7 days in healthcare (November 7th-13th, 2022)
Summary
From the point of view of biomedicine, to highlight the blood transfusion with cells generated in the laboratory from donor stem cells, carried out in the United Kingdom, which opens up possibilities for what has been pursued for years: the so-called “artificial blood”. Likewise, two advances that originate in Spain: the discovery of a genetic variant that favors thinness (CNIO) and the fact that malignant cells break off from cancer and cause deaths by metastasis (Institute of Medical Research of Barcelona).
As regards Global Health, Nature insists in an editorial, following the COP27 meeting, that rich countries must advance compensation for polluting. Important challenges for the new Brazilian President in health matters, particularly in primary care.
Regarding International Health Policy, debate on the covid-zero policy in China, on the one hand, there seem to be signs that China is easing quarantines, on the other hand, according to José Luis Puerta in an article, this policy is a death trap , since its abandonment may mean assuming a high number of deaths, given the low percentage of vaccination in China. In the United Kingdom (NHS) a nurses’ strike for salary demands is raised for the first time, which. according to the Government, they are unaffordable.
If we talk about National Health Policy (Spain), it seems that the crisis of Primary Care, long incubated, has exploded. Although the problems of low wages, poor working conditions for doctors and flight or refusal to go to Primary Care is a national problem, the crisis has broken out above all, although not only, in Madrid, which has some peculiarities that aggravate the situation: 1. the closure of out-of-hospital emergencies for two years; 2. the low funding of the health system in Madrid and of Primary Care; and, 3. some confrontation practice. The truth is that the “white tide” has been activated, with a large demonstration in defense of public healthcare in the center of Madrid, which was a great success for the organizers. As always in these cases, the defense of public healthcare is mixed with the rejection of any form of public/private collaboration. Tensions in primary care also in the rest of Spain. Highly recommendable is the video on YouTube entitled “Doctors are lacking in Spain”?
In the field of companies, at the international level Bavarian Nordic increases its growth due to the monkeypox vaccine, while BioNTech’s revenues fall, due to the drop in sales of the covid vaccine. In Spain, changes in the CEO of Quirón, to whom Víctor Madera, the company’s founder, returns to executive positions. Success for Ribera, which is awarded an important contract for a hospital concession in Cascais (Portugal). New delays in the approval by the EMA of the HIPRA vaccine.
Biomedicine
- Infused into people with laboratory-generated blood cells. The event took place on November 7, by a consortium of the NHS Blood and Transplant and the University of Bristol. They transfused two healthy volunteers with blood cells that had been grown in a laboratory from stem cells donated by others (https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2022/11/09/blood-cells-made-in -a-lab-have-been-infused-into-people)
- The polypill: from concept to implementation. In an article in “The Lancet” it is said that there are 18 million deaths from cardiovascular disease. A 50% use of the polypill could prevent 2 million deaths (https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(22)01847-5/fulltext)
- They use CRISPR genetic editing technology as “autoimmunotherapy” to fight cancer (https://www.elmundo.es/ciencia-y-salud/salud/2022/11/10/636d02ce21efa098588b458f.html)
- CNIO researchers in a paper published in “Genome Biology” report the discovery of a genetic variant that predisposes to thinness and is carried by 60% of Europeans. An advance in the understanding of the genetic factors of obesity (https://www.cnio.es/noticias/hallada-una-variante-genetica-que-predispone-a-la-delgadez-y-que-porta-el -60-of-the-Europeans/)
- Discovered the malignant cells that break off from the cancer and cause deaths by metastasis. The research was led by biologist Eduard Batlle, from the Barcelona Biomedical Research Institute, and was published in “Nature” (https://elpais.com/ciencia/2022-11-09/descubiertas-las-celulas-malignas-que -detach-the-cancer-and-cause-deaths-by-metastasis.html)
Global Health
- COP27: rich countries must advance compensation for polluting. So far they have refused, fearing costly claims. Article in “Nature” (https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-03596-6)
- Health literacy, necessary to prevent disease and navigate the healthcare system, is failing. Recognized as a critical determinant of health in the 2016 Shanghai WHO statement (https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(22)02301-7/fulltext)
- The new Brazilian president will have to face serious problems in the Brazilian health system, particularly in primary care (https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(22)02299-1/fulltext )
International health policy
- COVID-19
- China eases quarantine rules, with Guangzhou close to lockdown. There is speculation that Beijing is considering a relaxation of the covid-zero policy (https://www.ft.com/content/709e95e6-cc63-4fe0-9c4a-5683c87f7e7b)
- Interesting article by José Luis Puerta: “China: the deadly trap of the covid-zero policy”. If the government lifts the restrictions, which are sinking the economy, the country risks suffering a tsunami of infections, due to the low level of vaccination. It is estimated that this could cause 1.6 million deaths and a demand for intensive care that exceeds its current capacity by 15.6 times (https://theobjective.com/internacional/2022-11-12/china-covid-zero/ )
- The crisis of the British National Health Service
- Nurses in the UK strike for the first time over pay issues (https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/nov/09/nurses-in-uk-vote-to-go-on- strike-for-first-time-in-dispute-over-pay)
- UK Health Secretary says pay demands for nurses are neither reasonable nor achievable (https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/nov/12/uk-health-secretary-says-nurses-pay -demands-not-reasonable-or-affordable)
- The crisis of the health system in France
- Private laboratories on strike from November 14, in protest at the new conditions imposed by the Social Security financing law (https://www.lemonde.fr/sante/article/2022/11/08 /les-biologistes-liberaux-appellent-a-la-greve-a-partir-du-14-novembre_6148884_1651302.html)
- Other themes
- Apart from covid and seasonal flu, pharmacies will be able to administer a dozen vaccines in France. It will be by medical prescription and the administration will be paid between 6.30 and 7.50 euros (https://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2022/11/07/outre-le-covid-19-et-la -grippe-saisonniere-les-pharmaciens-peuvent-desormais-administrer-une-dizaine-de-vaccins_6148817_3224.html)
- Artificial intelligence gives insurers powers that previously only God had, such as predicting senile dementia. New approaches by a Japanese insurer (https://www.ft.com/content/a3372e1a-d43c-403e-97e5-449b50d51b87)
National health policy
- COVID
- Low transmission of covid in Spain for the second consecutive week. 172 cases per 100,000 inhabitants over 59 years of age. Hospital pressure remains low (https://www.diariomedico.com/politica/baja-la-transmision-de-la-covid-19-en-espana-por-segunda-semana-consecutiva.html)
- Health professions
- More than 12,000 doctors opt for 8,550 MIR vacancies (https://www.lavanguardia.com/vida/20221109/8599968/mas-12-000-medicos-optan-8-550-plazas-mir.html)
- Why doctors don’t want more doctors. The opinion of the professional associations is that we do not need more doctors, that we have an excess and above the EU average, but specific specialists in some geographical areas. Some time ago they were pediatricians, now they are anesthesiologists or primary care doctors and soon they will be geriatricians (https://www.elconfidencial.com/espana/2022-11-11/por-que-medicos-no-quieren-mas-medicos_3520942 /)
- A legal limbo allows hiring thousands of foreign doctors without approval. These are non-EU doctors, with an approved degree, but without an accredited specialty. They are mainly from Venezuela, Cuba and Colombia (https://theobjective.com/espana/2022-11-07/medicos-extranjeros-especialidad/)
- Interesting video on YouTube entitled “Doctors are lacking in Spain?” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OfjnHxv8kc)
- Tensions in the public healthcare system in Madrid
- The out-of-hospital emergency crisis in Madrid explodes: no other community had closed out-of-hospital emergencies for two years (https://elpais.com/sociedad/2022-11-10/por-que-ha-explotado-la-crisis -in-the-ambulatory-emergencies-of-madrid-and-what-happens-in-the-rest-of-spain.html)
- 12% of the available doctors have already left the PACs. The number of doctors who have already given up their positions is estimated at 28 (https://www.diariomedico.com/medicina/medicina-familiar/profesion/el-12-de-los-medicos-disponibles-en-los- pac-de-madrid-has-already-resigned-his-post.html)
- Primary care doctors will go on strike starting November 21, called by the Amyts union (https://www.vozpopuli.com/espana/mas-presion-sanitarios-madrid-medicos-familia-y-pediatras- iran-strike-21-november.html)
- The President of the Madrid College of Physicians: “It is surprising that the out-of-hospital emergency plan is done so hastily” (https://elpais.com/espana/madrid/2022-11-11/el-presidente-del- college-of-doctors-of-madrid-surprising-that-the-out-of-hospital-emergency-plan-is-done-so-abruptly.html)
- Ayuso corrects the emergency plan for the third time, now he proposes doctors by videoconference. Of the 80 centers that are intended to be kept open, 46 will have a doctor and the remaining 34 will have a nurse and the possibility of a doctor by video consultation (https://elpais.com/espana/madrid/2022-11-07/ayuso-plantea-la- third-rectification-of-the-emergency-plan-of-medical-health-centers-by-videoconference.html)
- The “white tide” is reactivated against the out-of-hospital emergency plan in Madrid (https://elpais.com/espana/madrid/2022-11-10/madrid-recupera-la-marea-blanca-contra-el-plan -out-of-hospital-emergencies-of-ayuso.html)
- Large demonstration in the center of Madrid, in defense of public health (https://elpais.com/espana/madrid/2022-11-13/madrid-desperto-a-favor-de-la-sanidad-publica- with-hundreds-of-thousands-of-voices-I-feel-outrage-they-are-taking-everything-from-us.html)
- Tensions in primary care in the whole of Spain
- Health and the medical union reach an agreement in Cantabria (https://theobjective.com/sociedad/2022-11-11/sanidad-medico-cantabria/)
- Primary doctors from almost all of Spain are studying going on strike (https://www.larazon.es/comunidad-valenciana/20221111/6nf4jyu7yrfsflpymmsvede5gy.html)
- Spain loses more than 800 family doctors a year (https://www.vozpopuli.com/espana/pierde-mas-800-medicos-familia-ano.html)
- The problems of Primary Care in the 17 autonomies (https://www.elespanol.com/porfolio/actualidad/20221113/problemas-atencion-primaria-autonomias-madrid-solo-principio/717678410_0.html)
- CESM and the Catalan, Andalusian and Basque unions will join forces to demand health improvements (https://www.elmundo.es/ciencia-y-salud/salud/2022/11/12/636e8b48fdddff86798b45aa.html)
- Private healthcare
- Hospitals are fed up with low insurance premiums (https://www.vozpopuli.com/espana/divorcio-sanidad-privada-hospitales-aseguradoras-bajas-primas-medicos.html)
- The debate on access to medicines
- Laboratories often take time to submit medicines for approval in Spain (https://elpais.com/opinion/2022-11-09/el-precio-de-los-medicamentos.html)
- Other themes
- Spain registers a large excess of deaths with no known cause (https://www.elmundo.es/ciencia-y-salud/salud/2022/11/09/636b6d2ae4d4d898078b45a3.html)
- Mental health in Madrid, 4 months of waiting to see a clinical psychologist (https://www.epe.es/es/sanidad/20221107/salud-mental-madrid-4-meses-78253713)
- The Government increases the investment of the health PERTE from 980 to 1,500 million euros (https://diariofarma.com/2022/11/07/el-gobierno-aumenta-la-inversion-del-perte-sanitario-de-los -980-to-1-500-million)
Companies
- International News
- Bavarian Nordic boosts growth with monkeypox vaccines (https://www.ft.com/content/4b63d5ae-ab71-4db4-85ea-fb67ac633600)
- AstraZeneca withdraws the request for its covid vaccine from the USA (https://www.ft.com/content/85bec048-f0b8-4170-927a-5461cd02070a)
- BioNTech profits decline, as covid vaccine sales decline (https://www.ft.com/content/60bd9384-e530-4bca-8730-6d5e76371d8d)
- National News
- New CEO at Quirónsalud from 2023: Víctor Madera (https://www.redaccionmedica.com/secciones/privada/madera-alvaro-de-la-parra-y-oliver-sanchez-lideraran-quironsalud-en-2023 -2031)
- The sector of dental, aesthetic and ophthalmological clinics bills 24% more in 2021 (https://www.plantadoce.com/entorno/el-sector-de-clinicas-dentales-esteticas-y-oftalmologicas-factura-un- 24-more-in-2021.html)
- Biosimilars: own reference price request (https://www.redaccionmedica.com/secciones/industria/el-biosimilar-se-suma-a-la-peticion-para-diversificar-el-criterio-de-precio- 3364)
- Vivalto Santé opens the purchase of Ribera Salud with an 800 m euros contract in Portugal (https://www.elconfidencial.com/espana/comunidad-valenciana/2022-11-09/vivalto-sante-ribera-salud-contrato- portugal_3520404/)
- The Ribera radiological ring integrates eight hospitals (https://www.consalud.es/tecnologia/tecnologia-sanitaria/radiologico-ribera-integra-ocho-hospitales-grupo-con-mejores-especialistas_122363_102.html)
- Oftalvist (ASISA) opens an eye clinic in Barcelona with internationally renowned doctors (https://www.lavanguardia.com/vida/20221102/8572142/oftalvist-abre-nueva-clinica-oftalmologica-barcelona-medicos-prestigio-internacional -brl.html)
- The Fátima Hospital (Seville) is for sale (https://www.plantadoce.com/empresa/el-hospital-fatima-de-sevilla-sale-al-mercado-y-busa-un-comprador.html)
- Vithas Arturo Soria becomes a university hospital (https://www.redaccionmedica.com/secciones/privada/vithas-inicia-su-carrera-docente-acreditando-tres-hospitales-universitarios-6503)
- Affidea continues its expansion in Spain with the acquisition of the Algete Clinic in Madrid (https://www.plantadoce.com/empresa/affidea-continua-su-expansion-en-espana-con-la-adquisicion-de-la -clinic-algete-in-madrid.html)
- The authorization of the Spanish HIPRA vaccine must wait until at least December (https://cincodias.elpais.com/cincodias/2022/11/08/companias/1667932582_427865.html)
- Almirall will open a new subsidiary in Prague (https://www.eleconomista.es/salud/noticias/12028602/11/22/Almirall-abre-una-nueva-sede-para-Republica-Checa-y-Eslovaquia-en -Prague.html)
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