Reuters Health News Summary

California may require warnings on products containing chemical BPA

Plastic drinking bottles, canned goods and other items containing the chemical bisphenol-A (BPA) distributed in California might soon be required to carry a label disclosing that the compound can cause reproductive harm to women. Thursday's decision by a board of scientific experts to include BPA on a list of chemicals known to cause harm is the latest in a years-long dispute between state experts and the chemical industry, which says the substance is safe.

Liberia declared Ebola-free, but outbreak continues over border

Liberia was declared free from Ebola by the government and the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Saturday after 42 days without a new case of the virus, which killed more than 4,700 people there during a year-long epidemic. However, celebrations were muted by thoughts for the dead and medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) urged vigilance until the worst outbreak of the disease ever recorded was also extinguished in neighboring Guinea and Sierra Leone.

China to increase health care subsidies, deepen reform

China will increase its healthcare subsidies by 19 percent this year as part of efforts to deepen social reforms and strengthen safety nets, the government said on Saturday. Government healthcare subsidies for qualified urban and rural residents will be raised to 380 yuan ($61.21), from 320 yuan last year, the cabinet said in a statement posted on the website of the National Health and Family Planning Commission.

Hunt for AIDS cure accelerates as GSK and U.S. experts link up

Britain's GlaxoSmithKline, which decided last week to retain rather than float off its HIV drugs business, is to collaborate with U.S. scientists in developing a cure for AIDS. Until recently, many researchers were reluctant to even discuss the possibility of curing the disease caused by HIV, which infects 35 million people worldwide, since the obstacles seemed insurmountable.