7 days in healthcare (June 3rd-9th, 2024)

 

Summary

Biomedicine

• Scientists who have revolutionized the treatment of obesity win the Princess of Asturias Award. This is the Canadian Daniel J Drucker; by the Danish Jens Juul Holst; and the Americans Jeffrey M Friedman, Joel F Habener and Stevlana Mojsov, whose research has culminated in several drugs to combat diabetes and obesity, such as Ozempic, an injectable drug whose sales are generating billions of euros each year.
• Need to integrate scientific advances with the clinic and the community. Despite great progress in biomedical research in the USA, the health of Americans seems to be getting worse every day. This suggests that research should be integrated into clinical care and community settings.
• Persistent Covid. A new report from the National Academies of the USA identifies up to 200 symptoms in persistent covid, to the point of making work difficult and lasting for months or years.

Global Health

• Failure, after two years of negotiations, of the Pandemic Treaty. Pharmaceutical companies had opposed part of the deal. Oxfam International blames rich countries for lack of agreement.
• Regional hub for the production of mRNA vaccines in Africa. Rwanda is positioned as the future regional hub in the production of mRNA vaccines. BioNTech wants to develop this technology in this country, totally devoid of a pharmaceutical industry.

International health policy

• The American Cancer Society begins a prospective study with 100,000 black women. A large long-term study of cancer in black women begins. The American Cancer Society aims to enroll 100,000 black women to follow them for three decades and reach conclusions about the cause of more cancers and greater mortality.
• AI-based hospital in China. China inaugurates the world’s first AI hospital that can treat 3,000 patients a day. The hospital, called Agent Hospital, will be the world’s first hospital fully powered by artificial intelligence and consists of a virtual clinic that employs AI-generated doctors and nurses to treat patients in a simulated environment. It is expected to diagnose diseases and establish treatment plans with an accuracy of 93.06%. Despite having only 14 doctors and 4 nurses, it is expected to be able to care for about 3,000 patients a day.
• “Less medicines” program in France, promoted by the pharmaceutical industry. “The pharmaceutical industry launches a campaign to promote sobriety of medications from the age of 65. It is surprising that this initiative comes from an industry whose business model is based on selling medicines.
• Portugal launches a general emergency program to transform the health system. The government publishes an emergency and transformation plan for health. The plan is structured into five strategic axes: 1. Response on time and hours; 2. Safety for babies; 3. Urgent and emergent care; 4. Nearby and family health; and, 5. Mental Health. For each of the strategic axes, urgent measures, priority measures and structural measures are established. Apart from that, five transversal programs are defined: 1. Contingency programs; 2. Evaluation programs; 3. Efficiency programs; 4. Medication programs; and, 5. Priority clinical programs.
• Guarantee of waiting lists in Sweden. Sweden had passed a law guaranteeing waiting times already in 2010, which was never complied with. The new law reduces maximum waiting times and offers the patient the possibility of going to a center outside their region, at no extra cost.

National Health Policy (Spain)

• Allegations continue to be known about the announced Public Management and Integrity law: News continues about the allegations presented to this public consultation, in this case those of the IMAS Foundation, which insists on general measures on public management, not only those of management by private companies. Regarding the CSC’s allegations, they focus on defending the Catalan healthcare model, in this case the consortia.
• Covid. Covid cases have doubled in Spain in the last fifteen days.
• Steps are taken to launch semi-public pharmaceuticals. The company called Terafront Pharmatech will have initial capital of 74 million euros, half public capital and the rest private. According to Minister Morant, the aim is that, being leaders in clinical trials, the patents do not end up being purchased by foreign companies.

Companies

• International
  • Sanofi spin-off. Sanofi is going ahead with the spin-off of the consumer division for 20 billion euros.

• National
  • New university hospital in Madrid. Hospitén lays the first stone of its future university hospital in Madrid. The hospital will mean a total investment of 200 million euros, it will have 160 hospital beds, twelve ICU beds, twenty emergency beds and 22 for a day hospital. It will have 17 operating rooms.

Biomedicine

• Scientists who have revolutionized the treatment of obesity win the Princess of Asturias Award. This is the Canadian Daniel J Drucker; by the Danish Jens Juul Holst; and the Americans Jeffrey M Friedman, Joel F Habener and Stevlana Mojsov, whose research has culminated in several drugs to combat diabetes and obesity, such as Ozempic, an injectable drug whose sales are generating billions of euros each year (https://elpais.com/ciencia/2024-06-05/los-scientificos-que-have-revolución-el-treatment-de-la-obesidad-win-el-premio-princesa-de-asturias.html)
• Science Editorial: laboratory, clinic and community. Despite great progress in biomedical research in the USA, the health of Americans seems to be getting worse every day. This suggests that research should be integrated into clinical care and community settings (https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adq2140)
• Genomic sequencing to diagnose rare diseases. Genetic variants have been identified in 8% of cases of rare diseases, in which no genetic alterations had previously been detected (https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2314761#:~:text=A%20more%20recent%20study%20of,makes%20it%20difficult%20to%20directly)
• The success of gene editing (https://www.nejm.org/doi/abs/10.1056/NEJMe2405256)
• The transformative process of brain implants (https://www.ft.com/content/f4cd1130-6adc-4dbd-b74b-9813ae008166)
• Scientists are looking for drugs to treat intestinal disease (https://www.ft.com/content/06a8ea18-2c92-4606-9b95-e69f614c5c10)
• A new report highlights the seriousness of long Covid. A new report from the National Academies identifies up to 200 symptoms in persistent covid, to the point of making work difficult and lasting for months or years (https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/05/health/long -covid-symptoms-recovery.html#:~:text=The%20report%20cited%20data%20from,362%2C000%20children%20had%20the%20condition.). To access the original document: https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/27756/long-term-health-effects-of-covid-19-disability-and-function
• A new era of personalized cancer treatments. Advances against cancer (new vaccines, immunotherapy, etc.) are based on many R&D resources, since almost 40% of the pharmaceutical industry’s research resources are directed to oncology. This contrasts with fewer resources for other serious problems, such as dementia or infections (https://www.ft.com/content/db18b12c-7767-43d4-9ac0-5e00b2401697)
• A new era of medications manages to penetrate the most aggressive lung cancer (https://elpais.com/salud-y-bienestar/2024-06-06/una-nueva-era-de-medicamentos-logra-penetrar-on-the-most-aggressive-lung-cancer.html)
• An innovative antibody obtains promising results in melanoma that did not respond to immunotherapy (https://www.elmundo.es/ciencia-y-salud/salud/2024/06/03/665da7f0fc6c834f778b457c.html#)
• A blood test can detect breast cancer years before it appears (https://www.elespanol.com/ciencia/20240603/analisis-sangre-permite-detectar-cancer-mama-anos-aparezca/859914123_0.html )
• Immunotherapy before surgery changes colon cancer therapy. According to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, with prior immunotherapy the tumor had disappeared in 95% of the patients (https://www.abc.es/salud/enfermedades/inmunoterapia-previa-cirugia-cambia-terapia-cancer-colon-20240606122227-nt.html)
• 15% of patients taking antidepressants will have withdrawal symptoms. The symptoms are dizziness, headaches and nausea, according to a study by The Lancet Psychiatry (https://www.epe.es/es/sanidad/20240606/sintomas-sindrome-abstinencia-antidepresivos-dv-103428801)
• They find a million new possible antibiotics, a historic discovery in the fight against superbacteria (https://www.vozpopuli.com/next/descubrimiento-historico-lucha-contra-superbacterias-encuentran-millon-nuevos-posibles-antibioticos.html#:~:text=A%20million%20of%20possible%20antibiotics&text=They discovered%20that%2079%20altered%20the,Staphylococcus%20aure)

Global Health

• Negotiations for a global plan to combat pandemics end without an agreement. Pharmaceutical companies had opposed part of the deal. Oxfam International blames rich countries for lack of deal (https://www.science.org/content/article/negotiations-global-plan-fight-pandemics-end-without-deal)
• According to the WHO, the death of the first case of H5N2 bird flu, announced in Mexico, is not due to the virus (https://www.lemonde.fr/sante/article/2024/06/08/selon-l-oms-la-mort-du-premier-cas-humain-de-grippe-aviaire-h5n2-est-multifactorielle_6237971_1651302.html)
• Rwanda is positioned as the future regional hub in the production of mRNA vaccines. BioNTech wants to develop this technology in this country, totally devoid of a pharmaceutical industry (https://www.lemonde.fr/economie/article/2024/06/04/le-rwanda-se-positionne-en-futur-hub-regional-de-la-production-de-vaccines_6237191_3234.html#:~:text=Industrie%20pharmaceutique-,Le%20Rwanda%20se%20positionne%20en%20futur%20hub%20régional%20de%20la,dépour)
• Tobacco substitutes present their own risk, they are not harmless, as explained at the SEPAR Congress (https://www.diariomedico.com/medicina/neumologia/sustitutivos-tabaco-plantean-propio-riesgo-real-are-harmless.html)

International health policy

• USA
  • Large long-term study of cancer in black women begins. The American Cancer Society aims to enroll 100,000 black women to follow them for three decades and reach conclusions about the cause of more cancers and greater mortality (https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/07/health/cancer-black-women.html#:~:text=black%2Dwomen.html-,Cancer%20Researchers%20Begin%20Large%20Long%2DTerm%20Study%20of%20Black%20Women,higher%20case%20and%20death%20rates.)

• China
  • China inaugurates the world’s first AI hospital that can treat 3,000 patients a day. The hospital, called Agent Hospital, will be the world’s first hospital fully powered by artificial intelligence and consists of a virtual clinic that employs AI-generated doctors and nurses to treat patients in a simulated environment. It is expected to diagnose diseases and establish treatment plans with an accuracy of 93.06%. Despite having only 14 doctors and 4 nurses, it is expected to be able to care for about 3,000 patients a day (https://www.eleconomista.es/tecnologia/noticias/12846443/06/24/china-inaugura-el-primer-hospital-of-artificial-intelligence-in-the-world-can-treat-3000-patients-a-day.html#:~:text=Despite%20%20that%20it,in%20a matter%20of%20some% 20days.)

• United Kingdom and the National Health Service
  • Demand for private healthcare reaches records in the United Kingdom. Chronic waiting lists generated a 7% increase in revenue in 2013, compared to the previous year. The number of people signing up for private insurance or opting for “self-payment” on the NHS increases (https://www.ft.com/content/a4f07a08-b7e9-4330-9915-c2640edf7866)
  • The contaminated blood report detects failure after failure (https://www.bmj.com/content/385/bmj.q1220)
  • Labour’s promise to end waiting lists within five years will be difficult to deliver. Different organizations say that this will require sufficient funding, more staff and professional support (https://www.bmj.com/content/385/bmj.q1186)
  • An innovative plan is being tested in a hospital that is believed to be able to end waiting lists. The King George Hospital in London is testing an innovative program to reduce the waiting list, avoiding cancellations of elective surgery, working more on weekends, outsourcing certain diagnostic procedures, etc. (https://www.theguardian.com/global/article/2024/jun/09/inside-the-hospital-trialling-a-plan-that-labour-hopes-can-fix-the-nhs)

• France
  • “Fewer medications”, a surprising offensive by laboratories to reduce prescriptions. The pharmaceutical industry launches a campaign to promote sobriety of medications from the age of 65. It is surprising that this initiative comes from an industry whose business model is based on selling medicines (https://www.lemonde.fr/economie/article/2024/06/05/moins-de-medicaments-l-etonnante-offensive-des-laboratoires-pour-reduire-les-prescriptions_6237426_3234.html#:~:text=Santé-,«%20Moins%20de%20médicaments%20»%20%3A%20l’étonnante%20offensive%20des%20laborat)
  • “Aid in dying” approved by 88 votes in favor, compared to 50 against. Last Thursday the Assembly voted in favor of article 5, which is the core of the bill. The definition of aid in dying is: “Aid in dying consists of authorizing the person to accompany a person who has expressed a demand to resort to a lethal substance.” (https://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2024/06/06/l-aide-a-mourir-adoptee-par-les-deputes-par-88-voix-contre-50-apres-de-profonds-debats_6237719_3224.html)

• Portugal
  • The government publishes an emergency and transformation plan for health. The plan is structured into five strategic axes: 1. Response on time and hours; 2. Safety for babies; 3. Urgent and emergent care; 4. Nearby and family health; and, 5. Mental Health. For each of the strategic axes, urgent measures, priority measures and structural measures are established. Apart from that, five transversal programs are defined: 1. Contingency programs; 2. Evaluation programs; 3. Efficiency programs; 4. Medication programs; and, 5. Priority clinical programs (https://www.portugal.gov.pt/pt/gc24/comunicacao/noticia?i=plano-de-emergencia-e-transformacao-na-saude-conheca-as-principais-measures). Access to the full document: https://www.portugal.gov.pt/download-ficheiros/ficheiro.aspx?v=%3d%3dBQAAAB%2bLCAAAAAAABAAzNDEyMQMATV5VdgUAAAA%3d

• Sweden
  • Waiting list guarantee. Sweden had passed a law guaranteeing waiting times already in 2010, which was never complied with. The new law reduces maximum waiting times and offers the patient the possibility of going to a center outside their region, at no extra cost (https://eurohealthobservatory.who.int/monitors/health-systems-monitor/updates/hspm/sweden-2023/a-strengthened-waiting-time-guarantee-to-shorten-the-queues-in-specialized-care)

• European Union
  • The EFPIA urgently calls for incentives for the development of new antimicrobials in the reviews of European pharmaceutical legislation (https://elglobal.es/industria/la-efpia-pide-urgentemente-incentivos-para-el-desarrollo-de-nuevos-antimicrobials-in-the-revision-of-eu-pharmaceutical-legislation/)
  • European elections, impact of healthcare (https://www.diariomedico.com/medicina/politica/elecciones-europeas-2024-mas-politica-sanitaria-comun-ue-competencias.html)
  • Attacks on doctors are worrying throughout Europe (https://www.consalud.es/profesionales/agresiones-medicos-grave-problema-global-presegura-en-toda-europa_144872_102.html)

National health policy

• Central government initiatives
  • IMAS allegations regarding the Public Management and Integrity Law. Interesting proposals from the IMAS regarding general public management, not only indirect management by private companies (https://www.imasfundacion.es/enla-conoc/noticias/385-propuestas-de-la-fundacion-instituto-for-the-improvement-of-health-care-in-relation-to-prior-public-consultation-on-the-draft-law-on-public-management-and-integrity-of-the-national-system)
  • The CSC demands that the Public Management and Integrity Law respect the Catalan model (https://diariofarma.com/2024/06/03/el-scs-de-cataluna-exige-que-la-ley-de-gestion-publish-of-sns-respect-the-catalan-model#)

• Initiatives and news from the autonomous communities
  • Health cuts grip the ERC government before the European elections (https://elpais.com/espana/catalunya/2024-06-08/los-recortes-sanitarios-atenazan-al-govern-de-erc-antes-of-the-european-elections.html#)

• COVID
  • COVID in Spain doubles in fifteen days (https://www.elespanol.com/ciencia/salud/20240607/covid-espana-duplica-dias-no-visto-casos-primavera/860914274_0.html)

• Semi-public pharmaceutical company
  • The next steps of the semi-public pharmaceutical company: develop the strategic plan and select molecules. The company called Terafront Pharmatech will have initial capital of 74 million euros, half public capital and the rest private. According to Minister Morant, what is intended is that, being leaders in clinical trials, the patents do not end up being purchased by companies from abroad (https://www.elespanol.com/invertia/observatorios/sanidad/20240530/quieres-pasos-pharmaceutical-semipublic-elaborate-strategic-plan-select-molecules/859164388_0.html)

Companies

• International News
  • Sanofi is going ahead with the spin-off of the consumer division for 20,000 million euros (https://www.ft.com/content/455bf26e-1ad7-4f99-bdfb-11b696227fca)
  • Oral health: a burden of 710,000 million dollars worldwide (https://www.plantadoce.com/entorno/la-salud-bucodental-una-carga-economica-de-710000-millones-de-dolares-Worldwide)

• National
  • Wellder purchases four nursing homes (https://www.consalud.es/salud35/economia/wellder-compra-residencias-mayores-espana_144693_102.html)
  • Quirónsalud, HM, Vithas and SJD the kings of private hospitals in each province (https://www.plantadoce.com/empresa/quironsalud-hm-vithas-hla-y-sjd-los-reyes-de-los-private-hospitals-of-each-province)
  • Proclinicgroup acquires the Italian VS dental (https://www.expansion.com/empresas/2024/06/07/6662af9fe5fdeac02a8b456d.html)
  • Hospitén lays the first stone of its future university hospital in Madrid. The hospital will mean a total investment of 200 million euros, it will have 160 hospital beds, twelve ICU beds, twenty emergency beds and 22 for a day hospital. It will have 17 operating rooms. (https://hospiten.com/noticias/post/9368/hospiten-pone-la-primera-piedra-de-su-futuro-hospital-universitario-en-madrid)
  • Grupo 5 opens a new residence in Madrid for mental health patients (https://www.plantadoce.com/empresa/grupo-5-abre-una-nueva-residencia-en-madrid-para-pacientes-de-salud-mental#:~:text=PlantaTwelve-,Group%205%20opens%20a%20new%20residence%20in%20Madrid%20for%20patients, through%20of%20a%20transdisciplinary%20team.)
  • OHLA sells 25% of its hospital in Montreal to KKR for 55 million (https://www.expansion.com/empresas/inmobiliario/2024/06/05/665f90a7468aebcc6f8b4591.html)

 

 

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