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HEALTH

Health chiefs raise alarm over measles outbreak at French Alps ski resort

French health authorities have warned of a surge in measles cases at the Val-Thorens ski resort, one of the highest in the Alps and a popular destination for both French and foreign tourists.

Published: 11 February 2019 14:42 CET
Health chiefs raise alarm over measles outbreak at French Alps ski resort
Photo: AFP
The 18 recorded cases “are mostly young adults working at the station this season,” the ARS regional health agency for the Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes district said.
   
It recommended that parents ensure that they and their children are vaccinated against the highly contagious disease, as thousands of families prepare to hit the slopes during winter school vacations in the coming weeks. 
   
Beyond the outbreak at Val-Tho, as it is popularly known by skiers, the agency said 12 other cases had been registered in the region since February 4.
 
Cases have been rising in France and other parts of the developed world in recent years, the result of fewer children being vaccinated against a viral disease that causes rashes and inflammation which can quickly prove fatal.
   
The ARS recorded just eight cases in the Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes region in 2016, a figure that jumped to 45 in 2017 and hit 84 last year.

Member comments

  1. I don’t know why authorities cannot think of a reason why there’s a measles outbreak…with how many people coming across into France from other countries? Better get your vaccinations ready.

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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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