China has recruited a team of specialists in traditional Chinese medicine, including China’s first Nobel laureate in medicine, Tu Youyou, to help find solutions to the rising threat of antimicrobial resistance.

AMR happens when microbes evolve to become resistant to previously effective medicines. Studies show the growth in resistance could be responsible for 10 million deaths a year worldwide by 2050, according to the Review on AMR, a global report commissioned by the British government.

Antimicrobials are medicines active against a range of infections, such as those caused by bacteria (antibiotics), viruses (antivirals), fungi (antifungals) and parasites (including antimalarials), the report explains.

Western medicine is struggling to combat the problem, while the overuse of antibiotics and other antimicrobials is worsening the situation, said Cao Hongxin, head of science and technology at the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

He said the Chinese team, led by Wang Guoqiang, vice-minister of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, will look into how TCM can be used as part of a comprehensive and dynamic approach to halt the progress of AMR.

“Traditional Chinese remedies are free from drug resistance and could provide alternative solutions,” Cao said, adding that TCM works to kill harmful microbes, reduce their replication, as well as to enhance immunity.

Tu Youyou, the pharmacologist who won the Nobel Prize in 2015, discovered artemisinin, an antimalarial drug derived from sweet wormwood, which has been used in TCM since ancient times. She has worked with China’s top TCM research institute for decades.

Huang Liuyu, director of the People’s Liberation Army’s Institute for Disease Prevention and Control, praised the efforts to develop more TCM remedies that work on infections. “TCM substitutes can lower the use of antibiotics and thereby delay the development of antibiotic-resistant microorganisms,” he said.

Traditional treatments are more complicated in terms of ingredients and are less likely to develop drug resistance, he said, although he added, “It’s usually antibiotics from Western medicine that work stronger and faster in curbing bacteria without drug resistance.”

Huang said AMR occurs naturally over the time through genetic mutations but overuse of antimicrobials speeds up the process.

Half of the antibiotics used worldwide each year are used in China, with 52 percent of that used to treat livestock, according to the Review on AMR.

China’s top environment regulator has urged local authorities to bring those responsible for violence against law enforcement agents in eastern Anhui Province to justice.

On March 12, four law enforcement officers were attacked and injured while gathering evidence of unauthorized production at a textile company in Dangshan County, the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) said Sunday.

The company did not pass environmental impact assessment, the MEP said, calling for a fast investigation and “severe punishment” for the violent obstructors.

Its violation of environment laws should also be dealt with strictly, MEP added.

The watchdog will keep its zero tolerance for breach of law and high pressure of law enforcement, according to an official with the MEP’s Bureau of Environmental Supervision.

Commenting on the warning from NHS Providers that frontline NHS services face “mission impossible” in meeting next year’s targets, Jonathan Ashworth MP, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, said:

“This unprecedented warning from trusts is a new low for this Government’s disgraceful mishandling of our NHS.

“Theresa May has downplayed the worst winter crisis on record, in which nine out of ten hospitals were dangerously overcrowded, and ducked her responsibility to patients by failing to provide significant funding in the Spring Budget.

“Years of damaging Tory neglect have left the NHS unable to deliver on its constitution and yet ministers remain in denial of the crisis they have created.

“The public now expects urgent and immediate action to provide patients with the world-class, 21^st Century health and social care system they truly deserve.”

• Victims of sex crimes will soon be able to have their cross-examination pre-recorded before trial
• Rollout of the scheme to be fast-tracked and will now begin in September
• New offence of sexual communication with a child will also be introduced
• Groomers face up to two years in prison and will be automatically placed on the sex offenders register

New measures that will spare rape victims the trauma and inconvenience of attending court hearings will be rolled out across the country from September.

Victims of rape and other sex crimes will have their cross examination evidence pre-recorded and played during the trial.

Originally the rollout was not due to begin until next year but will now start in September after Justice Secretary Elizabeth Truss and senior judges agreed to accelerate the scheme.

Justice Secretary Elizabeth Truss said:

Attitudes to sex crimes and victims have changed beyond all recognition in our lifetime, and rape prosecutions are now at record levels.

With more victims now finding the confidence to come forward, I am determined to make their path to justice swifter and less traumatic.

This will not reduce the right to a fair trial, but will make sure victims of these abhorrent crimes are protected and able provide their best possible evidence.

Work to rollout pre-recorded evidence for child victims of sexual offences has already begun. That followed a successful pilot that showed child victims felt less pressure giving pre-trial evidence and were better able to recall events.

This led to more early guilty pleas, fewer cracked trials and victims reporting a more positive experience of the court process.

The law already includes protections to ensure that questions – including previous sexual history – can be deemed inadmissible. The rollout of pre-recorded evidence offers further protection, as questions can be edited out of the recording if barristers flout these rules.

The move comes ahead of the Second Reading of the Prisons and Courts Bill tomorrow (20 March 2017) which included additional measures to protect vulnerable witnesses.

In criminal courts the Bill paves the way for more virtual hearings which means more vulnerable victims can give evidence away from the court room and without having to meet their attacker face to face.

While in family proceedings the government will give courts the power to ban the appalling practice of letting domestic violence abusers interrogate their victim in court. The Bill will bring family courts into line with criminal courts, which have had the power to stop this for some years.

The Justice Secretary also announced today that she is acting to bring in a new offence of sexual communication with a child, with adult groomers facing up to two years in prison and being automatically placed on the sex offenders register.

The new offence will come into effect on 3 April 2017, and will cover both online and offline communication, including through social media, e-mail, and letters.

Ms Truss said:

In a world of mobile phones and social media, our children are ever more vulnerable to those who prey on their innocence and exploit their trust.

This new offence will help to us tackle the early stages of grooming, and nip in the bud those targeting children online or through text messages. My message is clear – any sexual communication with a child could see you behind bars.

1. The three Section 28 pilot schemes for children and adults with a mental or physical disorder took place in Liverpool, Leeds and Kingston-upon-Thames crown courts.
2. Rape prosecutions are at record levels. Recent statistics show that:
   • Rape prosecutions rose to 3,900 in 2015 – up 9% since 2014, up 36% since 2005, and the highest number prosecuted in the last decade.
   • The number of rape convictions reached 1,300 in 2015 – up 11% since 2014, up 63% since 2005, and the highest number convicted in the last decade.
   • Average sentences for rape also rose by over three years since 2005, reaching 117.9 months in 2015.
3. On 3 April 2017 we are bringing into force section 67 of the Serious Crime Act 2015. It will be a criminal offence for anyone aged 18 or over to intentionally communicate with a child under 16, where the person acts for a sexual purpose and the communication is sexual or intended to elicit a sexual response. The offence applies to online and offline communication, including social media, e-mail, texts, letters, etc.
4. There are a range of offences already available to deal with sexual communication, depending on the circumstances, but many do not automatically attract sex offender registration. The Justice Secretary made enacting this clause a priority and has acted decisively to ensure children are protected from online grooming.