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

Global Health

International Health Policy

National Health Policy

Companies

This post is also available in: Spanish