7 days in healthcare (December 16th-22nd, 2024)

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Summary

The most impactful news in health this week were:

  • Biomedicine: New tech treatments are being tested in mental health, to avoid medications and treatments.
  • Global health: Trump’s return could worsen the situation of global health institutions.
  • International health policy: Trump’s team plans to leave the WHO as one of its first measures
  • National health policy. A study by El País shows that more than half of health centers make appointments with a delay of more than 48 hours.
  • Companies: NovoNordisk receives a severe correction on the stock market after the disappointment with the results of the trial of its new weight loss drug

Biomedicine

  • The new tech treatment that can improve mental health. From video games to personal avatars, researchers are trying to develop new digital tools that do not involve medications or treatments.

Global Health

  • Trump’s return could worsen the financial situation of global health institutions. This will be a serious problem since the US provides half of global health aid, including vaccinations for children, HIV treatments and disease surveillance
  • An exodus of nurses from the global South to help the health of rich countries. The increase in professionals after the pandemic is further weakening the already weak health systems of African countries.

International health policy

  • Trump’s team proposes that the US leave the WHO “on day one.” This would mean that the WHO would lose its largest funder and weaken its capacity.
  • Is the opioid epidemic in the US finally ending? CDC data indicate that the peak of deaths was reached in August 2023 and has been declining since then, although in the first months of this year until July there were no less than 90,000 deaths from this cause in the US.

National Health Policy (Spain)

  • The Ministry of Health and the communities create the figure of the health administrator to free doctors and nurses from bureaucracy.
  • Pané presents his first reform measures in Catalonia. It includes demographic analysis, a study of the needs of health professionals and the implementation of 10 pilot centres for comprehensive health (CSIR), with autonomy outside of their public or private management, with changes in the financing system so that they charge for activity and results.
  • Analysis by El País on delays in Primary Care. More than half of the health centres make appointments after 48 hours. The worst communities: Madrid, Valencian Community, Balearic Islands and Canary Islands. The objective of the central government and communities was to guarantee non-urgent care in less than two days.
  • The government will launch a new tender in MUFACE with a 33.5% increase in premiums.

Companies

  • International
    • NovoNordisk receives a severe correction on the Stock Market, after the disappointment of the trials of the new drug for weight loss.
    • Lilly receives the green light in the USA to treat sleep disorders with its weight loss drug
  • National
    • AstraZeneca will hire 1,000 people in 2025 to reinforce its operations centre in Barcelona.

Biomedicine

Global Health

International health policy

International health policy

  • USA
    • Trump’s team is proposing that the US should leave the WHO “on day one”. This would mean that the WHO would lose its largest funder and weaken its capacity (https://www.ft.com/content/e6061ed5-2703-4b8a-9948-a557aaaf52c2)
    • Is the opioid epidemic finally ending? CDC data indicate that the peak of deaths was reached in August 2023 and has been declining since then, although in the first months of this year until July there were no less than 90,000 deaths from this cause in the USA (https://www.economist.com/is-the-opioid-epidemic-finally-burning-out)
    • Health spending in the USA in 2023. Growth in 2023 was 7.3%, while in 2022 it had been 4.6%. This is equivalent to 17.6% of the American GDP, higher than in 2022 (17.4), although lower than during the Covid pandemic. The percentage of the American population covered by health insurance reached a record 92.5% (https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/10.1377/hlthaff.2024.01375)
    • California declares an emergency due to avian flu in livestock. The virus has been discovered in 645 dairy farms, more than in any other state (https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/18/health/bird-flu-emergency-california.html)
    • As pharmacies close, more and more older people are left in “pharmacy deserts,” which is a serious problem as older people take more medication and also turn to pharmacies for health advice (https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/21/health/drugstore-closures-seniors.html)

National health policy

  • Primary Care
    • Analysis by El País on delays in Primary Care. More than half of the health centres make appointments after 48 hours. The worst communities: Madrid, Valencia, Balearic Islands and Canary Islands. The objective of the central government and the communities was to guarantee non-urgent care in less than two days (https://elpais.com/sociedad/2024-12-22/mapa-de-la-atencion-primaria-en-espana-mas-de-la-mitad-de-los-centros-de-salud-citan-pasadas-48-horas.html)

Companies

This post is also available in: Spanish