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7 days in healthcare (July 29th-August 4th, 2024)

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Summary

Biomedicine

  • 14 critical risk factors for developing dementia identified. High cholesterol and hearing problems are associated with the development of dementia, according to a large study, which also identifies 14 critical risk factors that, if reduced, can prevent or delay half of the cases.
  • The FDA approves a test for the detection of colon cancer. Although it is not a perfect alternative to colonoscopy, experts believe that this test will allow many people to be screened for colorectal cancers.
  • Is Ozempic good for everything? Ozempic is back in the spotlight: diabetes, obesity, reducing alcohol consumption and now also for quitting smoking. According to a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, people who use this drug have fewer problems not using tobacco.

Global Health

  • The WHO Pandemic Hub, threatened. The WHO Pandemic Hub was founded in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic in Berlin on 1 September 2021 by Angela Merkel and the Director-General of the WHO. It is an intelligence tool that gives hope for better monitoring of all pandemics, but it has significant challenges, as it is based on reliable information systems in countries, which do not exist.

International health policy

  • Review of the past, present and future of primary care in the USA. Robust primary care is considered essential for any health system. In 2024, only 24% of American doctors were dedicated to primary care, when the ideal ratio is considered 50%. The reasons are insufficient financial compensation, heavy administrative burdens and poor job satisfaction. It is proposed that care be provided by a team, with doctors focused on complex tasks: diagnosis and management of patients with multiple problems. Documentation should be kept by administrators or by artificial intelligence. Routine issues with good guidelines, such as hypertension or diabetes, should be handled by nurses, advanced practice nurses or physician assistants.
  • Why so many Americans choose not to have children. It is not considered just a problem of hedonism, and, on the other hand, fertility is falling throughout the developed world. There are other more complex factors, such as the rising costs of raising children, housing problems and less optimism about the future.
  • Screening rates in Europe. Northern Europe leads the rate of screening for breast, cervical and colorectal cancers.

National Health Policy (Spain)

  • Various legislative initiatives on health, stuck. The first semester in Congress leaves several legislative initiatives in relation to health in the pipeline: the law of equity and cohesion of the SNS; law of universality of the SNS; and, the one that creates the State Agency of Public Health.
  • The PSC-ERC agreement, a threat to the entire National Health System? In the same way that during the pandemic it was impossible not to refer to covid-19, in the current situation, speaking of health, it is impossible not to mention the PSC-ERC agreement to invest Salvador Illa, as president of the Generalitat. Therefore, although it is a controversial issue, we will only make some general considerations. The agreement document entitled “Acord d’investidura entre el Partit dels Socialistes de Catalunya i Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya” has been published. It is 25 pages that are worth reading, since everything is very well explained.
    • General assessment: It seems that the PSC – and, according to statements, the PSOE leadership itself – assumes the pro-independence postulates and the entire ERC discourse. This is a very clear deduction from the document.
    • Topics covered: the document deals with many topics, but fundamentally three: the financing model, the linguistic policy and Catalonia’s foreign relations.
    • Healthcare in Catalonia: in this aspect the document commits to maintaining and consolidating the commitments made with professionals; it makes a broad list of the investments that are intended to be addressed (new Hospital Clínic, new health campus in Girona, expansion of the Hospital del Mar, etc.); it talks about implementing territorial centres for oral health; and, deploying the Mental Health pact. Likewise, among the legislative commitments, there is talk of a law for an integrated Social and Health Agency.
    • Impact on the National Health System. According to preliminary analysis by FEDEA, the impact on state coffers will be 30,000 million. This could mean a significant financial impact on the entire National Health System outside Catalonia, which would lead to either a deterioration in quality or the need to raise taxes.
    • Assessment of the candidate Illa. Given his status as former Minister of Health in the initial phase of the pandemic, Salvador Illa is well known in the health sector. His management has been considered to be an erratic policy, with little transparency and few contacts with the sector. This is the assessment conveyed by Rafael Matesanz in a must-read statement (https://www.larazon.es/sociedad/20210314/dnjfplptrbhtlfaelt6jx5f6au.html)
    • Difficulties in complying with the agreement. The difficulties of all kinds – legal, economic, political, etc. – are of such a formidable calibre that it is very doubtful that the agreements can be fulfilled, at least as they appear in the document.
  • More than 100,000 foreign health professionals without homologation. It seems that we have to wait up to three years. The Ministry of Universities is in charge of this procedure.

Companies

  • International
    • Roche wants to enter the obesity market. Roche intends to quickly launch a weight loss pill to compete with rivals. According to the CEO, Roche’s first anti-obesity drug is expected to appear in 2028.
    • Huge growth in the global implant market. According to a report, the global market for dental implants and prostheses has been valued at 11.64 billion dollars in 2024. It is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.41%, to reach 34.3 billion dollars in 2034.
  • National
    • Edwards Lifesciences will open a heart valve factory in Valencia. It will create 1,200 jobs. This multinational company is dedicated to heart valves and hemodynamic monitoring. It is the sixth plant in the world and represents an investment of 150 million euros.
    • Manufacturing medicines in Spain, a strategic asset. In Spain there are 174 factories distributed across 13 communities. Of the total number of plants, 106 are factories for human use medicines; 22 manufacture veterinary medicines; and 46 are factories for the production of active ingredients.

Biomedicine

Global Health

International health policy

  • USA
    • A review in the American Journal of Medicine on the past, present and future of primary care in the USA. Robust primary care is considered essential for any health system. In 2024 only 24% of American physicians were dedicated to primary care, when the ideal ratio is considered to be 50%. The reasons are insufficient financial compensation, high administrative burdens and poor job satisfaction. It is proposed that care be delivered by a team, with physicians focused on complex tasks: diagnosis and management of patients with multiple problems. Documentation should be handled by administrative staff or by artificial intelligence. Routine issues with good guidelines, such as hypertension or diabetes, should be handled by nurses, advanced practice nurses, or physician assistants (https://www.amjmed.com/article/S0002-9343(24)00163-3/fulltext)
    • Why so many Americans choose not to have children. It is considered that it is not just a problem of hedonism and, on the other hand, fertility is falling throughout the developed world. There are considered to be other more complex factors, such as the increasing costs of raising children, housing problems and less optimism about the future (https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/31/health/fertility-births-vance.html)
  • United Kingdom and the National Health Service

National health policy

Companies