Health News Roundup: Over 4,000 Zimbabwean doctors and nurses left the country in 2021; Anti-abortion groups ask U.S. court to pull approval for abortion drugs and more

The lawsuit, filed in Amarillo, Texas, federal court by the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists and others, said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration lacked authority to approve the drug for abortion when it did so in 2000 and that it failed to study its risks for minors adequately. Over 4,000 Zimbabwean doctors and nurses left the country in 2021 Zimbabwean health workers have left the country in droves over the past year, a senior official at the Health Services Board (HSB) revealed on Sunday.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Beijing's biggest district urges residents to stay home as COVID cases rise

Beijing's most populous district urged residents to stay at home on Monday, extending a request from the weekend as the city's COVID-19 case numbers rose, with many businesses shut and schools in the area shifting classes online. Nationally, new case numbers held steady on Sunday near April peaks as China battles outbreaks in cities across the country, from Zhengzhou in central Henan province to Guangzhou in the south and Chongqing in the southwest.

Anti-abortion groups ask U.S. court to pull approval for abortion drugs

Anti-abortion groups on Friday filed a lawsuit asking a court to overturn U.S. regulators' approval of the drug mifepristone for medication abortion, which could hobble access to medication abortion nationwide. The lawsuit, filed in Amarillo, Texas, federal court by the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists and others, said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration lacked authority to approve the drug for abortion when it did so in 2000 and that it failed to study its risks for minors adequately.

Over 4,000 Zimbabwean doctors and nurses left the country in 2021

Zimbabwean health workers have left the country in droves over the past year, a senior official at the Health Services Board (HSB) revealed on Sunday. More than 4,000 health workers have left since 2021, HSB chairperson Dr Paulinus Sikosana told Reuters. This includes more than 1,700 registered nurses who resigned last year and more than 900 who left this year.

(With inputs from agencies.)