7 days in healthcare (April 13th-19th, 2026)

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Summary

The week’s most impactful health news stories were:

  • Biomedicine: Joan Massagué: “The goal is to cure cancer, although along the way we will make some deadly diseases chronic.”
  • Global Health: Milei follows Trump and leaves the WHO.
  • International Health Policy: “Patients should choose their healthcare, not the one dictated by the State or their doctor,” according to Alan Milburn, former UK Health Minister.
  • National Health Policy: Nearly 5 million people on waiting lists for surgery or specialist appointments.
  • Business: A pack of cigarettes: a luxury in Europe and a bargain in Spain.

Biomedicine

  • Joan Massagué: “The goal is to cure cancer, although along the way we will make some deadly diseases chronic.” The director of the Sloan Kettering Institute in New York, a world leader in metastasis research, believes that a therapeutic vaccine against the disease will be available in a few years: “It’s not an act of faith, but a reality.” • AI chatbots make mistakes in more than 80% of initial cases. Top models, such as OpenAI and DeepSeek, make overly hasty judgments when patient information is incomplete.
  • Bioinformatics describing cancer: how zeros and ones translate into future therapies. Beginning in the 1960s, bioinformatics has completely transformed cancer research and laboratories in recent years. Therefore, in a bioinformatics workspace, there are no pipettes or test tubes; instead, there are computers running complex computational processes.
  • New CRISPR approach silences the extra chromosome in Down syndrome. A US scientific team has developed a more efficient system for correcting the trisomy responsible for Down syndrome in cell lines.

Global Health

  • Milei follows Trump and leaves the WHO. Following Trump’s abrupt withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO), abandoning it as a full member and net contributor, Javier Milei has also formalized his departure, believing that the globalist institution intends to diminish national sovereignty in health-related decisions. The Argentine president announced his intention a year ago, and now his Foreign Minister, Pablo Quirno, has made the withdrawal official, citing “profound disagreements” with the handling of the pandemic and in defense of national sovereignty.
  • Editorial from The Lancet: Abortion: the possibilities of progress. The prohibition of abortion does not eliminate it; it simply drives it toward clandestine and dangerous practices, endangering mental and physical health.

International health policy

  • “The patient must choose their healthcare, not the one dictated by the State or their doctor”, declared Alan Milburn, former UK Health Minister, in Madrid to the magazine Redacción Médica. Many healthcare systems, starting with the British one, were created based on the logic of public monopoly. All of these are evolving to put patient choice at the center.
  • Trump appoints Dr. Erica Swartz, a vaccine advocate, as the new CDC director. She is seen as a traditional, highly qualified choice and a rebuke of RJK, Jr.
  • A new National Cancer Plan for England has just been released.
  • Slow progress towards privatization in the NHS 10-Year Health Plan. This BMJ article accuses the plan of privatization due to the proposal to use private centers to address waiting lists and the return to PFIs (Private Finance Initiatives) for the infrastructure plan.
  • Parents and schools need to better equip young people for work, according to former UK Health Secretary Alan Milburn. More than one million young people aged 16 to 24 are unemployed, and 60% of them are not even looking for work.

National Health Policy (Spain)

  • Nearly 5 million people are on waiting lists for surgery or specialist appointments. Since 2024, nearly 7,000 patients have been added to the waiting lists for surgery, and 114,915 are waiting for a specialist appointment.
  • The government has validated 65,000 degrees, 30,000 of them for doctors.
  • Discontent within the Andalusian healthcare system is taking to the streets. Thousands of Andalusians are demonstrating in the eight provincial capitals, with the May 17th protests seen as a turning point to halt the deterioration of the healthcare system.
  • Negotiations on the Framework Statute with doctors will continue, despite the strikes called off after last Friday’s meeting.
  • The healthcare impact of the regularization of immigrants approved by the Government is unmanageable with current resources, according to the president of SEMERGEN.

Companies

  • International
    • The pharmaceutical sector will sign 144 mergers and acquisitions deals in 2025, with a peak in activity in the fourth quarter. An infographic from Evaluate Pharma shows that the total value of transactions rose from €35.2 billion in the first quarter to €87.6 billion in the fourth.
  • National News
    • A pack of cigarettes: a luxury in Europe and a bargain in Spain. €23 in the UK, €19 in Ireland, and €13.50 in France. In Spain, €6.15. The cheapest countries: Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, and Croatia.
    • The rise in private healthcare costs will lead to further increases in health insurance premiums. AON data points in that direction.

Biomedicine

  • Tumor cells use a genetic trick to become resistant to drugs. Normal cells can only replicate 50 times before dying. Tumor cells escape this rule. But once the mechanism is understood, there are ways to neutralize it (https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2026/04/16/tumour-cells-use-a-genetic-trick-to-become-drug-resistant)
  • An analysis of an Alzheimer’s drug raises doubts about its effectiveness, stating that the clinical benefit is negligible (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/15/health/alzheimers-drugs-benefit-anti-amyloid.html). Access the Cochrane article: https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD016297/full
  • A new treatment that alters the immune system allows three transplant patients to avoid treatment with anti-rejection drugs. It appears that the treatment doesn’t always work (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/17/health/liver-transplants-antirejection-drugs.html)
  • DNA repair for aging. Everyone’s DNA continues to mutate. The question is whether correcting those errors could lead to longevity (https://www.theatlantic.com/health/2026/04/beyond-inheritance-excerpt-roxanne-khamsi/686831/)
  • From Berlin to Oslo: Ten people worldwide have now managed to overcome HIV. The success of the so-called “Oslo patient,” who received a transplant from his own brother, consolidates a paradigm shift: curing the virus is no longer a miracle but a scientific roadmap (https://www.abc.es/salud/paciente-oslo-trasplante-logro-erradicar-resto-vih-20260413173904-nt.html)
  • The risk of consulting Dr. ChatGPT: half of its medical answers are erroneous or dangerous. A study warns that large language models offer imprecise, difficult-to-read information with fabricated references about health (https://www.abc.es/salud/riesgo-consultar-doctor-chatgpt-mitad-respuestas-medicas-20260414041946-nt.html)
  • AI chatbots make mistakes in more than 80% of initial cases. Top models, such as OpenAI and DeepSeek, make judgments too quickly when patient information is incomplete (https://www.ft.com/content/b10002fc-5fff-4e4d-bf64-0502b2d09bb1?syn-25a6b1a6=1)
  • Joan Massagué: “The goal is to cure cancer, although along the way we will make some deadly cancers chronic.” The director of the Sloan Kettering Institute in New York, a world leader in metastasis, believes that in a few years there will be a therapeutic vaccine against the disease: “It is not an act of faith but a reality” (https://www.abc.es/salud/joan-massague-objetivo-curar-cancer-convertirlo-enfermedad-20260415041813-nt.html)
  • Bioinformatics that describes cancer: how zeros and ones are translated into future therapies. Beginning in the 1960s, bioinformatics has completely transformed cancer research and laboratories in recent years. Therefore, in a bioinformatics workspace, there are no pipettes or test tubes; instead, there are computers running complex computational processes (https://www.elconfidencial.com/tecnologia/ciencia/2026-04-16/bioinformatica-cancer-matematicas-ia-terapias-cnio_4335900/).
  • New CRISPR approach silences the extra chromosome in Down syndrome. A US scientific team has developed a more efficient system for correcting the trisomy responsible for Down syndrome in cell lines (https://www.diariomedico.com/medicina/genetica/nuevo-enfoque-crispr-corregir-trisomia-sindrome-down.html).

Global Health

  • Law against homosexuality in Senegal. The repressive policy pursued by the government puts decades of progress in public health at risk (https://www.lemonde.fr/idees/article/2026/04/17/loi-contre-l-homosexualite-au-senegal-les-justifications-historique-et-sanitaire-de-la-loi-sont-infondees_6680815_3232.html)
  • Editorial in The Lancet: Abortion: the possibilities of progress. Banning abortion does not eliminate it; it simply drives it toward clandestine and dangerous practices, endangering mental and physical health (https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(26)00753-1/fulltext)
  • Milei follows Trump and leaves the WHO. Following Trump’s abrupt withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO), abandoning it as a full member and net contributor, Javier Milei has also formalized his departure, believing that the global institution seeks to diminish national sovereignty in health-related decisions. The Argentine president announced his intention a year ago, and now his Foreign Minister, Pablo Quirno, has made the withdrawal official, citing “profound disagreements” with the handling of the pandemic and in defense of national sovereignty. (https://www.larazon.es/salud/milei-sigue-trump-sale-oms_2026041969e41fbdb7e0a27eb99d1e5d.html)

International Health Policy

  • USA
    • The new normal for RJK, Jr. After Trump’s overreach, such as the appointment of a new pro-vaccine CDC director, we see a more repressed version of RJK, Jr. (https://www.theatlantic.com/health/2026/04/cdc-director-schwartz-rfk/686837/)
    • Trump hopes to reduce restrictions on psychedelic drugs. The president’s executive order seeks to increase research on the effects of psychedelics (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/17/health/trump-psychedelics-ibogaine.html)
    • Trump nominates Dr. Erica Schwartz, a vaccine advocate, as the new director of the CDC; she is seen as a traditional, highly qualified choice (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/16/health/erica-schwartz-cdc-director-trump.html)
  • China
    • China in a price war over obesity drugs. The loss of the patent allows China to produce GLP-1 drugs on a large scale (https://www.ft.com/content/a10159af-c6b5-48e4-8a68-16676684cb22?syn-25a6b1a6=1)
  • United Kingdom
    • “The patient should choose their healthcare, not the one dictated by the State or their doctor,” declared former UK Health Minister Alan Milburn in Madrid to the magazine Redacción Médica. Many healthcare systems, starting with the British one, were created with the logic of a public monopoly. All of these are evolving to put patient choice at the center (https://www.redaccionmedica.com/secciones/sanidad-hoy/-el-paciente-debe-elegir-su-sanidad-no-la-que-digan-el-estado-o-su-medico–5354)
    • A new National Cancer Plan for England has just been released (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/699ec931532c9ad91ebbcc64/national-cancer-plan-for-england-delivering-world-class-cancer-care.pdf)
    • Slow movement towards privatization in the NHS 10-year Health Plan. This article accuses the NHS of privatization, citing the proposal to use private centers to address waiting lists and the return to Private Finance Initiatives (PFIs) for the infrastructure plan (https://www.bmj.com/content/393/bmj.s656).
    • The NHS 10 Year Health Plan lacks a focus on rural areas, despite 10 million people living there. The Plan is accused of neglecting this group (https://www.bmj.com/content/393/bmj.s647).
    • Air pollution causes many people in the UK to develop chronic diseases earlier. Research says pollution makes long-term illnesses appear earlier (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/apr/17/air-pollution-making-people-in-uk-get-long-term-illnesses-earlier-study-finds) Access the original article: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11357-025-01806-3
    • People in the poorest areas of the UK live less than 50 years in good health. A 20-year gap compared to those living in wealthier areas (https://www.ft.com/content/85de9ce1-37f1-4983-af72-30bf05363a49?syn-25a6b1a6=1)
    • Parents and schools need to better equip young people for work, according to former UK Health Minister Alan Milburn. More than one million young people aged 16 to 24 are unemployed, and 60% of them are not even looking for work (https://www.ft.com/content/b4ab3ec6-35cf-4e7f-a3ae-ca7dc67ad06a?syn-25a6b1a6=1)
  • France
    • “Giant technology companies, the holders of the most health data,” according to an opinion piece in Le Monde by Professor Théodore Christakis. Every week, more than 230 million people ask ChatGPT questions about health and well-being. Five tech giants (OpenAI, Anthropic, Microsoft, Amazon, and Perplexity) have launched AI products dedicated to healthcare (https://www.lemonde.fr/idees/article/2026/04/15/les-geants-de-la-tech-constituent-les-plus-vastes-agregations-privees-de-donnees-de-sante-jamais-envisagees_6680263_3232.html)

National Health Policy

  • Central Administration
    • The government validates 65,000 degrees, 30,000 of them medical degrees (https://elpais.com/educacion/2026-04-14/el-gobierno-valida-65000-titulos-universitarios-extranjeros-en-un-ano-30000-de-ellos-de-medicos.html)
    • The Ministry of Health creates the Patient Roundtable as an advisory body and evaluation. It will be composed of 22 members, half representing the Ministry and the other half representing patients (https://www.redaccionmedica.com/secciones/ministerio-sanidad/sanidad-crea-la-mesa-de-los-pacientes-como-organo-asesor-y-de-evaluacion-8179)
    • The Ministry of Health has committed to bringing forward breast cancer screenings to age 45. The measure comes after a campaign launched by María Varela, a metastatic cancer patient who has gathered more than 86,000 signatures to lower the age for mammograms (https://www.elmundo.es/ciencia-y-salud/salud/2026/04/09/69d79025e85ecef92a8b459f.html)
  • Regional governments
    • The Madrid government has expressed its rejection of the abortion conscientious objector registry. The regional government mentions up to nine times the court order requiring it to implement the measure following its conflict with the central government (https://elpais.com/espana/madrid/2026-04-15/el-gobierno-de-ayuso-exhibe-su-rechazo-al-registro-de-objetores-al-aborto-en-cada-linea-de-su-tramitacion-obligada-por-la-justicia.html)
    • The discontent within the Andalusian healthcare system takes to the streets. Thousands of Andalusians demonstrate in the eight provincial capitals, with the May 17th elections as a turning point to halt the deterioration of the healthcare system (https://elpais.com/espana/elecciones-andalucia/2026-04-12/el-malestar-por-la-sanidad-andaluza-toma-las-calles-masivamente-en-la-primera-advertencia-a-moreno-ojala-esto-sea-un-bano-de-realidad-en-las-urnas.html)
    • Extremadura: this is the healthcare agreement for the legislature. The Extremadura government agreement includes increased funding, with an additional €500 million starting in 2026 and subsequent years, and incentives for underserved areas (https://www.diariomedico.com/medicina/politica/extremadura-acuerdo-pp-vox-sanidad-legislatura.html)
  • Framework Statute
    • Negotiations will continue without calling off the strikes after Friday’s meeting. Under the shadow of an ultimatum from PP councilors demanding Mónica García’s resignation, the negotiating table remains discreet, with the schedule of April 27th protests and the participation of the Autonomous Communities still uncertain (https://gacetamedica.com/profesion/estatuto-marco-negociacion-sin-desconvocar-paros-reunion-viernes/)
  • Waiting Lists
    • Nearly 5 million people are on waiting lists for surgery or specialist appointments. Since 2024, nearly 7,000 patients have been added to the waiting lists for surgery, and 114,915 are waiting for a specialist appointment (https://www.elmundo.es/ciencia-y-salud/salud/2026/04/16/69e09ef421efa0ed3f8b458d.html). Access the original Ministry document: https://www.sanidad.gob.es/estadEstudios/estadisticas/inforRecopilaciones/docs/LISTAS_PUBLICACION_Dic_2025.pdf. Access the Ministry’s summary: https://www.sanidad.gob.es/estadEstudios/estadisticas/inforRecopilaciones/docs/Informe_situacion_listas_de_espera_dic_2025_V1.pdf
  • Effects of the Iran war on the healthcare system
    • The healthcare technology industry warns of a lack of access to certain raw materials. Fenin highlights a direct impact on intensive processes such as the manufacture of medical oxygen or cellulose products (https://www.elespanol.com/invertia/observatorios/sanidad/20260414/industria-tecnologia-sanitaria-alerta-falta-acceso-determinadas-materias-primas-guerra-iran/1003744205990_0.html)
    • The armed conflict puts essential products for the operation of hospitals at risk. Helium, gloves, syringes, and other products are affected by the blockade in the Strait of Hormuz (https://www.diariomedico.com/medicina/empresas/conflicto-belico-oriente-medio-pone-riesgo-productos-esenciales-funcionamiento-hospitales.html)

Companies

  • International
    • The pharmaceutical sector is expected to complete 144 mergers and acquisitions in 2025, with activity peaking in the fourth quarter. An infographic from Evaluate Pharma shows that the total value of these deals rose from €35.2 billion in the first quarter to €87.6 billion in the fourth (https://elglobalfarma.com/industria/sector-farmaceutico-fusiones-adquisiciones-2025/).

 

 

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