Summary

From the point of view of Biomedicine, highlight the article by Dr. Topol, famous American cardiologist and doctor, who says how generative AI can contribute to significantly reducing medical errors, which cause hundreds of thousands of deaths a year in the United States and around the world. An initial cancer screening seems to be making its way through a simple blood test, taking advantage of the sharing of certain molecular characteristics in all cancers. The University of Gothenburg in Sweden is developing a blood test for the early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease.

With regard to Global Health, an editorial in The Lancet refers to the economic problems in low- and middle-income countries in addressing health expenditures, given the great weight of debt interest, which is why it proposes as a solution its condonation. The first mass malaria vaccination begins in Africa. Universal healthcare in Tanzania. Universal coverage, long exclusive to Europe and high-income countries (with the exception of the United States), is now spreading to developing countries as well.

In terms of International Health Policy, the next American elections in 2024 already show what could be the priority issues during the campaign for Democrats and Republicans. For the former, reducing the high price of prescription drugs and women’s health (with pro-choice options); for Republicans, overcoming covid-19 and drug overdose. It does not seem that the repeal of Obamacare, which has reached a record of 21 million affiliates, is going to be a priority in the Republican campaign.

If we talk about National Health Policy (Spain), presentation by Minister Mónica García of her priorities in the Congressional health commission. Laws against alcohol consumption in young people and to protect direct public management in public healthcare. Announcement of the legalization of cannabis and increase in the portfolio of services in “dental” and “visual health”. The imminent approval of the Public Health Agency and the reform of the Framework Statute in 2024 are announced. In relation to this last point, it was announced that negotiations are being carried out with the unions and the communities. And what about the professionals? Don’t they have anything to say on this topic? Important announcement by the Ministry of the genetic portfolio of the National Health System, to be launched gradually throughout 2024. Health maps are being reformed and simplified in several communities: Aragón, Cantabria, Valencian Community and Asturias . It is striking that the reforms are promoted by PP governments in the first three communities, while the reform in Asturias, sponsored by a PSOE government, is opposed by the PP. Catalonia promotes the discussion of a National Health Pact. Among other issues, the elimination of the statutory personnel regime is proposed. Possibly this change cannot be made legally from an autonomous community, but the much-needed idea and the opening of the discussion are welcome.

As for Companies, at the international level, Novo Nordisk and Lilly find themselves with a new player in their battle regarding obesity: the Danish biotech company Zeland Pharma. When it comes to national news, the problems with Grifols continue. Interesting article in Expansión on professionalization and corporate governance in family businesses.

Biomedicine

• Article by Dr. Eric Topol in Science magazine: towards the eradication of medical diagnostic errors. A recent study shows that nearly 800,000 Americans die or suffer permanent disabilities from errors in medical diagnosis each year. Evidence shows that there is potential for Generative Artificial Intelligence to improve the accuracy of medical diagnoses (https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adn9602)
• Deploying cancer screening by blood tests. Diagnosing an invasive cancer when it is still localized and without metastasis is the best option to eradicate the tumor. There is reason to think that a blood test could be useful to detect multiple cancers, given the sharing of certain molecular characteristics in all cancers (https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adk1213)
• Gene therapy allows an 11-year-old boy to hear for the first time, after treatment at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. It is the first time that this treatment has been applied to congenital deafness (https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/23/health/deaf-gene-therapy.html)
• Hope for blood testing for early Alzheimer’s diagnosis. The University of Gothenburg in Sweden demonstrated that a blood test is capable of diagnosing Alzheimer’s in the early stages, allowing treatment to begin. According to the WHO, more than 55 million people globally have this type of dementia (https://www.ft.com/content/92e081d0-d47b-4036-aac5-20b103b4729a)
• Digital wearable technologies in cardiology, in a review of the New England Journal of Medicine (https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMra2301903#)
• Genetic autopsies to unmask the mystery of sudden deaths (https://elpais.com/salud-y-bienestar/2024-01-25/autopsias-geneticas-para-desenmascarar-las-muertes-subitas.html#)

Global Health

• Editorial of The Lancet: economic problems and health. The significant debt in low- and middle-income countries means that health spending is being cut, as they must face the interest on the debt. The only solution is debt forgiveness. (https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)00131-4/fulltext)
• The first mass malaria vaccination begins in Africa. The first mass vaccination against malaria in Africa supported by the WHO, with the distribution of 30 million vaccines, begins next Monday. The initial distribution of 18 million doses marks a significant change in the fight against malaria, which killed 608,000 people (95% in Africa) in 2022 (https://www.ft.com/content/b6f03756-86ab-4912-aad0-9384198673ad)
• Cape Verde eliminates malaria. In a WHO declaration on January 12, 2024, Cape Verde, the group of islands located in the central Atlantic, declared itself malaria-free. This had already been declared on two other occasions: 1967 and 1983, before failures in vector control meant the return of the disease (https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)00134-X/fulltext)
• Universal healthcare in Tanzania. On December 23, the universal health insurance law was approved in Tanzania, in order to protect its 60 million people. Under the new law all citizens have to enroll in insurance (https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)00133-8/fulltext)
• Europe is facing measles outbreaks. This preventable disease is re-emerging in parts of Europe, including the United Kingdom, as there are outbreaks in the United States. In Europe, the reported cases multiply the cases of 2022 by 40. To have measles under control, 95% of the population must be vaccinated. As a consequence of the pandemic, there was a drop in the vaccination rate (https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/24/health/measles-europe.html#:~:text=The%20News,Health%20Organization%20said%20on%20Tuesday.)

International health policy

• USA
  • Article in JAMA: Focus on health problems in the 2024 American elections. It seems that health care is going to be very present in the American elections. Democrats’ issues are lowering prescription drug prices and women’s health (with pro-choice options); while the Republican issues are overcoming covid-19 and drug overdoses and border control policies in this regard. Despite Trump’s criticism of the Obamacare law, repealing the law is unlikely to be made a campaign priority (https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2814471)
  • Obamacare enrollment boom, reaching 21 million in 2024 (https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/25/us/politics/obamacare-open-enrollment.html)

• United Kingdom and the National Health Service
  • Does the NHS have a productivity problem? (https://www.bmj.com/content/384/bmj.q130#:~:text=“Office%20for%20National%20Statistics%20estimates,below%20pre%2Dpademic%20levels.”&text=“The%20thing %20that%20is%20stuck%20is%20inpatient%20admissions.)
  • One in 20 patients in England wait at least four weeks to see a primary care doctor (https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/jan/22/patients-england-waiting-times-gp-appointments-nhs-figures#:~:text=One%20in%2020%20patients%20has,31.9m%20held%20that%20month.)

• France
  • The shortage of medicines, an endless crisis (https://www.lemonde.fr/economie/article/2024/01/27/penuries-de-medicaments-une-crise-sans-fin_6213351_3234.html#:~: text=In%202023%2C%20plus%20de%204,de%20mesures%20du%20gendarme%20sanitaire.)

National health policy

• Presentation of the minister’s program in the Congressional Health Commission
  • Priority topics: three laws: against alcohol consumption in young people; law to protect the direct management of public health; against the exclusion of migrants. Legalization of cannabis and increase in the portfolio of services in “dental” and “visual” health, Public Health Agency and reform of the Framework Statute (https://www.elcomercio.es/sociedad/sanidad-anuncia-ley-frenar-alcohol-consumption-young-20240126130318-ntrc.html)

• Genetic portfolio of the National Health System
  • The new SNS genetic portfolio is presented by the Ministry of Health. A schedule is presented for the entry into force of a broad genetic portfolio: the first part has already been approved in June 2023; the second part will be approved in the first quarter of 2024; and the last part will be approved in the second quarter of this year. It responds to point 18 of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan and includes an investment of 50 million euros (https://diariofarma.com/2024/01/23/la-cartera-genetica-echa-a-andar-con-the-unanimous-applause-and-the-vindication-of-the-specialty)

• Innovation and mortality
  • Pharmaceutical innovation reduces cancer deaths in Spain by 40,000 (https://www.diariomedico.com/farmacia/industria/nuevos-medicamentos-recortan-40000-muertes-anuales-cancer-espana.html). Original article: https://www.valueinhealthjournal.com/article/S1098-3015(23)03128-5/fulltext

• Public Health Agency
  • It is announced that next week’s council of ministers will address the Public Health Agency (https://theobjective.com/sanidad/2024-01-26/consejo-ministros-aprobara-agencia-salud-publica/#)

• Reforms of health maps
  • The reform and simplification of health maps is proposed in four communities: Aragón, Cantabria, Valencian Community and Asturias (https://www.consalud.es/autonomias/ccaa-repiensan-sus-mapas-sanitarios-nuevas-necesidades-healthcare_139501_102.html)

• Framework Statute
  • The Ministry is considering reforming the Framework Statute in 2024, there is talk of previous conversations with the unions and the autonomous communities, but not with professional groups (https://www.redaccionmedica.com/secciones/ministerio-sanidad/garcia-places-the-new-framework-statute-in-2024-against-the-patches-of-sns-9645)

• Logistics platform in the Basque Country
  • The Basque Health Service will invest 30 million in the construction of a logistics platform (https://www.noticiasdegipuzkoa.eus/sociedad/2024/01/23/osakidetza-invierte-30-millones-construir-7776406.html)

• Purchasing center in Andalusia
  • The SAS advances in the health purchasing central (https://www.redaccionmedica.com/autonomias/andalucia/andalucia-acelera-la-creacion-de-su-nueva-central-de-compras-sanitarias-4065)

• Catalonia and the National Health Pact
  • The National Health Pact aims to open a participatory process to reform the health system (https://www.plantadoce.com/publico/el-pacte-nacional-de-salut-abre-un-ceso-participativo-para-transformar-the-health-system#:~:text=system%20sanitary%20%7C%20PlantaTwelve-,The%20Pacte%20Nacional%20of%20Salut%20opens%20a%20process%20participatory%20pa)
  • Catalonia is considering eliminating the statutory regime. A very expressive paragraph in this sense is included in the National Health Pact (https://www.diariomedico.com/medicina/politica/cataluna-plantea-eliminar-regimen-estatutario.html#:~:text=Se%20ha%20included%20in%20el,Photo%3A%20GENERALITAT%20DE%20CATALUNYA.)

Companies

• International News
  • UK government eyes AstraZeneca factory expansion (https://www.ft.com/content/d9916629-af1e-421e-a9fd-faa3ea767beb)
  • Novo Nordisk and Lilly meet a new player in obesity (https://www.ft.com/content/b2089c9d-a9cd-4d94-b5a0-a16e333b364e)
  • Lilly’s anti-obesity drug about to be launched in the UK (https://www.ft.com/content/09b12fa6-6147-4c5b-9763-6e99b702f036)
  • Sandoz buys the rival drug from its parent company Novartis (https://www.eleconomista.es/salud/noticias/12643509/01/24/sandoz-compra-el-farmaco-rival-de-su-ex-matriz-novartis.html#:~:text=Sandoz%2C%20subsidiary%20of%20Novartis%20until,ocular%20of%20the%20multinational%20swiss.)

• National
  • Teva will centralize global logistics for clinical trials in Spain (https://www.plantadoce.com/empresa/teva-centralizara-en-espana-la-logistica-mundial-para-los-ensayos-clinicos)
  • Miranza lands in Galicia and adds a total of 36 centers in Spain and Andorra (https://www.plantadoce.com/empresa/miranza-aterriza-en-galicia-y-suma-un-total-de-36-centros-in-spain-and-andorra#:~:text=The%20company%20specialized%20in%20ophthalmology%20has%20announced%20its%20arrival%20a,Miranza%20in%20Spain%20and%20Andorra.)
  • The leaders of the elderly in Spain have added 110 more centers since the pandemic (https://www.plantadoce.com/empresa/los-lideres-de-la-tercera-edad-en-espana-suman-110-centros-more-since-the-pandemic#:~:text=PlantaTwelve-,The%20leaders%20of%20the%20tercera%20age%20in%20Spain%20sum%20110,%25%2C%20up to%20near%20of%2097,000. )
  • Indra creates a center of excellence in cybersecurity for the healthcare sector (https://www.lavanguardia.com/economia/20240117/9499618/indra-crea-centro-cibersegura-sector-sanitario-agenciaslv20240117.html)
  • Pfizer invests 100 million euros in a plant in Madrid (https://diariofarma.com/2024/01/25/ayuso-alaba-el-compromiso-de-pfizer-tras-invertir-100-millones-en-una-planta-en-madrid#:~:text=%40diariofarma-,Ayuso%20praise%20the%20commitment%20of%20Pfizer%20after%20invest%20100%20million,invest%20and%20bet%20p)
  • Grifols: professionalization and corporate governance in family businesses (https://www.expansion.com/catalunya/2024/01/22/65aec343e5fdea2a268b4596.html)
  • The owner of Tiritas brings production and global corporate services to Spain (https://www.eleconomista.es/salud/noticias/12632647/01/24/el-dueno-de-tiritas-trae-produccion-y-servicios-corporates-globales-a-espana.html#:~:text=The%20multinational%20german%20of%20sector,of%20origin%20of%20the%20parent.)