Anyone would be forgiven for thinking there was little good news in a year dominated by the war in Ukraine as well as the cost-of-living crisis and record climate-related disasters. But there were, indeed, some bright spots. FRANCE 24 looks back at 10 good news stories from 2022.
After two years in the shadow of the Covid-19 pandemic, many had hoped 2022 would herald a brighter future. Those hopes were dashed just a few weeks later with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The past 12 months have also been punctuated by record climate disasters, the overturning of federal abortion rights in the United States and the death of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II. Nevertheless, there was also some good news, from scientific breakthroughs to progress on human rights. FRANCE 24 brings you a round-up of some of the positive stories from 2022 that you may have missed.
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Hopes for treating Alzheimer’s, sleeping sickness and HIV/AIDS
The results of a large-scale clinical trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine in late November were hailed as a breakthrough on Alzheimer’s research. A drug called lecanemab was found to slow the cognitive decline of patients by 27 percent. Unfortunately, lecanemab also causes side effects, some of them serious, so longer clinical trials are needed to be sure that the benefits of treatment outweigh the risks. More than 55 million people suffer from dementia around the world, with Alzheimer’s disease the most common form.
Elsewhere, a drug known as acoziborole could help eradicate sleeping sickness by 2030,…
