7 days in healthcare (May 13th-19th, 2024)

 

Summary

Biomedicine

• Other uses of weight loss drugs: Weight loss drugs can reduce heart attacks by 20%, in what could be the biggest advance in this disease since statins.
• Possible cheaper MRI equipment: A cheaper MRI machine can democratize access. MRIs have meant a spectacular advance in medicine by allowing images of soft tissues. But they are expensive and complex machines. The new devices allow us to spend a fraction of the energy and produce almost no noise. The development is by a team from the University of Hong Kong.
• A revolutionary vaccine to combat HIV: This disease until now was refractory to the development of a vaccine for it. However, four publications in Science lay the foundations for developing formulas that allow obtaining antibodies against the virus.

Global Health

• New covid variants: New covid variants (FLIRT) activate fear of an increase in cases in summer. The new variants of covid are spreading throughout the world. KP2, one of the variants, already represents 28.2% of cases in the USA. The WHO has said that FLIRT variants have already been found in 14 European countries, as well as Israel.
• New version of the Global Burden of Disease (GBD): The publication in The Lancet of the GBD 2021 Causes of Death Collaborators analyzes the global burden of the disease and life expectancy. 288 causes of death and life expectancy in 204 countries are studied and territories for the period 1990-2021. Globally, life expectancy increased between 1990 and 2019, which has been interrupted by the pandemic.
• New effort in vaccine research: Given the proliferation of vaccines against different diseases, the idea is to move from monopathogenic formulations, difficult to administer by any health system, to combinations against different diseases. A research effort is proposed in this field.

International health policy

• Fall in overdose deaths in the USA: Overdose deaths fell in the USA in 2023 for the first time in the last 5 years, which is basically attributed to the decrease in deaths from synthetic opioids, mainly fentanyl, although deaths by stimulants, such as cocaine and methamphetamine, increased.
• The Nuffield Trust (a major British health think tank) analyzes the changes in the NHS as a result of the increase in private activity: How private healthcare has changed British healthcare. In real terms, trusts (hospitals) spent £1.6bn in 2019/20; but this has risen to 3.12 billion in 2022/2023. Since Covid there has been a substantial increase in spending on the NHS purchasing private care.
• Important hospital reform in Germany: Bankrupt hospitals in Germany approve a broad reform, which consists of the closure of part of the 1,700 hospitals, the most important reform in the last 20 years. Social Democratic German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said there were too many hospitals and that Germany has neither the financial means nor the medical or nursing staff for that number. Its application will take about ten years and a transformation fund of 50,000 million euros has been allocated to implement it, half of which is borne by the federated states and the other half by the federal government.
• Problems of private health insurers in Latin America: Both the ISAPRES in Chile (Boric government) and the EPS in Colombia (Petro government) are suffering very serious problems, which threaten their continuity.

National Health Policy (Spain)

• The government proposes changes in private healthcare and its collaboration with the public system: The Ministry of Health puts out the draft Law on Public Management and Integrity of the SNS for public consultation. According to the text made public and the minister’s statements, the law proposes, among other things, to repeal Law 15/1997 (which established the framework for the participation of different forms of public and private management in the provision of public service and which was approved by broad consensus), as well as establish discrimination between private companies with business benefit and charitable companies. It is more than doubtful that this law will be approved, given the situation of the legislature, and, even in the highly unlikely event that it were approved, that it will have a significant impact, since the management of health services is transferred. However, it seems that modifying the MUFACE model is not on the government’s agenda.
• In Madrid, the white tides return: This Sunday the white tides returned to Madrid, this time with the presence of the Minister of Health, in what seems a gesture difficult to understand from an institutional point of view, given that the demonstration was clearly directed against the Community of Madrid, in which there are many healthcare problems but which, however, has one of the lowest waiting lists in the country.

Companies

• International
  • Takeda and the Alzheimer’s vaccine: Takeda reaches a $2 billion agreement to develop a vaccine against Alzheimer’s, by the Swiss start-up AC Inmune.
  • The WHO supports Takeda’s dengue vaccine: It does so at a time when several Latin American countries are suffering the worst dengue epidemic in their history. The vaccine is aimed at minors between 6 and 16 years old.

• National
  • Vithas reaches one million digital patients: They access their private health area through the app or the website.
  • Esteve grows: Esteve grows by double digits in 2023, up to 710 million euros.
  • Sanofi announces layoffs in Barcelona: The pharmaceutical company Sanofi announces a collective layoff of 89 people, the majority from its Barcelona center.

Biomedicine

• Weight loss drugs can reduce heart attacks by 20%, in what could be the biggest advance in this disease since statins (https://www.theguardian.com/science/article/2024/may/14/weight-loss-drug-semaglutide-reduce-heart-attack-risk-study#:~:text=It%20found%20that%20participants%20taking,death%20due%20to%20cardiovascular%20disease.)
• A cheaper MRI machine can democratize access. MRIs have meant a spectacular advance in medicine by allowing images of soft tissues. But they are expensive and complex machines. The new devices allow us to spend a fraction of the energy and produce almost no noise. The development is by a team from the University of Hong Kong (https://elpais.com/salud-y-bienestar/2024-05-13/una-maquina-para-zando-resonancias-mas-baratas-may-democratizar-your-access.html#). Access to the original article in Science: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adm7168
• A revolutionary vaccine to combat HIV. Until now, this disease was refractory to the development of a vaccine for it. However, four publications in Science lay the foundations for developing formulas that allow obtaining antibodies against the virus (https://www.elmundo.es/ciencia-y-salud/salud/2024/05/16/66462adbe9cf4a6c678b458b.html)
• Spanish researchers discover for the first time in the world dozens of human cases of hepatitis in rats (https://elpais.com/sociedad/2024-05-13/investigadores-espanoles-descubren-por-primera-vez-en-the-world-dozens-of-human-cases-of-rat-hepatitis.html)

Global Health

• New covid variants (FLIRT) activate fear of an increase in cases in summer. The new variants of covid are spreading throughout the world. KP2, one of the variants, already represents 28.2% of cases in the USA. The WHO has said that FLIRT variants have already been found in 14 European countries, as well as in Israel (https://www.ft.com/content/1db295dc-a6d6-434f-af4e-ff91352b0f37)
• Publication in The Lancet of GBD 2021 Causes of Death Collaborators: The global burden of the disease and life expectancy. 288 causes of death and life expectancy are analyzed in 204 countries and territories for the period 1990-2021. Globally, life expectancy increased between 1990 and 2019, which has been interrupted by the pandemic (https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)00367-2/fulltext)
• The Lancet Commentary: Rethinking health policy in view of life expectancy and mortality according to the work of GBD in an era of polycrises: covid, geopolitical crises and climate change (https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)00754-2/abstract?rss=yes)
• The global weight of the disease on the 2050 horizon. Life expectancy will increase between 2022 and 2050, although at a lower rate than in the three decades before covid. Growth will be greatest in regions, such as sub-Saharan Africa, with lower life expectancy. This will produce a convergence in life expectancy between now and 2050 (https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)00685-8/fulltext)
• Commentary in The Lancet: forecasts of the global burden of disease in 2050. 5 scenarios are defined. The authors predict a continuing shift in the global burden of disease from communicable, maternal, neonatal and nutritional diseases, towards non-communicable diseases (https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)00932-2/abstract)
• Inflation and health, a global vision. A study suggests a negative effect of inflation on health, with some socioeconomic groups at higher risk (https://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X(24)00133-5/fulltext)
• Facilitating the development of urgently needed vaccines. Given the proliferation of vaccines against different diseases, the idea is to move from monopathogenic formulations, difficult to administer by any health system, to combinations against different diseases. A research effort is proposed in this field (https://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X(24)00092-5/fulltext)
• 50 years of the immunization expansion plan. This program began in 1974 and consisted of a recommendation to Member States to develop immunization programs against diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, measles, poliomyelitis, tuberculosis and smallpox. 50 years later, every country has an immunization program. Despite everything, there are still many challenges (https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)01016-X/abstract)
• The rise of resistant superbugs may make the Covid pandemic seem minor (https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/article/2024/may/13/superbugs-antibiotics-drugs-antimicrobial-resistance-infections-pandemics-sally-davies)
• Ending plastic pollution. Plastic has brought great advantages for humanity and, specifically, for medicine, but the great pollution requires a global response, through ongoing negotiations (https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)01018-3/fulltext?rss=yes)
• Polio eradication has failed: 3,300 children affected in the last 8 years (https://www.consalud.es/pacientes/infecciosas/erradicacion-polio-ha-fracasado-3300-ninos-afectados-en-ultimos-eight-years_143778_102.html#)

International health policy

• USA
  • Overdose deaths fell in the USA in 2023 for the first time in the last 5 years, which is basically attributed to the decrease in deaths from synthetic opioids, mainly fentanyl, although deaths from stimulants such as cocaine and methamphetamine increased ( https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/15/health/drug-overdose-deaths.html)
  • CDC warns of resurgence of Mpox (https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/16/health/cdc-mpox-congo.html)

• United Kingdom and the National Health Service
  • Analysis of the Nuffield Trust: How private healthcare has changed British healthcare. In real terms, trusts (hospitals) spent £1.6bn in 2019/20; but this has risen to 3.12 billion in 2022/2023. Since Covid there has been a substantial increase in spending on the NHS purchasing private care ( https://www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/news-item/how-has-the-role-of-the-private-sector-changed-in-uk-health-care)
  • Patients shift to paying out of pocket for healthcare in all four UK countries. Since the pandemic there has been a 30% increase in the number of people paying out of pocket for private healthcare services (https://www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/news-item/patients-drift-towards-paying-for-hospital-care-out-of-their-own-pocket-across-all-four-uk-countries#:~:text=Topics%20sub%20menu-,Patients%20drift%20towards%20paying%20for%20hospital%20care%20out%20of%20their,acr)
  • Children with severe obesity may have half the life expectancy (https://www.theguardian.com/society/article/2024/may/15/young-children-with-persistent-severe-obesity-could-have-half-average-life-expectancy-study-finds#:~:text=Children%20who%20are%20severely%20obese,healthy%20weight%20in%20the%20UK.)
  • Heart patients forced to wait more than a year on NHS England (https://www.theguardian.com/society/article/2024/may/19/heart-patients-wait-year-treatment-england-disease-waiting-lists)

• France
  • The fight against drug trafficking must be a national priority (https://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2024/05/14/la-lutte-contre-le-narcotrafic-doit-etre-une-priorite-nationale_6233144_3224.html#:~:text=Jérôme%20Durain%20et%20Etienne%20Blanc,de%20trouver%20des%20réponses%20adaptées.)
  • Towards a consultation from general practitioners for 30 euros (https://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2024/05/18/sante-les-medecins-liberaux-se-rapprochent-d-un-accord-avec-l-assurance-maladie_6233960_3224.html)

• Germany
  • Bankrupt hospitals in Germany approve a broad reform, which consists of the closure of part of the 1,700 hospitals, the most important reform in the last 20 years. Social Democratic German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said there were too many hospitals and that Germany has neither the financial means nor the medical or nursing staff for that number. Its application will take about ten years and to carry it out a transformation fund of 50,000 million euros has been allocated, half of which will be borne by the federated states and the other half by the federal government (https://elpais.com/society/2024-05-16/hospitals-in-bankruptcy-germany-approves-a-broad-reform-to-fight-against-its-precarious-situation.html)

• Ireland
  • Ireland wants to ban the sale of tobacco to those under 21 years of age. Currently the sale of tobacco is prohibited to minors under 18 years of age in the EU, but Ireland intends to raise this age (https://www.elmundo.es/ciencia-y-salud/salud/2024/05/14/664377e5e9cf4ae3578b458c.html#)

• Chili
  • A controversial law is approved that rescues private health insurers. Through this law, insurers are rescued so that they can pay a debt with their affiliates since 2019 (https://www.abc.es/salud/gabriel-boric-aplaude-polemica-ley-rescata-aseguradoras-20240514230007-vi.html)

• India
  • The contrast of visions of healthcare in the Indian elections (https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)01017-1/abstract)

• European Union
  • Deaths related to heat waves have grown by 9% in Europe (https://www.elmundo.es/ciencia-y-salud/salud/2024/05/13/664217e421efa0102f8b457f.html#)

National health policy

• Central government initiatives
  • Health puts out the draft Law on Public Management and Integrity of the SNS for public consultation. According to the text made public and the statements of the minister, the law proposes, among other things, to repeat law 15/1997, as well as establish discrimination between private companies with business benefit and charitable companies (https://www.consalud.es/politica/ministerio-sanidad/ministerio-sanidad-ley-gestion-publica-sanidad-privada_143738_102.html)
  • The government approves the bill to guarantee the universality of public healthcare (https://elpais.com/sociedad/2024-05-14/el-gobierno-aprob-el-proyecto-de-ley-que-garantiza-the-universality-of-public-health.html)
  • The Ministry of Health hopes that the State Public Health Agency will be approved by the summer, so that it will be operational in 2025 (https://elglobal.es/politica/sanidad-espera-que-la-agencia-estatal-de-public-health-is-approved-in-summer-so-it-is-in-run-in-2025/)
  • The Ministry of Health does not foresee changes in MUFACE, since, despite the draft Law on Public Management and Integrity of the SNS, changes in this model are not on the Ministry’s agenda (https://www.consalud.es/politica/ministry-health/muface-se-da-como-esta-sanidad-no-preve-cambios_143935_102.html)
  • The government approves the budget of 28 million euros for the healthcare Data Lake (https://www.redaccionmedica.com/secciones/sanidad-hoy/el-gobierno-aprob-28-millones-de-euros-para-el -data-lake-sanitario-4462#:~:text=The%20Council%20of%20Ministros%20has,known%20as%20Data%20Lake%20sanitario.)
  • Health intends to start financing glasses and contact lenses from 2025 (https://www.eleconomista.es/salud/noticias/12813365/05/24/sanidad-pretende-comenzar-a-finar-gafas-y-lentillas-asof2025.html#:~:text=Health%20intends%20start%20to%20finance%20glasses%20and%20lenses%20to%20start%20from%202025,-The%20goal%2)

• Initiatives and news from the autonomous communities
  • Madrid: the white tides return, this time with the assistance of the minister (https://www.diariomedico.com/medicina/profesion/ministra-participa-manifestacion-madrid-defensa-sanidad-publica.html)
  • Catalonia: new agreement for the 25,000 private healthcare employees (https://www.diariomedico.com/medicina/profesion/cataluna-nuevo-convenio-25000-employees-sanidad-privada.html)

• Hours of work lost due to medical leave
  • Lost working hours double in Spain in 10 years. One and a half million people do not appear at their workplace for a single day (https://theobjective.com/economia/2024-05-17/espana-numero-horas-perdidas-trabajo-bajas/#)
  • The cost of sick leave skyrockets: 74% since 2018: there are more processes and they last longer due to healthcare saturation (https://www.elmundo.es/economia/2024/05/16/66461f19fdddffe82a8b459f.html)

• Health professions
  • Flight of doctors: 1,200 doctors have left Spain in just three years (https://theobjective.com/sanidad/2024-05-16/fuga-medicos-espanoles-extranjero/)

• Heat deaths
  • Spain is the European country with the most deaths from heat in this century (https://www.elmundo.es/ciencia-y-salud/salud/2024/05/13/66414ac1fdddffc84f8b45a5.html#)

• Palliative care
  • Spain ranks 31 out of 50 in palliative care, according to the Palliative Care Atlas of Europe. Every year about 80,000 patients die without this care (https://www.eldebate.com/sociedad/20240513/espana-trabajo-puesto-31-50-cuidados-paliativos-ano-mueren-80000-pacientes-esta-atencion_195271.html#:~:text=According to%20figures%20of%20Atlas%20of,in%20this%20type%20of%20services.)

• Health technology
  • FENIN announces that it will bring to the Government a strategic plan on health technology (https://www.redaccionmedica.com/secciones/tecnologia/-fenin-llevara-al-gobierno-un-plan-estrategico-de-la- health-technology –7617)

Companies

• International News
  • Takeda reaches a $2 billion agreement to develop a vaccine against Alzheimer’s, by the Swiss start-up AC Inmune (https://www.ft.com/content/a7cb45a5-c2d7-4d7f-81f4-e4922d79b6c7)
  • Pfizer offers up to $250 million in connection with Zantac lawsuits (https://www.ft.com/content/9f59da60-4441-42c4-b84c-6de0c3931d08)
  • Moderna wins the lawsuit filed against Pfizer and BioNTech in relation to the patent dispute over covid vaccines (https://www.ft.com/content/50c5078c-c9f0-4b35-b916-3475b641c773)
  • GSK sells what was left of Haleon (https://www.ft.com/content/557b7f43-da17-46b6-aa1c-740c1859fa96)
  • WHO endorses Takeda’s dengue vaccine. It does so at a time when several Latin American countries are suffering the worst dengue epidemic in their history. The vaccine is aimed at minors between 6 and 16 years old (https://www.diariomedico.com/medicina/enfermedades-infecciosas/oms-respalda-vacuna-dengue-takeda.html)
  • Johnson&Johnson will buy Proteology for 850 million dollars (https://www.plantadoce.com/empresa/johnsonjohnson-comprara-proteologix-por-850-millones-de-dolares#:~:text=va%20de%20compras.-The%20American%20pharmaceutical%20has%20announced%20this%20Friday%20that%20it would acquire%20the,atopic%20dermatitis%20and%20the%20asm)

• National
  • Rovi and Insud Pharma must disburse the 38.1 million for the semi-public pharmaceutical company (https://www.elespanol.com/invertia/observatorios/sanidad/20240517/rovi-insud-pharma-deberan-desembolsar-millones-farmaceutica-semipublica-ano/855664556_0.html#:~:text=The%20pharmaceutical%20semi-public%20Terafront%20Pharmatech,the%20disbursement%20this%20same%)
  • Barcelona’s Esperanza and Plato hospitals will close in August to save costs (https://elpais.com/espana/catalunya/2024-05-18/los-hospitales-barceloneses-de-lesperanca-y-plato-cerraran-in-august-to-save.html)
  • Vithas reaches one million digital patients (https://www.redaccionmedica.com/secciones/privada/vithas-alcanza-un-millon-de-pacientes-digitales-en-su-aplicacion-movil-7893#:~:text=The%20bet%20of%20Vithas%20by,the%20user%20digital%201,000,000.)
  • Uriach buys the German family company Pascoe, its first operation after the entry of ICG (https://www.plantadoce.com/empresa/uriach-compra-la-compania-familiar-alemana-pascoe-su-primera-operacion-after-the-entry-of-icg#:~:text=Uriach%20grows%20in%20Germany.,and%20as%20has%20advanced%20Expansion.)
  • Esteve grows by double digits in 2023, up to 710 million euros (https://www.plantadoce.com/empresa/esteve-crece-a-doble-digito-en-2023-hasta-710-millones-de-euros#:~:text=Grifols%20Sanofi-,Esteve%20grow%20a%20double%20digit%20in%202023%2C%20upto%20710%20million,manufacturing%20a%20third parties%20(Cdmo).)
  • Cofares recorded record sales in 2023 and a gross profit of 12.1 million euros (https://forbes.es/empresas/460262/cofares-registro-ventas-record-en-2023-y-un-beneficio-bruto-of-121-million/)
  • The pharmaceutical company Sanofi announces a collective dismissal of 89 people, the majority from its Barcelona center (https://elpais.com/economia/2024-05-17/la-farmaceutica-sanofi-anuncia-un-despido-colectivo-for-89-people-the-majority-of-its-center-in-barcelona.html#:~:text=The%20pharmaceutical%20Sanofi%2C%20a%20multinational,they work%20in%20the%20Catalan capital%20.)
  • Atryx Health is heading for its biggest rise in the stock market since the pandemic (https://www.expansion.com/mercados/2024/05/13/6641de12468aeb5b778b45b9.html)