivers may also need to navigate legal matters while helping a loved one manage their illness. The guidelines include information on legal concerns that may arise during the caregiving process.

The resource also explains common medical terms and concepts to help caregivers better understand a cancer diagnosis and treatment journey.

Cancer Caregivers Need Care Too

The need for caregiver support is growing as more people take on responsibilities for loved ones living with cancer and other chronic illnesses.

According to the 2025 report Caregiving in the US, published by AARP and the National Alliance for Caregiving, approximately 63 million Americans, or nearly one in four adults, provided ongoing care to someone in the previous year.

The NCCN guide also highlights the responsibilities caregivers often manage. At least 70% are balancing employment and other responsibilities, while 60% live separately from the person they care for.

Gray explained that more people are living longer with cancer, sometimes alongside other medical conditions. At the same time, younger people are being diagnosed with cancers, meaning some caregivers are also raising children and working full-time.

"Also, there's a rising number of younger people starting to get cancers that they might not have gotten in the past, and many of these younger people have families, and those caregivers are not only caregivers but maybe parents to young children. Maybe they're working full time," she said.

"So, the landscape of caregiving is changing, and the demands that caregivers once had are increasing."

She also pointed to the financial pressure families face as the cost of everyday expenses rises.

"The increased financial strain that puts on caregivers and families certainly doesn't help the burden that comes along, or can come along, with caregiving," Gray said.

Also read: India Cancer Drug Price Cuts: New Analysis Reveals 159 Out Of 643 Brands See No Reduction

Caregiver Self-Care Guidelines

One of the important points in the new guidelines is their focus on the caregiver's own health.

Caregivers can experience physical exhaustion, emotional distress and financial strain while trying to meet the needs of someone undergoing cancer treatment. Their responsibilities may also leave them with limited time to attend to their own health.

The guide includes a recurring feature called "Caregiver's Corner", which offers self-care information and practical suggestions throughout the book. A separate chapter is dedicated entirely to the caregiver's well-being.

Patrick Delaney, executive director of the NCCN Foundation, said the resource recognises that caregivers also need reliable information to navigate their own journey.