Summary

The week’s most impactful health news stories were:

• Biomedicine: Individual well-being indicators identified.
• Global health: 25 million deaths could be expected if the US cuts off funding for global health.
• International health policy: France considers regulations for mandatory medical placement in medical deserts.
• National health policy: Doctors will have a specific chapter in the Framework Statute.
• Business: An article in The Lancet attacks corporate corruption in healthcare.

Biomedicine

• Individual well-being advocates identified. An international project describes the keys to a full life based on more than 40 indicators. The study analyzed more than 200,000 people worldwide: close friends, life balance, being married, and participating in communities and religious services were among the most beneficial factors. Statistics on employment, life expectancy, or GDP are considered to capture key aspects of the well-being of nations, but they are poor predictors of the well-being of individuals.
• The Ozempic universe, apart from treating diabetes and obesity, also serves to treat advanced stages of fatty liver disease. Semaglutide, Ozempic, and Wegovy could reverse common liver disease.

Global Health

• 25 million deaths could occur if the US halts global health funding. Article in Nature: 25 million deaths could occur if the United States halts global health funding. The US, the world’s largest donor to health initiatives in poor countries, spent approximately $12 billion on global health in 2024. Without this annual spending, around 25 million people could die in the next 15 years.
• Editorial in The Lancet: The global pandemic treaty is a milestone, but concerns remain. After more than three years of intense negotiations, a Pandemic Treaty was approved, praised by the WHO Director-General as a success of multilateralism. The Treaty codifies key approaches to prevention, preparedness, and response, including One Health. However, the agreement has some limitations: the 20% limit on vaccine sharing from previous drafts remains in place; there is no funding to advance the initiative; and the issue of liability is worrisome, since, if a pandemic is declared, the Conference of the Parties could only make non-binding recommendations.
• Editorial in Nature: The end of AIDS is in sight, let’s not abandon PEPFAR now. Among Trump’s first initiatives was to disband USAID, which was ultimately responsible for PEPFAR (the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief), which is in jeopardy. Thanks to this plan, the world would see 90% fewer AIDS deaths in 2030 than in 2010.

International Health Policy

• Trump cuts the CDC’s prevention-focused budget, as part of a 50% budget cut and the layoff of 2,400 employees. The largest reduction is in prevention.
• Calls are being made in France to regulate the deployment of doctors in medical deserts. The text provides, under certain circumstances, that certain doctors must be required to deploy in these medical deserts. Several thousand people have marched in France against the text.
• Representatives approve in France a bill in committee on “the end of life,” which provides that every terminally ill patient may have this right and request “aid in dying” (euthanasia or assisted suicide).

National Health Policy (Spain)

• The Ministry of Health publishes the funding criteria for 18 new medications, which had been approved since October 2024.
• The Ministry intends to approve a care model at the next Interterritorial Council. It aims to be a reference model for the development of care professions and is organized into five strategic lines.
• The massive power outage is straining the Spanish healthcare system, with saturated emergency rooms and canceled surgeries. Scheduled surgeries are delayed; primary care clinics are closed; ambulance services are affected; and home patients are waiting for electrical devices, experiencing problems.
• The Strike Committee successfully persuades the Ministry to accept a specific chapter for doctors in the Framework Statute. Although the strike is scheduled for May 23, the Committee has achieved this from the Ministry, which they consider a success.

Companies

• International
  • An article in The Lancet denounces the corruption of certain healthcare corporations. Some corporate activities, such as spreading misleading narratives or lobbying to delay legislation, may be legal but ethically questionable. It is not always easy to prove the harm caused by these actions. However, there are clearly harmful corporations, such as the tobacco and ultra-processed food industries.

• National
  • The pharmaceutical sector is racing against time to prepare its objections to the drug law. There will be unanimous rejection of the “selected” pricing system.

Biomedicine

• Histosonics (a developer supported by J&J) is developing a “sonic beam” to attack tumors. The developer of noninvasive ultrasound therapy is supported by J&J, Medtronic, and GE HealthCare. The therapy uses sonic beams to destroy tumor tissue (https://www.ft.com/content/cb1c5bf1-ddf8-4c8b-b62d-99c081bce8c6)
• Immunotherapy allows cancer patients to avoid surgery and aggressive therapies. For a limited group of solid tumors of the stomach, rectum, esophagus, and other organs, trials of immunosuppressants offer surprising results (https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/27/health/cancer-immunotherapy-solid-tumors.html)
• An international project describes the keys to a full life across more than 40 indicators. The study analyzed more than 200,000 people worldwide: close friends, life balance, being married, and participating in communities and religious services were among the most beneficial factors. Statistics on employment, life expectancy, or GDP are considered to capture key aspects of the well-being of nations, but they are poor predictors of the well-being of individuals (https://elpais.com/salud-y-bienestar/2025-04-30/que-significa-vivir-bien-un-proyecto-internacional-describe-las-claves-de-la-vida-plena-en-mas-de-40-indicadores.html). Access the original article in Nature Mental Health: https://www.nature.com/articles/s44220-025-00423-5
• A universal antidote to poisons has been achieved by a man who was bitten hundreds of times by poisonous snakes. One person, Tim Friede, allowed himself to be bitten by 16 species of poisonous snakes. After this, according to Cell, antibodies capable of neutralizing the venom of multiple snake species were identified (a kind of universal antivenom). More than 600 species of venomous snakes bite at least 2.7 million people each year, killing an estimated 120,000 and injuring 400,000 (https://elpais.com/salud-y-bienestar/2025-05-03/el-hombre-que-se-dejo-morder-cientos-de-veces-por-serpientes-venenosas-abre-el-camino-hacia-un-antidoto-universal.html). Access the original article in Cell: https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(25)00402-7
• Semaglutide, ozempic, and wegovy could reverse common liver disease. The Ozempic universe, in addition to treating diabetes and obesity, is also used to treat advanced stages of fatty liver (https://www.abc.es/salud/enfermedades/ozempic-mejora-enfermedad-hepatica-pacientes-20250430123631-nt.html). Access the original article in the New England Journal of Medicine: https://www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NEJMoa2413258
• Using brain-dead people for medical experiments: The new debate on the frontiers of bioethics. This approach is proposed by four renowned scientists (https://elpais.com/salud-y-bienestar/2025-05-01/utilizar-personas-en-muerte-cerebral-para-hacer-experimentos-medicos-el-nuevo-debate-en-la-frontera-de-la-bioetica.html)

Global Health

• Article in Nature: 25 million deaths could be reached if the United States halts global health funding. The United States, the world’s largest donor of health initiatives in poor countries, spent approximately $12 billion on global health in 2024. Without this annual spending, around 25 million people could die in the next 15 years. (https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-01191-z)
• Editorial in The Lancet: The global pandemic treaty is a milestone, but concerns remain. After more than three years of intense negotiations, a Pandemic Treaty was approved, praised by the WHO Director-General as a success of multilateralism. The Treaty codifies key approaches to prevention, preparedness, and response, including One Health. However, the agreement has some limitations: the 20% limit on vaccine sharing from previous drafts remains in place; There is no funding to promote the initiative; and the issue of accountability is worrying, since, if a pandemic is declared, the Conference of the Parties could only make non-binding recommendations (https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(25)00868-2/fulltext)
• Editorial in Nature: The end of AIDS is in sight, let’s not abandon PEPFAR now. Among Trump’s first initiatives was to dissolve USAID, which was ultimately responsible for PEPFAR (the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief), which is in danger. Thanks to this plan, the world would experience 90% fewer AIDS deaths by 2030 than in 2010 (https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-01308-4)
• A killer fungus is spreading as the climate warms. High temperatures are increasing the prevalence of deadly fungal infections, especially of the Aspergillus species (https://www.ft.com/content/506f5a03-8520-40e1-aee3-a6e6427f68c0
• Household plastics caused more than 356,000 cardiac deaths in 2018. Exposure to phthalates, which are used to produce plastic products used in the home, triggers an immune response in the heart arteries, which is associated with an increased risk of heart attack or stroke, according to Lancet eBiomedicine (https://www.abc.es/salud/enfermedades/plasticos-domesticos-causaron-356000-muertes-cardiacas-2018-20250429141741-nt.html)
• Strokes are now the leading cause of heart attack and stroke. death in seven African countries, although the disease is underdiagnosed on the continent (https://elpais.com/planeta-futuro/2025-04-28/los-infartos-cerebrales-son-ya-la-primera-causa-de-muerte-en-siete-paises-de-africa.html)

International Health Policy

• USA
  • Trump cuts the CDC’s prevention-focused budget, as part of a 50% budget cut and the layoff of 2,400 employees. The largest reduction is in prevention (https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/02/health/trump-budget-cdc-chronic-conditions.html)
  • Kennedy warns new parents to do “their own research” on vaccines. Kennedy made these two statements on a televised program: that parents should do their own research before vaccinating their children and that the measles vaccine is not safe (https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/29/us/politics/kennedy-vaccines-research.html)
  • Scientists urge the Trump Administration to combat the threat of the avian flu pandemic. The US should make a greater effort to fight the H5N1 pandemic, warns an international group of virologists (https://www.ft.com/content/6152e13c-bec7-4719-8a10-91f5f49fbdb6)
  • Measles: The urgency of global immunization. Since 2005, measles has increased in the US, with 607 infections across multiple states. Ninety-seven percent of these cases are in unvaccinated people. Measles had been declared extinct in the USA in 2000. Therefore, increasing immunization is critical (https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(25)00675-0/abstract)

• United Kingdom and the National Health Service
  • The British Treasury says there will be no more money for healthcare professionals and educators (https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/apr/28/no-extra-money-for-pay-rises-for-nhs-staff-and-teachers-in-england-ministers-told)

• France
  • They call for regulation of the establishment of doctors in medical deserts. The text provides, under certain circumstances, that certain doctors must be required to establish themselves in these medical deserts. Several thousand people marched in France against the text (https://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2025/05/04/deserts-medicaux-plus-de-1-500-elus-locaux-appellent-les-deputes-a-voter-pour-la-regulation-de-l-installation-des-medecins_6602709_3224.html)
  • Members of Parliament approved a bill on “the end of life” in committee, which provides that all terminally ill patients may have this right and request “help in dying” (euthanasia or assisted suicide). (https://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2025/05/03/fin-de-vie-les-deputes-adoptent-en-commission-une-proposition-de-loi-creant-un-droit-a-l-aide-a-mourir_6602567_3224.html)

• Australia
  • Primary Care, a central issue in the Australian elections. The campaign has been characterized by the promise to increase funding for health insurance, Medicare, as well as improvements in Primary Care (https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(25)00865-7/abstract)

• European Union
  • The EU warns countries of the risk of measles and polio due to low vaccination coverage (https://elpais.com/sociedad/2025-04-30/la-ue-alerta-a-los-paises-del-riesgo-del-sarampion-y-la-polio-por-las-bajas-coberturas-vacunales.html)
  • The European Union offers 27 million flu vaccines in the event of a possible pandemic (https://gacetamedica.com/politica/union-europea-vacunas-gripe-pandemia/)
  • Experts criticize the EU’s approval of the The Alzheimer’s drug Lecanemab (Eisai). Experts and patient representatives have criticized this decision, which was rejected in July 2024 (https://www.bmj.com/content/389/bmj.r796).

National Health Policy

• Central Government Initiatives
  • The Ministry of Health publishes the funding criteria for 18 new drugs, which had been approved since October 2024 (https://www.sanidad.gob.es/gabinete/notasPrensa.do?id=6660)
  • Brussels postpones Mónica García’s “decree” against tobacco for another three months. Six countries (Romania, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Greece, Italy, and Sweden) issued a reasoned opinion against the TRIS procedure. This suspension delays the controversial regulation that sought to restrict the presence of flavors in e-cigarettes and aims to limit the concentration of nicotine in nicotine pouches, among other aspects (https://theobjective.com/economia/2025-05-04/bruselas-frena-decretazo-monica-garcia-tabaco-tres-meses/)
  • The selection process for MIR (Resident Residents’ Internship) positions begins (https://www.elconfidencial.com/bienestar/2025-05-04/que-dias-se-eligen-plaza-mir-2025-y-donde_4118913/)
  • The Ministry intends to approve a healthcare model at the next Interterritorial Council. It aims to be a reference model for the development of care professions and is organized into five strategic lines (https://www.consalud.es/politica/este-es-marco-estrategico-cuidados-en-salud-sanidad-espera-aprobar-en-proximo-cisns_157570_102.html)

• Initiatives by autonomous communities
  • Catalonia launches four health centers with a new model (https://www.redaccionmedica.com/autonomias/cataluna/cataluna-ultima-la-puesta-en-marcha-de-nuevos-modelos-de-atencion-primaria-8907)
  • 22% of family doctors in Catalonia do not have an approved specialty (https://theobjective.com/sanidad/2025-04-29/medicos-familia-cataluna-especialidad-homologada/)

• Impact of the “blackout” in Healthcare
  • Spanish hospitals maintain basic services thanks to generators (https://elpais.com/economia/2025-04-28/los-hospitales-espanoles-mantienen-su-actividad-con-mas-o-menos-normalidad-gracias-a-los-equipos-electrogenos.html)
  • Blackout: What are the damages and who can claim them from? In theory, claims could be made for a significant deterioration in health due to delays in care and loss of earnings (https://www.diariomedico.com/medicina/politica/apagon-son-danos-sanidad-quien-reclamarlos.html)
  • The massive blackout is straining the Spanish healthcare system/overcrowded emergency rooms and canceled surgeries. Scheduled surgeries are delayed; primary care clinics are closed; ambulance services are affected; and home patients waiting for electrical devices, with problems (https://www.consalud.es/pacientes/gran-apagon-sanidad-sistema-sanitario-espanol_157499_102.html)

• Framework Statute
  • The Strike Committee successfully persuades the Ministry to accept a specific chapter for doctors in the Framework Statute. Although the strike is scheduled for May 23, the Committee has achieved this from the Ministry, which they consider a success (https://www.diariomedico.com/medicina/profesion/comite-huelga-logra-sanidad-admita-capitulo-especifico-medicos-estatuto-marco.html)

• MUFACE agreement signed
  • The Government signs the new MUFACE agreement with Adeslas and Asisa for 2025-2028. The total contract amount is €4.808 billion. Entities must submit to MUFACE a detailed, externally audited report on the effective annual cost of the service derived from the agreement (https://elpais.com/economia/2025-04-30/el-gobierno-firma-el-nuevo-convenio-de-muface-con-adeslas-y-asisa-y-pone-fin-al-culebron.html)

• Bone marrow transplants
  • Bone marrow transplants reach historic highs. 748 from unrelated donors. A 42% increase since 2012 (https://www.elmundo.es/ciencia-y-salud/salud/2025/05/01/68124e22e9cf4a1b468b45a7.html)

Companies

• International News
  • The Lancet article: Corporate Corruption in Healthcare. Some corporate activities, such as spreading misleading narratives or lobbying to delay legislation, may be legal but ethically questionable. It’s not always easy to prove the harm caused by such actions. However, there are clearly harmful corporations, such as the tobacco and ultra-processed food industries (https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(25)00520-3/abstract)
  • AstraZeneca committed to US manufacturing as profits rise (https://www.ft.com/content/b29430f1-3ad1-477f-946d-73f9168fa67c)
  • Germany’s Merck willing to buy biotech company SpringWorks for $3.9 billion (https://www.ft.com/content/940a9556-4875-40cb-ab19-26069b6afd8e)
  • GSK turning to AI to offset the impact of tariffs (https://www.ft.com/content/d8958a0f-0016-47ab-9282-fed70432b398)
  • Tirzepatide now accounts for 50% of Lilly’s revenue (https://diariomedico.com/farmacia/industria/tirzepatida-acapara-50-facturacion-lilly.html)
  • NovoNordisk seeks to revive its stock market dream with new alliances (https://cincodias.elpais.com/companias/2025-05-02/novo-nordisk-el-dueno-de-ozempic-quiere-revivir-su-sueno-en-bolsa-con-nuevas-alianzas.html)
  • Sanofi closes the sale of half of Opella to the CD&R fund for 10 billion (https://www.eleconomista.es/salud-bienestar/noticias/13343457/05/25/sanofi-cierra-la-venta-de-la-mitad-de-opella-con-el-fondo-cdr-por-10000-millones.html)

• National
  • The pharmaceutical sector is racing to prepare its objections to the drug law. There will be a unanimous rejection of the “selected” pricing system (https://www.eleconomista.es/salud-bienestar/noticias/13342067/04/25/el-sector-prepara-a-contrarreloj-sus-alegaciones-a-la-ley-del-medicamento.html)

This post is also available in: Spanish