Eisai’s Alzheimer’s Drug To Launch In Japan For 25% Less Than US Price

Reuters: Eisai To Launch Alzheimer's Drug Leqembi In Japan On Dec 20
Eisai said on Wednesday its Alzheimer's drug Leqembi will launch in Japan on Dec. 20 following its inclusion on the National Health Insurance price list. Intravenous treatment of the drug, co-developed with U.S. partner Biogen, will cost about 2.98 million yen ($20,438) per patient per year, based on a Japanese health ministry panel ruling the same day. ... The drug is priced at about $26,500 in the United States, where it gained full approval in July. Leqembi was given the nod by Japanese regulators in September. (12/13)

Reuters: Japan's Health Ministry Reports Country's First Death From Mpox 
Japan's health ministry on Wednesday reported the country's first fatality from mpox. The patient was a man in his 30s with a prior infection with HIV and no travel history, the ministry said in a statement. (12/13)

From Gaza —

NPR: At 1 Hospital In Gaza's Khan Younis, There's No Medicine And A Shortage Of Beds
At Nasser Medical Complex in central Khan Younis, what head ICU nurse Dr. Samer Mansour describes can hardly be called a functioning hospital — no syringes, no gauze, no medications. There is not enough water and electricity from generators is spotty, at best, he says. There are four patients for each of the hospital's 300 beds, resulting in many patients being forced to lie in the corridors. Mansour estimates that 20,000 others are using the hospital grounds simply as shelter from the fighting. In the hospital's ICU, Mansour says he's afraid to leave patients on mechanical ventilator support. "I can't leave because they will die," he says. (Baba and Neuman, 12/12)

CNN: Kamal Adwan Hospital: Gaza Healthcare Workers Are ‘Arrested And Taken’ By Israeli Forces, Says Doctor, Amid ‘Horrendous Conditions’ At Hospitals
A senior doctor in northern Gaza says that dozens of medical staffers at his hospital have been taken to an undisclosed location by the Israeli military, as the enclave’s wider healthcare system teeters on the edge of collapse. Dr. Hossam Abu-Safia, head of pediatrics at Kamal Adwan Hospital, told CNN in a phone interview that the area where the facility is located saw particularly heaving bombing on Tuesday followed by the arrival of Israeli troops, describing the situation as “very dangerous.” (Dahman, Lister and John, 12/13)

NPR: From Gaza To Syria To Ukraine, Attacks On Health Care Are Part Of Warfare
The year 2022 set a grim record — 1,989 attacks on health-care facilities and their personnel, the worst total number in the decade since the Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition began its sobering count.This year is on track to be even more devastating for the toll on health care. In many of the world's ongoing conflicts — like Sudan, Syria, Ukraine and now between Israel and Hamas — health care has been a target. The reasons for this may differ from conflict to conflict but the end result is an affront to international humanitarian law, written to protect health care in times of war. (Daniel, 12/12)

From Nepal and the Vatican —

NPR: COP28 Needs To Pay Attention To People With Disabilities, Says Young Activist
Draped in a kachhad, a traditional Nepalese cotton garment wrapped around the waist, 28-year-old Umesh Balal walked into his meetings at the COP28 conference in Dubai with a sense of determination. He is there to advocate for inclusion of disability rights in the climate change agenda — an aspect that he says has long been ignored by organizers of the world's largest annual meeting on climate issues. Balal, who has dwarfism, has dedicated himself to making sure all kinds of marginalized voices are heard in discussions about climate change. (Kumar, 12/12)

Reuters: Pope Wants To Simplify Papal Funeral Rites, Be Buried Outside Vatican 
Pope Francis, who has shunned much of the Vatican's pomp and privilege, has decided to vastly simplify the elaborate funeral rites for a pontiff and be the first one to be buried outside the Vatican in more than a century. The pope, who turns 87 on Sunday, disclosed plans for his funeral in an interview with Mexico's N+ television on Tuesday evening to mark the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. (Pullella, 12/13)