7 days in healthcare (November 21st-27th, 2022)

 

Summary

Most notably from the Biomedicine standpoint, the FDA is approving a drug that could delay the onset of type 1 diabetes, the devastating disease that often occurs in adolescents. Also the preclinical study that seems to foreshadow a universal flu vaccine. Likewise, the minirobot designed by Apple capable of taking medicines to the brain, that organ until now practically inaccessible to drugs.

With regard to Global Health, the COP27 summit is considered in an article in The Lancet a “collective failure”, given the lack of agreement on the lower use of fossil fuels. We must also note the race for the production of vaccines in several African countries.

Regarding International Health Policy, mortality from covid remains high and is very worrying in some countries, mainly Japan, Brazil, India, China, the Russian Federation, South Korea and Spain. The covid-zero policy is generating problems and discontent in a country where public demonstrations are as controlled as in China. The nurses’ strike in the United Kingdom is a historic event in that country, which will undoubtedly will have consequences.

If we talk about National Health Policy (Spain), mortality from covid remains high in Spain (260 cases in the last week). At this time Spain has 0.6 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, a fairly high mortality, although lower than other European countries, such as France, Greece, Denmark, Norway, Croatia, Estonia and Luxembourg, according to WHO data. The waiting lists for June 30 are published by the Ministry of Health. A real national problem and a serious delegitimization of the public system, which some minimize. The strike of Primary Care doctors continues in Madrid, while the conflict threatens to spread to other autonomous communities. The rise in the electricity bill threatens the profitability of private hospitals, according to ASPE.

In the field of Companies, at the international level, Amazon is making a new foray into healthcare, this time with the “Amazon Clinic” platform, a telemedicine service that will be extended to 32 American states and offers virtual care for 20 clinical conditions. At the national level, news at HM Hospitales, with the new hospital in Rivas; in Recoletas, which extends to Salamanca; and, in Sanitas, which intends to create its own clinical analysis laboratory.

Biomedicine

• Possible advances in resistant tuberculosis treatment (https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(22)02161-4/fulltext)
• The FDA approves the first drug that can delay type 1 diabetes, which usually appears in adolescents. The new drug will be produced by Provention Bio, in collaboration with Sanofi and will be available by the end of the year (https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/18/health/fda-type-1-diabetes-delay.html )
• mRNA technology to enable a universal flu vaccine. The preclinical study, published in Science, uses a vaccine with 20 antigens (https://www.diariomedico.com/medicina/inmunologia/tecnologia-arn-para-hacer-posible-una-vacuna-universal-contra-la-gripe .html)
• An Apple team develops a mini-robot to be able to deliver medicines to the brain. Trials are beginning to treat a type of brain tumor and a rare childhood neurological disorder, but it could be useful in more frequent diseases: Parkinson’s, Huntington’s, Alzheimer’s and cerebrovascular accidents (https://www.ft.com/content/b0efda4e -acb2-4118-b7a9-1d6943a04a65?desktop=true&segmentId=7c8f09b9-9b61-4fbb-9430-9208a9e233c8#myft:notification:daily-email:content)

Global Health

• The COP27 summit: a “collective failure”, due to the lack of agreement on fossil fuels, article in The Lancet (https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(22)02407-2 /fulltext)
• Cirrhosis of the liver is growing, alcohol causes 50% of cases (https://www.consalud.es/pacientes/cirrosis-hepatica-crece-alcohol-causante_123049_102.html)
• The frantic race to produce vaccines on a large scale in Africa. Morocco, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa and Kenya have launched projects with the support of the African Union and Gavi (https://elpais.com/planeta-futuro/2022-11-22/la-carrera-frenetica-para- producing-vaccines-on-a-large-scale-in-africa.html)

International Health Policy

• COVID19
  • Fauci sees a reduced covid threat in the US this winter (https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/22/us/politics/fauci-covid-winter-surge.html)
  • Deaths from covid in the last seven days: Japan (813), Brazil (577), India (482), China (418), Russian Federation (403), South Korea (353), Spain (284), United Kingdom (205) (https://covid19.who.int/table)

• The crisis of the covid-zero policy in China
  • The lockdowns in China reach record numbers, while the incidence of covid rises (https://www.ft.com/content/f724e3ad-8cae-4f00-8ad2-aa8a5c035fe9)
  • There is no way to abandon the covid-zero policy (https://www.ft.com/content/929b69b4-7826-429d-9e1f-f178845fac8b)

• The crisis of the British National Health Service
  • The nurses, whose salary has dropped 20% since 2019, on strike for the first time on December 15 and 20. The strike supported by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) (https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/nov/25/nurses-across-uk-to-strike-for-first-time-on-15 -and-20-december)
  • The ambulance service in England, in total crisis. One in four 999 calls unanswered (https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/nov/23/ambulance-service-in-meltdown-as-one-in-four-999-calls-missed -in-october)

• The crisis of the healthcare system in France
  • Biology professionals, faced with the position of the government, which wants a lowering of fees (https://www.lemonde.fr/idees/article/2022/11/24/sante-les-professionnels-de-la -biologie-medicale-sont-en-etat-de-sideration-face-a-la-position-du-gouvernement_6151422_3232.html)

• European Union
  • The EMA launches the DARWIN project, the great health data center (https://diariofarma.com/2022/11/23/la-ema-selecciona-los-tres-primeros-socios-de-darwin)

• Mental health
  • Global recession in mental health. Many countries struggling with the rise of problems such as anxiety and depression (https://www.ft.com/content/d5dc1d64-1f7b-4776-89fa-cad55e4f87d2)

• Other themes
  • Faced with resistance to antibiotics, public research and production of antibiotics is imperative, forum in Le Monde (https://lemonde.fr/idees/article/2022/11/21/contre-la-resistance-aux- antibiotics-la-recherche-et-la-production-publiques-de-medicaments-s-imposing_6150833_3232.html)

National health policy

• COVID
  • The accumulated incidence remains at 181 points, still 3,779 patients admitted for covid, of which 216 in ICU beds. 260 deaths in a week (https://www.consalud.es/pacientes/especial-coronavirus/covid-19-espana-nuevos-casos-muertes-ia_123277_102.html)
  • Those admitted to ICUs due to covid skyrocket in Madrid (https://www.larazon.es/madrid/20221124/suzhiaf7lvhalcwmqu7ui7ixnq.html)
  • The fourth dose stagnates, less than half of those over 60 have received it (https://elpais.com/sociedad/2022-11-26/la-cuarta-dosis-de-la-vacuna-contra- covid-stagnants-less-than-half-of-those-over-60-has-received-it.html)

• Bronchiolitis
  • The explosion of cases of bronchiolitis fills pediatric ICUs (https://elpais.com/sociedad/2022-11-22/la-explosion-de-casos-de-bronquiolitis-en-bebes-llena-las-uci- pediatric-and-forces-hospitals-to-prepare-contingency-plans.html)

• Health professions
  • Family doctors, psychiatrists, radiologists, anesthetists, the most deficient specialties (https://www.epe.es/es/sanidad/20221124/especialidades-falta-medicos-extracomunitarios-78996614)
  • The Catalan Government will stabilize health workers in Catalonia (https://www.redaccionmedica.com/secciones/parlamentarios/-el-govern-estabilizara-a-40-000-trabajadores-de-la-sanidad-catalana–4067)

• Waiting lists
  • The new waiting list data is published as of June 30, 22 (https://www.sanidad.gob.es/estadEstudios/estadisticas/inforRecopilaciones/docs/LISTAS_PUBLICACION_jun2022.pdf)
  • New record of patients on the waiting list for surgery in Spain (https://www.larazon.es/sociedad/20221125/zha4fip3u5gavl64xykvs2ri4e.html)

• Tensions in the public health system in Madrid
  • Indefinite strike in Primary Care: more than 4,000 family doctors and 700 pediatricians (https://www.diariomedico.com/medicina/medicina-familiar/profesion/mas-de-4000-medicos-de-familia-y-700 -pediatricians-start-this-monday-an-indefinite-strike-in-madrid.html)
  • Primary Care in Madrid: up to 12 days to see a doctor and 13 to a nurse in 2021 (https://elpais.com/espana/madrid/2022-11-21/radiografia-del-caos-de-la- primary-care-of-madrid-up-12-days-to-see-the-doctor-and-13-for-the-nurse-in-2021.html)
  • The Labor Inspectorate asks the Ayuso government to reduce the overload of Primary Care doctors (https://www.eldiario.es/madrid/trabajo-pide-escrito-gobierno-ayuso-reduzca-sobrecarga-trabajo-medicos -primary-care_1_9745402.html)

• Tensions in primary care in Spain as a whole
  • Doctors of Catalonia announces a cycle of mobilizations (https://www.diariomedico.com/medicina/profesion/medicos-de-cataluna-anuncia-un-ciclo-de-mobilizaciones.html)
  • Doctors from Extremadura will also go on strike (https://www.diariomedico.com/medicina/medicina-familiar/politica/los-medicos-extremenos-tambien-iran-la-huelga-la-situacion-no-es- different-from-madrid.html)
  • The doctors of Andalusia propose the strike in January (https://www.elconfidencial.com/espana/andalucia/2022-11-25/el-contagio-sanitario-acecha-a-andalucia-los-medicos-de-primaria -propose-strike-in-january_3529695/)
  • Doctors can go on strike in another 7 communities (https://www.elespanol.com/espana/20221121/blancas-madrid-contagian-medicos-pueden-huelga-ccaa/719428502_0.html)

• Public healthcare
  • The AIRef proposes 40 measures to the government of Aragon to rationalize pharmaceutical spending (https://diariofarma.com/2022/11/22/la-airef-plantea-40-medidas-para-la-eficiencia-del-gasto- public-in-the-Aragonese-pharmacy)

• Private healthcare
  • The Government rules out that MUFACE requires more funds due to inflation (https://www.redaccionmedica.com/secciones/parlamentarios/el-gobierno-descarta-que-la-actual-inflacion-requiera-mas-gasto-para-muface -2824)
  • The electricity bill rises in private hospitals and the sector asks insurers for help (https://www.elespanol.com/invertia/observatorios/sanidad/20221125/factura-hospitales-privados-sube-sector-auxilio- insurers/720928179_0.html)
  • Private hospitals will lose 9% of their benefit due to the price of electricity (https://www.eleconomista.es/salud/noticias/12055064/11/22/Los-hospitales-privados-perderan-un-9- of-benefit-for-the-price-of-light.html)

• Other themes
  • Stagnant generic drugs, editorial of El País (https://elpais.com/opinion/2022-11-23/genericos-estancados.html)

Companies

• International News
  • Amazon makes a new attempt at healthcare. The offers of the big technological platforms are diversified: Apple tries to monitor through the iPhone; Microsoft, offers computer services to companies; Alphabet (Google), relies on wearables. Amazon launches the most ambitious offer, with “Amazon Clinic”, an online service that will operate in 32 American states and that offers virtual care for 20 clinical conditions, from acne to allergies (https://www.economist.com/ business/2022/11/20/amazon-makes-a-new-push-into-health-care)
  • The big pharma aims for 50,000 million dollars in medicines against obesity, a disease that affects 650 million people in the world, as demand grows. Lilly will submit a drug for authorization (https://www.ft.com/content/f28e8ca1-87a7-4c14-8b05-0ead0e831c0f)

• National News
  • Werfen strengthens itself in the USA with the purchase of Immucor for 2,000 million (https://www.lavanguardia.com/economia/20221104/8593491/werfen-compra-estadounidense-immucor-cerca-2-000-millones.html)
  • Recoletas enters Salamanca with the acquisition of two clinical centers (https://www.plantadoce.com/empresa/recoletas-entra-en-salamanca-con-la-adquisicion-de-dos-centros-clinicos.html)
  • HM Hospitales opens HM Rivas, after an investment of 38 million euros (https://www.plantadoce.com/empresa/hm-rivas-abre-sus-puertas-tras-una-inversion-de-38-millones- de-euros.html)
  • Asisa promotes its hearing health business with two new centers in Cádiz and Madrid (https://www.plantadoce.com/empresa/asisa-impulsa-su-negocio-de-salud-auditiva-con-nuevos-centros- in-cadiz-and-madrid.html)
  • Sanitas is going to create its own clinical analysis laboratory (https://cincodias.elpais.com/cincodias/2022/11/08/companias/1667903133_406431.html)
  • Sanofi will invest 15 million euros to improve its industrial center in Spain (https://www.diariomedico.com/farmacia/industria/empresas/sanofi-invertira-15-millones-de-euros-para-modernizar-su-centro -industrial-in-spain.html)
  • Layetana and PineBridge PE project five new senior living complexes in Spain (https://www.ejeprime.com/residencial/layetana-y-pinebrige-be-proyectan-cinco-nuevos-complejos-de-senior-living-en -espana.html)
  • Corus grows in Spain, with the acquisition of two centers in Seville and Madrid (https://www.plantadoce.com/empresa/corus-crece-en-espana-con-la-adquisicion-de-dos-laboratorios-en -seville-and-madrid.html)