Health News: 30 October 2026

The FDA granted accelerated approval for Voceryq, the first plasmid DNA-based immunotherapy in the US for adults with recurrent respiratory papillomatosis, a rare HPV-related airway disease. Trial data showed it reduces the frequency of surgeries to remove growths, an intermediate endpoint likely to predict benefit. The approval offers a new option that targets the underlying cause, with post-approval trials required to verify benefit.

FDA said Friday that three more menopause patches will no longer carry black-box warnings about cardiovascular disease, breast cancer and dementia. The agency did not convene an advisory committee and gave few details on the scientific basis, drawing expert concern about transparency. Officials said the move follows February changes and shortages, and that estrogen patch manufacturing has doubled over the past year.

Measles cases are accelerating in the US, with twice as many confirmed cases as last year, and more parents are giving children a second MMR dose earlier than the usual schedule. The second shot can be given as soon as four weeks after the first, an option the CDC says is available, and it aligns with recommendations in Germany, the UK and France. Parents say there is no reason to wait while measles cases rise.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland will no longer carry out concern-for-welfare checks for mental health calls unless there is a risk to life or harm, or a crime is involved. The public will still call 999, but handlers may pass calls to other emergency services or health and social care staff.

The force handles about 30,000 mental health calls a year, and says the Right Care Right Person policy aims to match people with the most appropriate professional.

A cross-party committee of MPs concluded that the UK government's promise to end the obesity epidemic in England within a decade is doomed to fail unless the prime minister personally leads the effort. The health and social care select committee said basic questions about measurement and cross-departmental delivery remain unanswered more than a year after the moonshot ambition was set out.

It called for a dedicated cabinet committee chaired by the prime minister, noting that 30% of adults in England are living with obesity.

UK researchers found that discarded parts of fruit and vegetables, such as peels, stalks, rinds and seeds, can contain more fibre than the parts people usually eat. Only 4% of adults meet the recommended 30g of fibre a day, and the King's College London study analysed 12 raw or uncooked fresh foods to show that root-to-tip eating could reduce nutritional waste.

The researchers suggested keeping kiwi skins, using broccoli stalks in stir-fries, and adding bell pepper seeds to dishes.

Saskia Reeves-Priestley, a 23-year-old special educational needs teacher, collapsed at work with dizziness, nausea, heart palpitations and feeling hot before being diagnosed as vitamin D deficient. Her blood tests showed levels were next to nothing, and UK data show nearly a quarter of 11- to 18-year-olds were classed as deficient last year.

Doctors do not routinely offer vitamin D blood tests, but the condition can cause fatigue, joint and bone pain and weaken bones.