A Nobel prize-winning scientist Tuesday played down “shock-horror scenarios” that a new virus strain will emerge with the potential to kill millions of people.

Taiwan's participation as an observer in the World Health Assembly (WHA), the decision-making arm of the World Health Organization (WHO), has become normalized, Taiwan's Health Minister said Monday.

The hunt for an HIV vaccine has gobbled up US$8 billion in the past decade, and the failure of the most recent efficacy trial has delivered yet another setback to 26 years of efforts.

The devastating effect of Alzheimer's disease on bilingual people has been thrown into focus in Canada, where the sudden loss of a second language can leave sufferers feeling like strangers in their own country.

Taiwan's Health Minister Chiu Wen-ta arrived in Geneva Saturday to attend this year's World Health Assembly (WHA), the decision-making arm of the World Health Organization (WHO).

Europe's medicines watchdog said Friday the benefits of acne drug Diane-35, also widely used as a contraceptive, outweigh the risk of developing blood clots in the veins — when correctly prescribed.

Big names in medicine are set to give an upbeat assessment of the war on AIDS on Tuesday, 30 years after French researchers identified the virus that causes the disease.

Chang Gung Memorial Hospital (CGMH) and U.S.-based Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for jointly setting up a clinical research center.

Vendors warned yesterday that the price of poultry might increase in June due to an increase in electricity prices that have resulted from the ban on the slaughter of fowl in traditional markets.

The only H7N9 patient so far in Taiwan was carrying two strains of the same virus, with one being drug resistant and the other not, making it tricky to treat to him, doctors said yesterday.