7 days in healthcare (May 29th-June 4th, 2023)

 

Summary

From the point of view of Biomedicine, it is worth noting the death of the virologist Harald sur Hausen, whose name will not mean anything to many, but who 50 years ago discovered the relationship between papillomavirus and cervical cancer, initiating studies of the relationship between viruses and cancer. Reading the DNA of a large and highly varied number of primates allows us to better understand what a human person is and the origin of some diseases. An international consortium discovers that the nucleus of cells is metabolically active.

As regards Global Health, The Economist focuses on the decline in global fertility, due to a decrease in births, not an increase in deaths, a fact with great consequences in our societies. The WHO puts a target by means of cheap vaccines to the global vaccination against cervical cancer, which still produces a large number of deaths. The UN warns about the great sources of hunger in the world: Haiti, Mali, Burkina Faso and Sudan.

Regarding International Health Policy, Canada is preparing a regulation that will make it mandatory to carry warnings of negative health effects on each cigarette. The EU finalizes a regulation to remunerate plasma donations. The WHO celebrates the 76th World Assembly in Switzerland, in which several topics were discussed, among others, the next UN High-Level meeting on universal health coverage, to be held on September 23.

If we talk about National Health Policy (Spain), the call for early elections for July 23 paralyzes the processing of more than 60 laws in relation to health, including some as important as the Equity Law, the Framework Statute, the Law of the National Agency of Public Health or the Law of Guarantees and Rational Use of Medicines. In the Valencian Community, Mazón (the winning candidate of the PP in that Community and foreseeable new president) announces the freezing of the reversal process of the concessions of Manises, Denia and Elche, which had already started or were planned by the Ximo Puig government. He also doesn’t rule out launching new concessions. The Princess of Asturias Award for International Cooperation, awarded to the non-profit initiative Medicines for Neglected Diseases, which focuses not on rare diseases, but on highly prevalent diseases, especially in underdeveloped countries, such as Chagas disease, dengue fever, kala-azar or river blindness and which are considered to affect around 1,000-1,500 million people in those countries, without any research, industry or commercial effort commensurate with their importance.

In the field of Companies, internationally, China breaks the veto on Western vaccines and will allow Moderna to settle in that country. For its part, AstraZeneca defies geopolitical challenges and intends to grow in China. At the national level, Zurich joins forces with Google and DKV to launch digital health insurance. Quirónsalud intends to grow in telemedicine and closes a contract to serve university students.

Biomedicine

• Harald zur Hausen, the virologist who identified the relationship between papillomavirus and cervical cancer 50 years ago, dies (https://www.ft.com/content/eeb66a36-29e4-4a14-b7a4-0ca59214ad05?desktop=true&segmentId=7c8f09b9-9b61-4fbb-9430-9208a9e233c8#myft:notification:daily-email:content)
• Reading of primate DNA. The consortium has analyzed the DNA of more than 800 individuals from 233 species, including those closest to humans. This will allow us to analyze what a person is and delve into the origin of a multitude of diseases, such as cancer (https://elpais.com/ciencia/2023-06-01/la-lectura-del-adn-de-233-especies-of-primates-illuminates-what-is-a-person-and-how-human-diseases-arise.html). Access to the original article in the journal Science: http://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adi8248
• New evidence: the cell nucleus is indeed metabolically active. This breaks with the hitherto accepted idea that the nucleus was inert. It has been seen to be metabolically active and capable of protecting itself from DNA damage through a specific mitochondrial machinery (https://www.diariomedico.com/investigacion/nueva-evidencia-el-nucleo-de-las-celulas-si-is-metabolically-active.html)
• Vaping as a cure for smoking has brought its own diseases (https://www.ft.com/content/a6f63f08-6ea9-4dfe-9bd5-c82a802be3d6)

Global Health

• Global fertility has collapsed with profound economic consequences. Before the end of the century the world population will decrease for the first time since the Black Death. The cause is not the many deaths but the few births. Problems for pensions and the dynamism of societies (https://www.economist.com/leaders/2023/06/01/global-fertility-has-collapsed-with-profound-economic-consequences#)
• Preparing for the next pandemic will require a global agreement (https://www.ft.com/content/b498ab7e-46c5-4fbb-b052-898f30cf9915)
• Cheap vaccines can prevent millions of deaths from cervical cancer. The WHO has set a target of 90% vaccination by 2030 (https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2023/05/31/cheap-single-dose-hpv-vaccines-could-save-millions-of-lives?utm_medium=cpc.adword.pd&utm_source=google&ppccampaignID=18151738051&ppcadID=&utm_campaign=a.22brand_pmax&utm_content=conversion.direct-respons)
• Editorial of The Lancet: the need to end impunity in attacks on health facilities in wars (https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(23)01115-7/fulltext )
• Attacks on the healthcare system continue in Sudan (https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(23)01112-1/fulltext)
• Uganda passes harsh anti-gay law. The law even provides for the death penalty for high-risk homosexual practices (such as that which can transmit AIDS) and long prison sentences for other practices (https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2023/06/01/ugandas-harsh-anti-gay-bill-is-now-law)
• Hunger in the world: Haiti, Mali, Burkina Faso and Sudan, places of maximum alert, according to the UN (https://www.lemonde.fr/sante/article/2023/05/29/faim-dans-le-monde-haiti-le-mali-le-burkina-faso-et-le-soudan-places-en-alerte-maximale-par-l-onu_6175312_1651302.html)

International Health Policy

• USA
  • Concern in the USA about the number of suicides among the LGTBI community (https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/01/health/lgbtq-suicide-data.html)

• China
  • China goes from covid zero to zero restrictions, despite the growth of the new covid subvariant, called XBB (https://www.economist.com/china/2023/06/01/china-goes-from-zero-covid-to-zero-restrictions)
  • China investigates accusations that the virus escaped from a laboratory as the origin of the covid (https://www.ft.com/content/cd633f52-c2d2-4ee4-b940-d1bef6a5d910)

• United Kingdom and National Health Service
  • The productivity of the NHS is reduced, due to the difficulty of recruiting staff in relation to the increase in demand (https://www.ft.com/content/69ffd8e2-eb4a-4c01-98cb-436dbc8ddc5b)
  • The UK is falling behind in clinical trials (https://www.economist.com/britain/2023/06/01/britain-is-falling-behind-in-clinical-trials-of-medicines)

• France
  • Tobacco use is stable in France, one in four adults smokes daily (https://www.lemonde.fr/sante/article/2023/05/31/avec-un-adulte-sur-quatre-qui-smoke-quotidiennement-le-tabagisme-reste-stable-en-france_6175491_1651302.html#:~:text=Tabac-,Tabac%20%3A%20avec%20un%20adulte%20sur%20quatre%20qui%20fume%20quotidiennement%2C% twenty)

• Canada
  • Canada is going to require that a warning about the danger be printed on each cigarette, since it has been seen that young people start smoking when they receive the offer not of a pack, but of a cigarette (https://www.lemonde. fr/international/article/2023/05/31/le-canada-va-demiger-qu-un-avertissement-soit-imprime-sur-chaque-cigarette_6175630_3210.html)

• Finland
  • It is intended to reduce the waiting list for non-urgent primary care from three months to seven days (https://eurohealthobservatory.who.int/monitors/health-systems-monitor/updates/hspm/finland-2019/the-maximum-waiting-times-in-non-urgent-primary-health-care-to-be-gradually-reduced-from-three-months-to-seven-days)

• Greece
  • Promotion of hospitalization and home care (https://eurohealthobservatory.who.int/monitors/health-systems-monitor/updates/hspm/greece-2017/establishment-of-hospital-at-home-and-home-health-care)

• European Union
  • The EU finalizes a directive to remunerate plasma donations, a historic claim by Grifols (https://www.plantadoce.com/entorno/la-ue-ultima-la-directiva-para-remunerar-las-donaciones-de-represents-a-historical-claim-from-grifols.html#:~:text=2023%20—%2017%3A05-,The%20EU%20last%20the%20directive%20to%20remunerate%20the%20donations%20of,harmed)

• WHO
  • 76th World Assembly of the WHO, held in Switzerland from May 22 to 30, 2023. Among the topics discussed: WHO budget, refugees and migrants, global health workforce, Green Climate Fund, UN High-level meeting on universal health coverage (September 2023), global strategy on the control of infectious diseases (https://www.consalud.es/politica/asamblea-mundial-salud-estos-son-principales-acuerdos-han-llegado-estados_130480_102.html )

National health policy

• COVID
  • According to the last report of June 2, the cumulative incidence at 14 days stands at 97.97; There are 2,380 patients admitted, of whom 155 are in ICU beds. 62 deaths in the last 15 days (https://www.consalud.es/pacientes/especial-coronavirus/covid-19-espana-notifica-22328-nuevos-casos-62-muertes-ia-alcanza-9797-puntos_130650_102.html#)

• Health consequences of the electoral call for 23-J
  • More than 60 laws are “hanging” for the next legislature: Framework Statute, Public Health Agency, Equity Law, Law on Guarantees and Rational Use of Medicines and many others (https://www.diariomedico.com/politica/statute-framework-public-health-agency-these-are-the-laws-that-remain-hanging-for-the-next-legislature.html)

• Public healthcare
  • Mazón (candidate of the winning PP in the Valencian Community) will freeze the reversals of the Botànic in health and does not rule out new concessions. Turn in health policy in the Valencian Community. The processes of reversion to public management of the hospitals of Manises, Denia and Elche will be paralyzed (https://www.elconfidencial.com/espana/comunidad-valenciana/2023-06-02/mazon-sanidad-privatizaciones- generalitat_3657630/#:~:text=Turn%20in%20the%20sanitary%20politics,in%20hands%20of%20private%20companies.)

• Tobacco
  • Tobacco, the cause of more than 55,000 deaths a year in Spain (https://medicinaresponsable.com/actualidad-sanitaria/dia-mundial-sin-tabaco)

• Award for an initiative on neglected diseases
  • Medicines for Neglected Diseases, Princess of Asturias Award for International Cooperation. This non-profit organization was founded in 2003 and its objective is to develop treatments for neglected or neglected diseases, such as Chagas disease, dengue fever, kala-azar or river blindness, which affect between 1,000 and 1,500 million people in the world, neglected by research, industry and commercial development (https://diariofarma.com/2023/06/02/enfermedades-desatendidas-premio-princesa-de-asturias-de-cooperacion-internacional#:~:text=The%20organization%20Initiative%20Medications%20for,Asturias%20of%20International%20Cooperation%202023.)

Companies

• International News
  • China breaks the ban on Western vaccines and allows Moderna to settle in Shanghai (https://theobjective.com/economia/2023-06-01/moderna-install-china-shanghai-vacuna-covid/#:~:text= The%20American%20pharmaceutical%20Modern%20se,weekly%20in%20the%20giant%20Asian.)
  • Lilly will pay 13.5 million dollars to end the lawsuit over the price of insulin (https://www.plantadoce.com/empresa/eli-lilly-paga-125-millones-de-euros-para-poner-end-lawsuits-over-the-price-of-insulin.html#:~:text=Eli%20Lilly%20willpay%2012%2C5,for%20the%20next%20four%20years.)
  • The Genesis Care group files for bankruptcy in the United States (https://cincodias.elpais.com/companias/2023-06-01/el-grupo-genesiscare-se-acoge-a-la-ley-bankruptcy-in-united-states.html#)
  • AstraZeneca defies geopolitics and intends to grow in China (https://www.ft.com/content/4f9c5b6a-203a-49ed-8be7-2fd41de1fcd7?desktop=true&segmentId=7c8f09b9-9b61-4fbb-9430-9208a9e233c8#myft:notification:daily-email:content)

• National News
  • Zurich allies with DKV and Google to launch its first digital health insurance (https://www.plantadoce.com/empresa/zurich-se-alia-con-dkv-y-google-para-lanzar-su-primer-digital-health-insurance.html)
  • Miura Partners puts Terrats up for sale for more than 200 million euros (https://www.plantadoce.com/empresa/miura-partners-pone-en-venta-terrats-medical-por-mas-de-200-millones-de-euros.html)
  • Quirónsalud launches to grow in telemedicine and closes a contract for 11,000 university students (https://cincodias.elpais.com/companias/2023-05-29/quironsalud-se-lanza-a-crecer-en-telemedicina-y-closes-a-contract-for-11000-university-students.html)
  • The Clinic of Navarra will grow by 6% with the pull of Madrid (https://www.expansion.com/empresas/2023/06/03/647a53c6468aeb5b4a8b468e.html#)