With the aim to provide paramedical, medical and nurses training courses at its upcoming Apollo Aragonda Health Knowledge City in Andhra Pradesh, the Apollo Hospitals Group, on its 25th anniversary, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Indira Gandhi National Open University. The project, which will require an investment of Rs 1,000 crore over the next five years will be located on 100 acres. 

Decrease in the superbug MRSA, has bought the appreciation for the government. Health Protection Agency (HPA) reported that superbug MRSA cases had halved between 2004 and 2008. HPA collects the reports of both MRSA and Clostridium difficile infections.

According to Gordon Brown, some of the imposed initiatives like deep-cleaning of wards, bare-below-the-elbows policy etc, had been controversial, but they have helped make the progress.

Quarterly report of HPA's on MRSA articulates 836 cases, between April and June 2008. There is 14% decrease in the previous three months and a drop of 36% from the same quarter last year. Government claims that, since 2004, MRSA infections have now dropped by 57%.

In a significant move by the Ministry of Health, the pharmacists of BC have been given power to renew a doctor’s prescription, alter the drug dosage and substitute the drugs with new ones. According to, B.C. Health Minister George Abbott, the legalities were formalized in the spring with the cooperation of the B.C. Pharmacy Association and the B.C. College of Pharmacists. He also denied earlier media reports saying that customers would be forced to pay for each renewal.

Previously conducted studies and research had indicated, people with aortic valve disorder have higher mortality rate. But with the advancement in medicinal technology, these patients have a similar life span as those with a normal heart. 

These patients have a bicuspid aortic valve which means their valve has only two flaps (cusps) that open and close, instead of the normal three. It is also the most common disease that inflicts the adult population. 

The 2008 guidelines, which is the latest of a new set of guidelines issued every five years, lays stress on pinpointing prediabetes. It recommends to both, the doctors and patients, to take aggressive steps to prevent Type 2 diabetes. In the prediabetes condition, the patient’s blood sugar levels go up and the patient has less tolerance to blood sugar. According to Ellen Macolmson, President and CEO of Canadian Diabetes Association, "Research has shown that long-term damage to the body, especially the heart and circulatory system, may already be occurring before a diabetes diagnosis." 

According to Prof Graham Taylor, head of genomic services at Cancer Research UK's, the new test for hereditary breast cancer developed, basically focuses on smaller area of the gene code, reducing costs up to 99 per cent. Test will now, cost just £10 from early next year, besides slashing the waiting time for the results to one week.