7 days in healthcare (November 28th-December 4th, 2022

 

Summary

From the point of view of biomedicine, the most noteworthy are the debatable but hopeful advances in the treatment of Alzheimer’s, a disease whose treatment has been investigated for many years, without results. A coalition (CEPI) that brings together governments, philanthropic entities and companies, intends to develop future vaccines in 100 days, a third of the record time in which the covid vaccine was developed. The “express” radiotherapy, of milliseconds, a great promise.

As regards Global Health, numerous cases of malaria are detected in Haiti, which had been eradicated three years ago. A mosquito (Anopheles) until now located in Asia, is spreading through Africa, with the risk of increasing malaria, due to its character as a vector of the malaria parasite.

As for international health policy, the most notable is what is happening in China, where, as The Economist says, a health problem is turning into a serious political crisis. In the UK, a negative consequence of Brexit is that the shortage of doctors has worsened.

If we talk about national health policy (Spain), in terms of covid, the incidence is decreasing. What has not just been published is the announced report on the analysis of the management of the crisis. Now it is said that in April, but with the regional and municipal elections in May, we could doubt the date. Harsh criticism of Miguel Sebastián on data management during the pandemic. Serious medical conflict both in Madrid and in the rest of Spain. In addition to job insecurity and poor medical work conditions, there are serious service problems for the population with waiting lists and difficulties in accessing Primary Care. That is the underlying problem, which is very serious, unavoidable and in some cases legitimate political uses on the side. Neither do private doctors seem to be treated very well: low tariffs, which require intensive work, with very little time for patients, are also a problem.

In the field of companies, at the international level we are getting to know Amazon’s most recent commitment to telemedicine a little better, it seems that it focuses on processes that are not very complex and very frequent. It does not seem that he wants to enter the “core” of the difficult health provision. An Alphabet company (Google) advances the use of artificial intelligence for drug discovery. At the national level, it is worth noting the initiatives of ITA, a new unit for neurodevelopmental disorders in Madrid; CASER, with a new residence for the elderly in Majadahonda; and HM Hospitales, which intends to create its own University for doctors.

Biomedicine

• Some hope in the treatment of Alzheimer’s, with Lecanemab, jointly developed by Eisai from Japan and Biogen from the USA. For decades scientists have failed to alter the terrible evolution of this disease. The trial seems to show that removing beta-amyloid is effective (https://www.ft.com/content/bb3da3a0-56b4-4592-9410-5e89b451c5ce)
• An epidemic coalition (CEPI, a global alliance between governments, nonprofits and industry) aims to launch future vaccines in 100 days, a third of the time it took to produce the covid vaccine (https://www.ft .com/content/1a03fb0a-21aa-493f-bc75-0cc01f110db7)
• The future of monkeypox, although the number of cases is declining, the virus will be with us for the foreseeable future (https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2022/11/monkeypox-mpox- cases-us-outbreak/672277/)
• Nanotechnology: molecules that transport drugs against cancer, which would allow maintaining a therapeutic dose of the drug throughout the treatment (https://www.larazon.es/sociedad/20221202/5shm47cs3necpemw77gqbu3xba.html)
• Radiotherapy in milliseconds: “express” radiotherapy, as opposed to conventional radiotherapy, which takes between 5 and 7 minutes. A future is glimpsed with three types of radiotherapy: conventional, “express” and proton therapy (https://www.redaccionmedica.com/secciones/oncologia-medica/la-radioterapia-express-a-2-anos-vista-con- slight-adaptation-technological-8875)

Global Health

• Cholera in Haiti, which had no cholera cases in the last three years (https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(22)02482-5/fulltext?rss=yes)
• Anopheles in Africa, this mosquito was typical of Asia and the Arabian peninsula, but is now spreading to Africa and is a good vector for the spread of the malaria parasite (https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet /article/PIIS0140-6736(22)02483-7/fulltext)
• The possible end of HIV, we have the tools, do we have the will? (https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2799239)

International Health Policy

• COVID19
  • Reported deaths in the last 7 days: 6,971, of which 1,488 in the USA, 1,054 in Japan, 529 in Brazil, 454 in France, 378 in China (https://covid19.who.int/table)
  • The WHO estimates that 90% of the world has some resistance to covid (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/dec/03/who-estimates-90-of-world-have-some-resistance -to-covid)

• Monkeypox
  •  “mpox”, the new name for monkeypox proposed by the WHO, to avoid language stigmas (https://www.elmundo.es/ciencia-y-salud/salud/2022/11/28/6384a5be21efa03e508b45a2. html)

• The crisis of the covid-zero policy in China
  • How China lost the covid war, NYT op-ed (https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/28/opinion/china-covid-autocracy-democracy.html)
  • The covid-zero policy has turned a health crisis into a political crisis, The Economist editorial (https://www.economist.com/leaders/2022/12/01/xi-jinpings-zero-covid -policy-has-turned-a-health-crisis-into-a-political-one)
  • China continues to lift restrictions despite record number of cases (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/dec/03/china-continues-lifting-covid-restrictions-despite-near-record-case-numbers )

• The crisis of the British National Health Service
  • Brexit has worsened the shortage of doctors (https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/nov/27/brexit-worsened-shortage-nhs-doctors-eu)
  • One third of UK patients wait more than 30 minutes for an ambulance (https://www.ft.com/content/c72d95d3-4cb4-493f-9b72-82c7a8a57fbf)

• European Union
  • The EU proposes an increase in tobacco taxes and the creation of a fee for vaping, in an effort to reduce smoking (https://ft.com/content/6f1c4211-5e54-4aa8-a391-0ec9bc5244de

National Health Policy

• COVID
  • The incidence drops slightly to 165.38 (181.59 last week), 207 deaths, 3856 patients admitted for covid, of which 229 in ICU beds (https://www.consalud.es/pacientes/ special-coronavirus/covid-19-spain-notifies-19303-new-cases-207-deaths-ia-decreases-up to-165-points_123603_102.html)
  • No evaluation of the management of the pandemic until at least the end of April (https://www.larazon.es/sociedad/20221128/ept5o5ppkfaezppit2g6uvoqc4.html)
  • Miguel Sebastián: “The management of pandemic data has been disastrous” (https://www.larazon.es/sociedad/20221129/tagcga6mvjd6her3sjn6guhoze.html)

• Bronchiolitis
  • Far from the peak after two months of rising infections (https://www.elmundo.es/ciencia-y-salud/salud/2022/12/03/638a40bb21efa053748b45b8.html)

• Tensions in the public healthcare system in Madrid
  • The negotiation ends without an agreement: the Madrid Primary Care strike continues (https://www.vozpopuli.com/espana/termina-sin-acuerdo-negociacion-huelga-atencion-primaria-madrid.html)

• Tensions in primary care in Spain as a whole
  • Catalan doctors announce a strike on January 25 and 26 (https://elpais.com/espana/catalunya/2022-11-28/los-medicos-catalanas-anuncian-una-huelga-el-25-y- 26-January.html)
  • Aragon Primary Care doctors announce mobilizations and strike for January 23 and 34 (https://www.elmundo.es/ciencia-y-salud/salud/2022/11/30/63877b20fdddff162b8b4592.html)
  • The health strike extends to 6 communities (https://www.vozpopuli.com/espana/huelga-sanitaria-extienden-peninsula-al-menos-siete-ccaa-amenazas-protestas.html)
  • The map of medical strikes, only four communities (Galicia, La Rioja, Castilla y León and Castilla-La Mancha) are still on the sidelines (https://www.eldebate.com/sociedad/20221203/mapa-huelgas-medicos- spain-only-four-communities-follow-margin_77202.html)

• Public healthcare
  • The Darias plan for the active retirement of primary care physicians received with skepticism (https://www.elmundo.es/ciencia-y-salud/salud/2022/12/03/638a3ea5fdddff8c748b45b2.html)

• Private healthcare
  • Private health doctors complain about their rates and working conditions, which forces them to work piecework, interview with Ignacio Guerrero, from UNIPROMEL (https://www.alimente.elconfidencial.com/bienestar/2022-12- 03/medical-private-health-spiriman_3532677/)
  • The collapse of public health drags down the private one: waiting lists, up to a month and a half for an MRI (https://www.epe.es/es/sanidad/20221130/colapso-sanidad-publica-privada-listas- wait-79273587)

• Health professions
  • “The malaise of the doctors”, editorial of El País (https://elpais.com/opinion/2022-12-04/el-malestar-de-los-medicos.html)
  • The definitive lists for the MIR, EIR and FIR 2023 exams have been published (https://www.diariomedico.com/medicina/medico-joven/mir/examen-mir-eir-y-fir-2023-publicadas-las-listas -definitive.html)

• Pharmaceutical news
  • Health will explore provisional prices to speed up access to innovations (https://diariofarma.com/2022/11/30/sanidad-explorara-solapar-procesos-y-otorgar-precios-provisionales-para-acelerar-el- access-to-innovations)
  • The BOE publishes the reference price order for more than 17,000 medicines (https://www.boe.es/diario_boe/txt.php?id=BOE-A-2022-19679)

• Other themes
  • Carlos Mazón, from the PP of the Valencian Community, does not rule out putting public centers in the hands of private management (https://www.lavanguardia.com/local/valencia/20221201/8630417/carlos-mazon-descarta-volver-poner- public-health-centres-hands-private-management.html)
  • Medical teleconsultations are already imposed on face-to-face appointments in Spanish healthcare (https://www.eleconomista.es/salud/noticias/12065711/12/22/Las-teleconsultas-medicas-ya-se-imponen-a- face-to-face-appointments-in-spanish-health.html)

Companies

• International News
  • More is already being learned about Amazon’s new strategy: telemedicine for 20 conditions that are not complex and very frequent in principle: acne, birth control, colds, dandruff, eczema, eyelash growth, erectile dysfunction, genital herpes, reflux, hair loss in men, mobility problems, pink eye, smoking cessation, rosacea, seasonal allergies, sinusitis, urinary tract infection, yeast infection (https://www.theverge.com/2022/11/15/23459873/amazon- clinic-announcement-healthcare-telemedicine)
  • A DeepMind (from Alphabet, Google) spin-off called Isomorphic Labs continues efforts to apply Artificial Intelligence to the creation of new drugs (https://www.ft.com/content/92ea2434-8d91-49e3- 807d-3e425689e749)

• National News
  • Zurich chooses DKV to market health insurance (https://www.plantadoce.com/empresa/zurich-elige-a-dkv-para-comercializar-seguros-de-salud.html)
  • ITA sets up a unit for neurodevelopmental disorders in Madrid (https://www.plantadoce.com/empresa/ita-pone-en-marcha-una-unidad-de-trastornos-del-neurodesarrollo-en-madrid. html)
  • CASER opens a new residence for the elderly in Majadahonda (https://www.balancesociosanitario.com/actualidad/caser-residencial-abre-una-nueva-residencia-de-personas-mayores-en-majadahonda/)
  • HM will build its own Medical University (https://www.eleconomista.es/salud/noticias/12059830/11/22/HM-Hospitales-construira-su-propia-universidad-de-medicos.html)

This post is also available in: Spanish