Summary

The most impactful news in health this week were:

• Biomedicine: Closer to babies on demand, as it is possible to introduce heritable changes in DNA.
• Global health: President Trump signs an executive order to remove the USA from the WHO.
• International health policy: Unprecedented: the Trump Administration intends to stop meetings and review of grants at the NHI (National Health Institutes).
• National health policy. The government again rectifies and will launch a third competition on MUFACE, after negotiations with ADESLAS.
• Companies: Retro Sciences, by Sam Altman, promotes a project to extend human life by 10 years.

Biomedicine

• Closer to babies on demand, Nature predicts that they will arrive in 30 years and sets off alarm bells for scientists. An article predicts the path to introduce heritable changes in DNA and the magazine says it is time to open the debate.
• Medicines developed by AI will be in trials at the end of the year. A Google subsidiary, Isomorphic Labs, plans to have drug trials in oncology, cardiovascular and neurodegenerative disorders by the end of the year.

Global Health

• The Economist: US withdrawal from WHO will hurt everyone. It remains to be seen whether it is a negotiating position. The executive order signed mentions the poor management of Covid and the lack of independence. For some, this withdrawal requires the approval of Congress, since it was Congress that made the decision for the US to enter the WHO.
• Trump’s anticipated defunding of the UMFPA will harm millions of women and girls, without access to reproductive health care.

International health policy

• Nature alert: nothing like this has ever been seen: Trump’s team wants to stop meetings and trips of the NIH (National Health Institutes). In an unprecedented move, the review of the grants of the NIH, the largest funder of health research in the world, has been suspended.
• France, Hospitals: adoption of the law that establishes a minimum number of caregivers per patient. The text plans to establish a minimum by specialty and hospital activity.
• Colombia: Keralty accuses the Colombian government of expropriating EPS Sanitas. Keralty (formerly Sanitas Internacional, nothing to do with the Spanish Sanitas, owned by BUPA) counterattacks with a request for international arbitration against Colombia for 1.2 billion dollars.
• The EU Council adopts the new regulation for the European Health Data Space. The EU countries must establish a digital health authority to promote the new provisions.

National Health Policy (Spain)

• The medical profession is up in arms over the Framework Statute and against the approaches of the Ministry of Health. Doctors are asking for their own Statute that reflects their uniqueness, something that the Ministry does not contemplate. All the Ministry’s proposals are in line with the ideological approaches of Podemos-Sumar. Although the Statute would certainly need reform (without ruling out its repeal), it is clear that all the proposals of the current ministerial team are in line with making it worse.
• The government has once again rectified its position on MUFACE: it has modified the conditions and opened a third period for insurers. The announcement of a new tender has been published on the contracting platform and is preceded by intense negotiations with Adeslas. It seems that caution has prevailed in this matter, given the serious consequences of the disappearance of MUFACE, a position defended by the Ministry of Health.
• 15,106 doctors are taking the MIR exam for 9,007 positions. What will happen to those who do not get a position? New “remnants”?

Companies

• International
  • Sam Altman’s company Retro Sciences invests 1,000 million dollars in a project to extend human life by a decade.

• National
  • The CNMV points to the Grifols family and several directors in its analysis of the Gotham report.

Biomedicine

• AI-developed drug to be in trials by year-end. Google subsidiary Isomorphic Labs aims to have drug trials in oncology, cardiovascular and neurodegenerative disorders by year-end (https://www.ft.com/content/41b51d07-0754-4ffd-a8f9-737e1b1f0c2e)
• Weight-loss drugs reduce Alzheimer’s risk, large study finds. Analysis of drugs such as Ozempic detect improvements in 42 conditions, but a higher incidence of arthritis (https://www.ft.com/content/015e989d-75ca-4cbe-b315-13f910e35b62)
• They complete the map of the genes involved in human reproduction (https://www.abc.es/salud/enfermedades/completan-mama-genes-implicados-reproduccion-humana-20250122135454-nt.html)
• (https://www.elespanol.com/ciencia/20250125/cerca-bebes-carta-nature-pronostica-llegaran-anos-dispara-alarmas-cientificos/918908507_0.html)
• They test a therapy that dissolves cancer cells in patients with metastasis (https://www.abc.es/salud/enfermedades/prueban-terapia-disuelve-celulas-cancerosas-pacientes-metastasis-20250124190437-nt.html)

Global Health

• The Economist: US withdrawal from WHO will hurt everyone. Whether it is a negotiating position remains to be seen. The signed executive order mentions poor management of Covid and lack of independence. For some, this withdrawal requires Congressional approval, since it was Congress that made the decision for the US to enter the WHO (https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2025/01/22/americas-departure-from-the-who-would-harm-everyone)
• Trump’s anticipated defunding of the UMFPA will harm millions of women and girls, without access to reproductive health care (https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(25)00134-5/abstract)
• The war in Sudan continues with deadly attacks on hospitals and ambulances (https://www.bmj.com/content/388/bmj.r109)
• Leprosy remains a 21st century disease (https://elpais.com/planeta-futuro/2025-01-26/la-lepra-es-un-problema-del-siglo-xxi-como-se-erradica-una-enfermedad-que-todos-quieren-ocultar.html)
• Colon cancer continues to grow among those under 30 years of age (https://www.consalud.es/pacientes/cancer-colon-aumenta-entre-menores-50-anos-es-genetica-factor-riesgo-clave_153628_102.html)

International health policy

• USA
  • Nature alert: nothing like this has ever been seen before: Trump’s team wants to stop NIH (National Health Institutes) meetings and trips. In an unprecedented move, the review of grants from the NIH, the world’s largest funder of health research, has been suspended (https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00231-y)
  • Trump wants to put a top pharmaceutical industry executive in charge of budget policy, which is interpreted as a brake on Robert Kennedy (https://www.ft.com/content/a0993441-da1b-41b2-819f-4d1c383b5034)

• United Kingdom and the National Health Service
  • The risk of death doubles with long waits in emergency rooms. Patients who wait more than 12 hours in A&E are twice as likely to die within 30 days than those seen within two hours (https://www.bmj.com/content/388/bmj.r119)
  • UK needs strategy to tackle alcohol harms (https://www.bmj.com/content/388/bmj.r38)
  • Royal College of Nursing report highlights serious NHS problems (https://www.bmj.com/content/388/bmj.r135)

• France
  • Medical deserts: emphasis should be placed on recruiting local doctors, in order to anchor their practice (https://www.lemonde.fr/idees/article/2025/01/24/deserts-medicaux-l-accent-doit-etre-mis-sur-le-recrutement-local-des-medecins-afin-d-ancrer-leur-pratique-durablement-dans-les-territoires_6514087_3232.html)
  • End of life: Bayrou (Prime Minister) wants to split the bill into two texts. One on palliative care, the other on aid in dying (https://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2025/01/21/fin-de-vie-francois-bayrou-souhaite-scinder-le-projet-de-loi-en-deux-textes_6508930_3224.html)
  •  Hospitals: adoption of the law establishing a minimum number of caregivers per patient. The text provides for a minimum for each specialty and hospital activity (https://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2025/01/23/hopital-adoption-de-la-loi-instaurant-un-nombre-minimal-de-soignants-par-patient_6512764_3224.html)

• Colombia
  • Keralty (formerly Sanitas Internacional, nothing to do with the Spanish Sanitas, owned by BUPA) counterattacks with a request for international arbitration against Colombia for 1.2 billion dollars. They accuse the government of expropriating EPS Sanitas (https://elpais.com/america-colombia/2025-01-24/sanitas-contraataca-con-una-solicitud-de-arbitraje-internacional-contra-colombia-por-1200-millones-de-dolares.html)

• OECD
  • The OECD publishes a report on telemedicine. Through in-depth discussions with experts and analysis of experiences in telemedicine, the document identifies best practices, innovative financing models, inclusive governance and integration models in care (https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/leading-practices-for-the-future-of-telemedicine_496a8ffe-en.html)

• WHO
  • WHO-Europe issues a report on quality of care and patient safety. The parameters measured are six: national quality plan; national safety plan; national plan on antimicrobial resistance; plan for prevention of misinformation; hospital accreditation system; and, representation of patients and citizens in the governance of the system (https://www.who.int/europe/publications/i/item/9789289061568)

• EU
  • The Council of the EU adopts the new regulation for the European Health Data Space. EU countries will have to establish a digital health authority to promote the new provisions (https://diariofarma.com/2025/01/21/el-consejo-de-la-ue-adopta-el-nuevo-reglamento-espacio-europeo-de-datos-sanitarios)

National health policy

• Initiatives and news from the autonomous communities
  • The government of Asturias stops the construction of the Cabueñes hospital, due to disagreements with the current construction company. A new project will begin to be drafted (https://www.elcomercio.es/gijon/principado-detiene-obra-cabuenes-cambiara-diseno-20250125223515-nt.html)
  • The Junta de Andalucía creates I+Salud, the research portal of the Andalusian public health system. Data from researchers, research projects, publications, etc. will be collected (https://www.juntadeandalucia.es/organismos/fps/servicios/actualidad/noticias/detalle/556894.html)
  • The Basque Country promotes the creation of the Health Data Office. This tool will aim to put this information at the service of management, assistance and research (https://www.consalud.es/autonomias/pais-vasco/pais-vasco-impulsa-creacion-oficina-datos-salud_153820_102.html)
  • Heel prick test: from the 44 tests in Murcia to the 7 in the Balearic Islands. The unification of these tests is one of the historical demands of FEDER (the Spanish Federation of Rare Diseases) (https://www.elperiodico.com/es/sociedad/20250121/diferencias-cribado-neonatal-espana-113586351)

• Framework Statute
  • The medical profession on the warpath for the Framework Statute and against the approaches of the Ministry of Health. Doctors are asking for their own Statute that reflects their uniqueness, something that the Ministry does not contemplate (https://www.larazon.es/sociedad/medicos-amenazan-sanidad-movilizaciones-empeoran-sus-condiciones-laborales_2025012367922f4d47e9a00001e42d0d.html)

• MUFACE
  • The government once again rectifies in MUFACE: it modifies the conditions and opens a third period for insurers. The announcement of a new tender has been published on the contracting platform and is preceded by intense negotiations with Adeslas (https://www.elespanol.com/invertia/observatorios/sanidad/20250125/gobierno-vuelve-rectificar-muface-modifica-condiciones-abre-tercer-plazo-aseguradoras/919158237_0.html)

• MIR exam
  • 15,106 doctors take the MIR exam for 9,007 places (https://www.elmundo.es/ciencia-y-salud/salud/2025/01/24/6793aa3c21efa04c218b4584.html)

• Role of the patient in health policy
  • WHO-Europe publishes a report on the quality of care and patient safety. Of the six parameters analyzed, Spain performs well in five, except in the participation of professionals in the governance of the system (https://www.diariomedico.com/medicina/politica/oms-fija-espana-debe-mejorar-rol-paciente-politica-sanitaria.html?check_logged_in=1). Access to the original document: https://www.who.int/europe/publications/i/item/9789289061568

Companies

• International news
  • Purdue and the Sackler family agree to pay US states $7.4 billion for their role in the opioid crisis (https://www.ft.com/content/aefb2258-7871-439e-b23f-03d2753be7b2)
  • Neko Health, the company owned by Daniel Ek, founder of Spotify, raised $260 million to build what they say will be the Apple of health (https://www.ft.com/content/c870d156-4f0c-4aa3-813e-87811718e04a)
  • Sam Altman’s company Retro Sciences invests $1 billion in a project to extend the human life a decade (https://www.ft.com/content/25a473ea-9f87-474a-8729-bc5287df853a)

• National
  • The CNMV points to the Grifols family and several directors in its analysis of the Gotham report. Raimon Grifols and Víctor Grifols are targeted (https://www.elconfidencial.com/empresas/2025-01-23/investigacion-cnmv-grifols-familia-consejeros_4048177/)

This post is also available in: Spanish