Health News Roundup: U.S. FDA weighs regulating cannabis compound CBD in food, supplements; India-based Hetero's Paxlovid generic gets WHO backing and more

China's management of COVID-19 will also be downgraded to the less strict Category B from the current top-level Category A, the health authority said in a statement, as the disease has become less virulent and will gradually evolve into a common respiratory infection. Niger reports severe bird flu among poultry, says WOAH Niger has reported the highly contagious H5N1 strain of avian influenza, or bird flu, among poultry in a village in the south of the country, the Paris-based World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) said on Tuesday.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

'The ICU is full': medical staff on frontline of China's COVID fight say hospitals are 'overwhelmed'

In more than three decades of emergency medicine, Beijing-based doctor Howard Bernstein said, he has never seen anything like this. Patients are arriving at his hospital in ever-increasing numbers; almost all are elderly and many are very unwell with COVID and pneumonia symptoms, he said.

India inspects drug factories as Gambia controversy lingers

India's pharmaceuticals regulator has begun inspecting some drug factories across the country, the health ministry said on Tuesday, as it tries to ensure high standards after an Indian company's cough and cold syrups were linked to deaths in Gambia.

India is known as the "pharmacy of the world" and its pharmaceuticals exports have more than doubled over the past decade to $24.5 billion in the past fiscal year.

China to scrap COVID quarantine rule for inbound travellers

China will stop requiring inbound travellers to go into quarantine starting from Jan. 8, the National Health Commission said on Monday in a major step towards easing curbs on its borders, which have been largely shut since 2020. China's management of COVID-19 will also be downgraded to the less strict Category B from the current top-level Category A, the health authority said in a statement, as the disease has become less virulent and will gradually evolve into a common respiratory infection.

Niger reports severe bird flu among poultry, says WOAH

Niger has reported the highly contagious H5N1 strain of avian influenza, or bird flu, among poultry in a village in the south of the country, the Paris-based World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) said on Tuesday. The outbreak in the south of the Tahoua region killed most of a 4,920-strong flock, with the remaining birds slaughtered, the WOAH said in a note, citing information from the Niger authorities.

Chinese make travel plans as Beijing dismantles zero-COVID rules

Chinese people, cut off from the rest of the world for three years by stringent COVID-19 curbs, flocked to travel sites on Tuesday ahead of borders reopening next month, even as rising infections strained the health system and roiled the economy. Zero-COVID measures in place since early 2020 - from shuttered borders to frequent lockdowns - last month fuelled the Chinese mainland's biggest show of public discontent since President Xi Jinping took power in 2012.

China will publish COVID data once a month when disease comes under Category B management

China will eventually publish data on COVID-19 cases once a month when the disease comes under Category B management, an official at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention said on Tuesday. China's management of COVID was downgraded to the less strict Category B from the current top-level Category A, as the disease has become less virulent and will gradually evolve into a common respiratory infection.

U.S. FDA weighs regulating cannabis compound CBD in food, supplements - WSJ

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is planning to make recommendations on how to regulate the use of popular cannabis compound CBD in food and supplements, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing agency officials. After weighing the evidence on the compound's safety, the FDA will decide within months how to regulate legal cannabis and whether that will require new agency rules or new legislation from Congress, according to the report.

Japan to require negative COVID test upon arrival for Chinese travellers

Japan will require a negative COVID-19 test upon arrival for travellers from mainland China due to the rapid spread of the virus in the country, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Tuesday. Travellers from China who test positive will be required to quarantine for seven days, Kishida told reporters, adding that the new border measures for China will go into effect from midnight on Dec. 30.

India-based Hetero's Paxlovid generic gets WHO backing

India's Hetero said on Tuesday that its generic version of Paxlovid, an antiviral treatment for COVID-19 developed by Pfizer Inc, was added to the World Health Organization's prequalification list, which serves as a benchmark for procurement of medicines by developing countries. Hetero said it had entered into a licensing agreement with the United Nations-backed Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) to manufacture and sell the generic version of the drug in low- and middle-income countries.

No immediate surge of Chinese tourists expected after re-opening

China's relaxation of COVID-19 rules for international arrivals has raised hopes that its multi-billion dollar travel business will soon flourish again but countries longing for the return of Chinese tourists will likely face more of a wait. China's National Health Commission announced on Monday that inbound travellers would no longer have to go into quarantine from Jan. 8. There are no official restrictions on Chinese people going abroad but the new rule will make it much easier for them to return home.

(With inputs from agencies.)