Non-animal research models

Atal Incubation Centre (AIC) at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), in collaboration with Humane Society International/ India (HSI/India), has launched Centre for Predictive Human Model Systems, dedicated to enable a shift in science by focusing on 21st century new-approach methodologies instead of animal models for research. The centre aims to prioritise investment in human-based, non-animal methodologies in life sciences research in India. This will be done by establishing a multi-stakeholder think tank that represents the growing body of expertise on new approach methodologies on a scientific and policy level. Breaking silos and forging partnerships among the scientific community for better flow of knowledge, support for research and open-access publication of literature will be focused upon, a note from HSI(India) said.

Children under five must spend less time sitting watching screens, or restrained in prams and seats, get better quality sleep and have more time for active play if they are to grow up healthy, according to new guidelines issued by the World Health Organization (WHO).

“Achieving health for all means doing what is best for health right from the beginning of people’s lives,” says WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “Early childhood is a period of rapid development and a time when family lifestyle patterns can be adapted to boost health gains.”

The new guidelines on physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep for children under five years of age were developed by a WHO panel of experts. They assessed the effects on young children of inadequate sleep, and time spent sitting watching screens or restrained in chairs and prams. They also reviewed evidence around the benefits of increased activity levels.

Failure to meet current physical activity recommendations is responsible for more than 5 million deaths globally each year across all age groups. Currently, over 23 per cent of adults and 80 per cent of adolescents are not sufficiently physically active. If healthy physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep habits are established early in life, this helps shape habits through childhood, adolescence and into adulthood.

The US Food and Drug Administration has announced the launch of a new education campaign to help Americans understand the important role they play in removing and properly disposing of unused prescription opioids from their homes. This new initiative is part of the FDA’s continued efforts to address the nationwide opioid crisis and aims to help decrease unnecessary exposure to opioids and prevent new addiction. The “Remove the Risk” campaign is targeting women of ages 35-64, who are most likely to oversee household healthcare decisions and often serve as the gatekeepers to opioids and other prescription medications in the home.

“The epidemic of opioid addiction and overdose is one of the greatest public health tragedies we’re facing as a nation, and no community is immune,” said Amy Abernethy, principal deputy commissioner at the FDA. In 2017, retail pharmacies dispensed more than 191 million opioid prescriptions to almost 60 million patients, either as first-time prescriptions or refills. As many as 90 per cent of these patients reported not finishing what was prescribed to them, potentially leaving millions of unused prescription opioids in medicine cabinets and elsewhere.