7 days in healthcare (1st-7th August 2022)

 

 

Summary

From the point of view of biomedicine, to highlight the use of monoclonal antibodies to combat malaria; also the return to life of cells and tissues in dead pigs, which may be important in transplants; and, the fact that the genomic map of chronic lymphatic leukemia has been completed, which, sooner or later, will have consequences in the treatment of this disease.

As far as Global Health is concerned, the poor preparation of most countries in the face of the increasingly frequent heat waves is confirmed, according to The Lancet.

As for international health policy, the United States declares monkeypox a public health emergency, the Administration covering itself up against certain accusations of slowness in dealing with this problem; global decline in the number of covid cases, particularly in Europe. Problems continue in the United States due to restrictions on abortion. Three news to highlight in the United States: the number of uninsured reaches the record low figure of 8%; the American Democrats have a majority in Congress within reach to approve the law that tries to reduce the price of medicines, by way of allowing Medicare to negotiate prices; and, finally, for the first time in decades, health spending in the United States fell in the first quarter of 2022, although it is doubtful that this will continue.

If we talk about national health policy (Spain), monkeypox continues with a very high number of infected people and a shortage of vaccines; large drop in the incidence of covid. Great and difficult to justify delay in the report commissioned by the Ministry of Health from experts on the management of the covid pandemic. Surely there will be more than technical analysis problems in the cause of this delay. The doctors of the private health, threaten with the copayment, before what they consider low rates of the insurers.

In the field of companies, Pfizer continues with its aggressive policy of buying companies, while the growth of Quirónsalud, which already exceeds 2 billion euros in turnover, should be highlighted.

Biomedicine

• Monoclonal antibodies to combat malaria. In 2020 there were 241 million cases of malaria and 627,000 deaths. A novel monoclonal antibody therapy is presented in a NEJM article (https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMe2207865)
• Scientists revive cells and tissues in dead pigs. The advance may expand the availability of organs for transplantation and blur the lines between life and death (https://www.ft.com/content/406330fc-6443-4e0f-9022-d9b9567bf45a)
• Publication in “Nature Genetics”: Completed the genomic map of chronic lymphatic leukemia, the most frequent in the occidental world (https://theobjective.com/sociedad/2022-08-04/leukemia-lymphatic-chronic/)

Global Health

• A failure to manage heat waves in 2022. Climate change may have induced severe heat waves, fires and floods. Most countries lack plans to protect their populations (https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(22)01480-5/fulltext)

International health policy

• Monkeypox
  • The United States declares a public health emergency due to the rapid spread of monkeypox. According to a study published last Wednesday, the USA has a quarter of the 25,054 reported cases of this infection globally (https://www.ft.com/content/9852c0ae-c408-48a6-ad84-d06235464d9c)
  • Biden appoints a monkeypox coordinator, after criticisms to his administration for being slow to recognize the seriousness of the problem (https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/02/us/politics/white- house-coordinator-monkeypox.html)
  • LGTBI groups raise the alarm in the UK over the shortage of monkeypox vaccines (https://www.ft.com/content/6a002c06-1c85-4472-b59c-6e59580c866a)

• COVID-19
  • The global number of new cases in the period July 25-31, 2022 decreased by 9%. The largest decrease was in Europe (-35%) (https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/weekly-epidemiological-update-on-covid-19—3-august-2022)
  • One in eight covid cases has persistent symptoms, according to a large Dutch study (https://www.lemonde.fr/blog/realitesbiomedicales/2022/08/06/covid-19-une-personne-sur-huit- present-des-symptomes-persistants-selon-une-etude-neerlandaise/)

• Controversial ruling in the USA: annulment Roe v Wade
  • Kansas voted in a referendum to protect abortion rights in the state constitution (https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/aug/03/kansas-abortion-vote-state-constitution
  • The Indiana Assembly votes in favor of a law, already signed by the governor, banning abortion (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/aug/06/indiana-assembly-passes-anti-abortion- bill-sends-it-to-governor)
  • Lilly concerned about the loss of ability to attract talent in Indiana after the abortion ban in this state. The company will cover its employees with this benefit in other states (https://www.ft.com/content/83934f33-8cb6-4e29-8364-41d8600860e2)

• Other themes
  • The number of people without health insurance in the USA reaches a record low figure of 8% in the first quarter of 2022, due to the increase in affiliations to the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid, according to a report by the Department of Health and Human Services (https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/payers/hhs-us-uninsured-rate-reaches-record-low-8-q1-amid-aca-medicaid-gains)
  • In the USA, support in Congress for a plan to reduce the price of medicines in the US, something that the Democrats had pursued for decades, is within reach. This will make it possible to negotiate the price of drugs between Medicare (with 64 million people covered) and pharmaceutical companies. A report by the Rand Corporation shows that in 2021 the price of drugs in the US was seven times that of Turkey, for example (https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/05/us/politics/medicare-drug -costs.html)
  • The Mayo Clinic retains its title of best hospital in the USA, according to the ranking published every year by the US News & World Report. (https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/providers/mayo-clinic-retains-top-hospital-title-while-others-big-names-shuffle-throughout-us-news)
  • Health spending in the US fell (-1.7%) in the first quarter of 2022, for the first time in 60 years, according to an Altarum report, although this is not expected to continue (https:// www.fiercehealthcare.com/finance/altarum-healthcare-spending-declined-q1-first-time-decades)
  • The New England Journal of Medicine publishes an article on how to promote a national Public Health system in the United States. In the last two years, 2 million deaths from covid occurred in the USA. Multiple reports identify problems in leadership, coordination, communication, monitoring with tests and other critical aspects for equity (https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2207374)

National health policy

• Monkeypox
  • Monkeypox out of control in Spain, with 4,942 cases. Of these, 3,943 are men who have sex with other men, although in 999 this circumstance does not occur and it is thought that this group may grow (https://www.elespanol.com/ciencia/salud/20220806/viruela-control-espana -cases-new-infected-profiles/692931036_0.html)
  • Lack of vaccines complicates control of monkeypox. Spain has received 5,300 vaccines and in the coming weeks 7,000 more will arrive, “insufficient”, according to the autonomous communities (https://www.elespanol.com/espana/politica/20220802/falta-vacunas-complica-control-viruela-cebandose -spain/692181156_0.html)

• COVID
  • The incidence of COVID continues to decline, reaching 395 cases per 100,000 inhabitants (https://amp.redaccionmedica.com/directo/coronavirus-ultimas-noticias/20220502
  • The report on the management of covid requested by the Ministry in September 2021 is already 8 months late, after setting a deadline of approximately four months (https://www.elespanol.com/espana/20220806/informe- experts-darias-errors-covid-accumulates-delay/693181013_0.html)

• Heat wave
  • The Ministry of Health attributes 2,176 deaths from the heat wave in July (https://www.redaccionmedica.com/secciones/sanidad-hoy/sanidad-atribuye-2-176-muertes-a-las-altas-temperaturas- july-7957

• Other themes
  • Latest CIS survey: more than 70% of the population believes that very little is invested in healthcare (https://www.redaccionmedica.com/secciones/sanidad-hoy/mas-del-70-de-los-espanoles- believes-that-very-little-is-invested-in-health-8768)
  • Private health doctors threaten with introducing copayment, given what they consider to be low rates from insurers (https://theobjective.com/economia/2022-08-01/medicos-sanidad-privada-copago/)

Companies

• International News
  • Pfizer in talks to acquire Global Blood Therapeutics for around 5 billion dollars. The latest announcement, following an aggressive acquisition policy by Pfizer (https://www.ft.com/content/fda3e824-5db0-4782-92ce-b98777a5aa68)
  • The hospital group Mediclinic accepts an offer for 3.7 billion pounds. The group has its origins in South Africa, but also operates in Switzerland, Namibia and the United Arab Emirates. Buyer is Remgro, the Rupert family investment vehicle (https://www.ft.com/content/9459b9a8-4dd0-4453-aa62-46d9076ef0c6)

• National News
  • Quirónsalud grows 10%, to 2.19 billion euros in revenue, and boosts the results of Fresenius (https://www.expansion.com/empresas/2022/08/03/62e9b31be5fdea276a8b45bc.html)
  • Indukern promotes an injectables plant in Galicia (https://www.expansion.com/catalunya/2022/08/02/62e9740ae5fdea75618b45bc.html)
  • Brussels ensures the purchase of 250 million doses of the Spanish Hipra vaccine against covid (https://elpais.com/sociedad/2022-08-02/bruselas-asegura-la-compra-de-hasta-250- million-doses-of-the-spanish-vaccine-of-hipra-against-covid.html)
  • Vivanta tries to get rid of its most profitable clinics, after the help of the Government (https://theobjective.com/economia/2022-08-02/vivanta-clinicas-gobierno/)

 

 

This post is also available in: Spanish