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HEALTH

France pledges €20m for fight against Ebola

France on Tuesday said it was pledging €20 million ($25.4 million) in the fight against Ebola in west Africa,including the opening of several care centres in Guinea.

Published: 29 October 2014 08:54 CET
France pledges €20m for fight against Ebola
President François Hollande said he had approved a broad plan against the deadly virus including 200 beds in Guinea. Photo: Pascal Guyot/AFP

President François Hollande said he had approved a broad plan against the deadly virus including 200 beds in Guinea, some of which would be reserved for health workers caring for the sick.

The cash should be available within 10 or so days and should cover French costs in the fight against Ebola in the region for "two to three months to come," according to France's Ebola coordinator, Jean-Francois Delfraissy.

France also pledged to set up two training centres for health workers, one in France, one in Guinea.

In addition, French biotechnology companies will set up rapid diagnostic tests in Guinea.

Ebola has killed nearly 5,000 people in the outbreak that has centred on west Africa.

There have been many false alarms in France but, aside from a nurse repatriated from west Africa, there has been no case on French soil.

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HEALTH

Danish parties agree to raise abortion limit to 18 weeks

Denmark's government has struck a deal with four other parties to raise the point in a pregnancy from which a foetus can be aborted from 12 weeks to 18 weeks, in the first big change to Danish abortion law in 50 years.

Published: 3 May 2024 08:06 CEST
Danish parties agree to raise abortion limit to 18 weeks

The government struck the deal with the Socialist Left Party, the Red Green Alliance, the Social Liberal Party and the Alternative party, last week with the formal announcement made on Monday  

“In terms of health, there is no evidence for the current week limit, nor is there anything to suggest that there will be significantly more or later abortions by moving the week limit,” Sophie Løhde, Denmark’s Minister of the Interior and Health, said in a press release announcing the deal.

The move follows the recommendations of Denmark’s Ethics Council, which in September 2023 proposed raising the term limit, pointing out that Denmark had one of the most restrictive abortion laws in Western Europe. 

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Under the deal, the seven parties, together with the Liberal Alliance and the Conservatives, have also entered into an agreement to replace the five regional abortion bodies with a new national abortion board, which will be based in Aarhus. 

From July 1st, 2025, this new board will be able to grant permission for abortions after the 18th week of pregnancy if there are special considerations to take into account. 

The parties have also agreed to grant 15-17-year-olds the right to have an abortion without parental consent or permission from the abortion board.

Marie Bjerre, Denmark’s minister for Digitalization and Equality, said in the press release that this followed logically from the age of sexual consent, which is 15 years old in Denmark. 

“Choosing whether to have an abortion is a difficult situation, and I hope that young women would get the support of their parents. But if there is disagreement, it must ultimately be the young woman’s own decision whether she wants to be a mother,” she said. 

The bill will be tabled in parliament over the coming year with the changes then coming into force on June 1st, 2025.

The right to free abortion was introduced in Denmark in 1973. 

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