Posts

7 days in healthcare (February 13th-19th, 2023)

/in /by

 

 

Summary

From the point of view of Biomedicine, it is worth highlighting the reference in the British Medical Journal on the questionable value of colorectal cancer screening, according to a double-blind study of the results of colonoscopy, with a large population followed up, without detecting reductions in the mortality from this type of cancer. The first vaccine against the syncytial virus, responsible for many deaths, both newborns and adults, is presented. The results of a test that detects prostate cancer with great precision, with a simple blood test, are published.

With regard to Global Health, the New England Journal Medicine published an article on the correct path to eradicate polio, which is once again a problem in many countries, defending universal immunization against polio, in instead of virus eradication strategies. The Lancet reviews the One Health strategy, this approach that links climate change, animal health and human health as something that cannot be addressed separately. It is detected that poor countries desperately need access to cheap generics, since in these countries, due to less competition between manufacturers, generics are more expensive than in developed countries. Malaria is spreading across Africa as climate change allows the geographic spread of the mosquitoes that transmit it.

Regarding International Health Policy, there is a great debate in the United States about the future of Social Security and Medicare, with very opposed positions between Democrats and Republicans. In the UK, the number of people waiting more than 18 weeks for treatment exceeds three million in England alone. In France, the very open debate on euthanasia continues with wide participation, with the involvement of President Macron himself. In Chile, the crisis in the private health sector threatens the entire Chilean health system. The collapse of the Isapres (Chilean health insurers) would mean that 3.2 million people would pass into the already congested public Fonasa system. Poland bans energy drinks for those under 18, a move welcomed by doctors in that country. The European Commission finalizes the European pharmaceutical strategy, with new approaches towards generics and orphan drugs. The EFPIA, the European employers’ association for pharmaceutical companies, criticizes what is becoming known about this reform, considering it harmful to competitiveness.

If we talk about National Health Policy (Spain), the cumulative incidence of covid continues to rise slightly. From a regulatory point of view, two important laws are approved: the so-called “trans law” and the new abortion law. From various sectors of the healthcare industry, objections had been made to certain elements of both laws, the consequences of which will have to be expected. As far as the medical conflict is concerned, it is increasingly clear that the conflict in Madrid is one thing and another in the other communities. Although the problems of Primary Care are national, and therefore the national government cannot inhibit itself as it is doing, what is specific to Madrid is the way in which the Community government approaches it, which simply attributes it to a “conspiracy of the left”, which contributes to its exacerbation, prolongation and expansion (it is also announces conflict among hospital doctors). Both the international press (Financial Times, Le Monde) and the national one (Zarzalejos in El Confidencial and others) strongly criticize this approach by the Community of Madrid, which has published a decalogue of excellence in Madrid’s healthcare, strongly criticized for its inaccuracies. In other communities, on the other hand, with all the difficulties, agreements are being reached. The national government also uses this conflict to enter into health, trying to neutralize criticism of the “yes is yes” law. Those who want politics out of healthcare don’t know what they’re saying. On the contrary, we need a political debate on high altitude and adult health. Just the opposite of what is happening. Private insurance policies are rising in price, something that the sector had been demanding for years.

At the Corporate level, at the international level, it is proposed that health information (largely from the NHS) be the basis of a British sovereign wealth fund, in the same way that a Norwegian sovereign wealth fund is based on information about oil. Grifols announces a savings plan that includes 2,300 layoffs, which has been highly received by the Stock Market, significantly raising the shares of this company.

Biomedicine

Global Health

International Health Policy

  • Chili
    • The crisis in the private sector threatens the entire Chilean health system. A 2010 court ruling prevents adjusting policies by age and sex. Although the measure had not been implemented, it seems that the government wants to do so. The collapse of the Isapres (health insurers in Chile) would mean that 3.2 million people would pass into the already congested public Fonasa system (https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(23)00321-5/fulltext)

National health policy

Companies