Media Monitoring: 23 – 29 January

India and the United Kingdom have renewed their health and life sciences partnership, signing a five-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to deepen collaboration in critical health sectors.
The agreement was formalised at a ceremony in New Delhi on Thursday, attended by Union Health Minister JP Nadda, UK Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Wes Streeting, and Christina Scott, Acting High Commissioner of the UK to India.
The MoU focuses on joint efforts to address global health challenges, including antimicrobial resistance (AMR), non-communicable diseases (NCDs), digital health innovations, and pharmaceutical advancements.
A central theme of the renewed partnership is a shared vision for Universal Health Coverage. The agreement seeks to harness technology and innovation to tackle emerging health challenges while improving healthcare delivery systems.

Hundreds of potential kidney donors of Black African and Black Caribbean heritage can now get a simple blood test to help reduce the risk of kidney failure.
The test is part of national genetic testing available on the NHS and will help identify if potential donors carry genes that mean they have a high risk of kidney disease after donation.
The NHS plans to carry out around 160 tests a year to identify people with ‘high-risk’ variants of a gene known as ‘APOL1’, common in people of Black African and Black Caribbean, and the test will help clinicians assess donor suitability and future risk of kidney failure.
Following APOL1 testing, those shown to be at high risk of developing kidney failure later in life, and who are under 60 years old, will be advised against kidney donation.

Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute, the UCL Cancer Institute and UCLH have shown that a test called ORACLE can predict lung cancer survival at the point of diagnosis better than currently used clinical risk factors.
This could help doctors make more informed treatment decisions for people with stage 1 lung cancer, potentially reducing the risk of the cancer returning or spreading.
In research published in Nature Cancer, the team tested ORACLE in 158 people with lung cancer as part of the Cancer Research UK-funded TRACERx study. They found that ORACLE could better predict patient survival than currently used clinical standards like tumour stage.

The UK government will publish an immigration white paper later this year including a review of visas to entice more high-skilled workers as part of its push to kickstart growth, Rachel Reeves has announced.
The chancellor told a breakfast event at the World Economic Forum in Davos: “We are going to look again at routes for the highest skilled people, visas particularly in the areas of AI and life sciences.”
Ministers intend to consult with businesses about possible changes to the regime to bring in top talent. They will also direct British diplomats overseas to highlight the benefits of coming to live in the UK for high-skilled workers and entrepreneurs.

The Pandemic Institute, in collaboration with The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Health Protection Research Unit in Emerging and Zoonotic Infections (HPRU EZI), are pleased to announce recently awarded funding aimed at tackling the growing threat of emerging infectious diseases.
Over £400k has been awarded for research into Oropouche (OROV) and Mpox (MPXV) viruses, both of which pose significant global health risks.

Prostate cancer is now the most common cancer in the UK, according to new analysis – as a leading charity renewed its calls for a national screening program.
NHS data found 55,033 men were diagnosed with prostate cancer in England in 2023, compared to 47,526 breast cancer cases the same year.
The data showed diagnoses of the disease overtook breast cancer in 2022 and 2023, said Prostate Cancer UK, which added that there has been a 25 per cent increase in cases between 2019 and 2023.