Posts

7 days in healthcare (December 26th, 2022-January 1st, 2023)

/in /by

 

 

Summary

From the point of view of Biomedicine, it is worth noting the ambitious project of the United Kingdom “Our Future Health”, which aims to place this country at the forefront of genomic research, and which seeks to carry out genetic analyzes of 5 million adult British volunteers, then looking at the correlation with lifestyles and medical records. Undoubtedly, this project will allow us to advance a lot in the knowledge of a wide variety of diseases.

With regard to Global Health, great concern in the world, since the large number of cases in China increase the probability that new variants will appear. There is no doubt that the covid – which had appeared, artificially or naturally, in China – has entered a new phase in which the epicenter is once again China.

Regarding International Health Policy, countries are preparing to put control measures at airports and borders against travelers from China, although the ECDC sees this type of control as unfounded and the EU has not adopted a common policy. Joschka Fischer (former – German Foreign Minister) publishes an in-depth article, whose conclusion is that, in contrast to what had previously been said that authoritarian regimes that do not depend on public opinion can impose drastic and effective measures in crisis situations such as covid, experience has shown that liberal democracies are more effective than autocracies in dealing with these situations. Great controversy in the European Union over the claim of the pharmaceutical industry to agree to produce new antibiotics, under the condition of increasing the patent term of certain drugs.

If we talk about National Health Policy (Spain), Spain has approved airport control measures to control travelers from China, which will be in force between December 31, 2022 and February 15, 2023. Primary Care doctors have opposed the hiring of doctors without MIR training, since this seems more like an opportunistic measure than addressing the underlying problems of Primary Care. The central government, so little fond of publishing and preparing expert analyzes on the covid management, instead presents a self-assessment on its management. According to this report “Cumpliendo” (“Fulfilling”) 64% of the health promises have already been fulfilled and 35% are in process. Bearing in mind that none of the structural healthcare problems have been addressed (personnel regime, management model, governance, accessibility and waiting lists, etc.) this self-assessment seems to us grated on complacency and even propaganda. Unless the promises -which are said to have been fulfilled- have nothing to do with the real problems of the sector. An interesting initiative from the private sector through the IDIS Foundation, which announces the start-up of a pilot on interoperability, should be highlighted. The fact that companies that compete with each other -both from the insurance and provisioning fields- agree on the interoperability of medical records is something that deserves to be highlighted.

In the field of Companies, the American Congress has taken an unusual decision: criticize the FDA for its inadequate collaboration with Biogen for the approval of the drug against Alzheimer’s. At the national level, Atrys continues its growth, both in Spain and abroad (United Kingdom, Middle East and Latin America).

Biomedicine

Global Health

International Health Policy

National health policy

Companies

 

 

 

7 days in healthcare (December 12th-18th, 2023)

/in /by

 

Summary

From the point of view of Biomedicine, The Lancet commemorates the 200th anniversary of the birth of Pasteur, the creator of the germ theory. Even today a high percentage of deaths are from infections. Promising results of an mRNA vaccine against melanoma, presented by Moderna and Merck.

As far as Global Health is concerned, it is worth highlighting the article published in Nature that says that without a strategy and global financing of vaccines, the world will be unable to successfully face new epidemics.

As for international health policy, the discouraging news of China’s abandonment of the covid-zero policy continues, when the country is not prepared and is most likely to suffer high mortality. The CDC quantifies the deaths from persistent covid in the USA. The conflict of nurses in the NHS continues, which coincides with the appearance of a report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies in the United Kingdom that attributes the problems of the NHS to underfunding of the system. New Zealand, the second country in the world to announce a ban on tobacco sales.

If we talk about national health policy (Spain), in terms of covid, the incidence continues to decrease, what has not completely decreased, or has decreased very slowly, is mortality (236 deaths in the last week). After confinement in a unit of the Regional Ministry of Health, the strike committee of primary care doctors in Madrid decided to continue the strike, extending the conflict to a demonstration, along the lines of the “white tides”.

In the field of companies, internationally, it seems that Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates are making an important bet in the field of neurotechnology with the company Synchron. As far as national news is concerned, perhaps highlighting that it seems that the hopes placed on the Spanish HIPRA vaccine are fading.

Biomedicine

Global Health

International Health Policy

National health policy

Companies

 

 

 

7 days in healthcare (October, 10th-16th, 2022)

/in /by

 

Summary

From the point of view of biomedicine, to review the advances in knowledge of the human organ that, to a large extent, remains a mystery, the brain: the implantation of human cells in mice, which can send signals and the creation of a kind of synthetic intelligence, by verifying that nerve cells in a dish can learn. In the United States, it is found that mortality from breast cancer has decreased a lot, due to early detection and better treatments. Something that is not exclusive to the United States and that surely also occurs in Spain.

As far as Global Health is concerned, the serious health problems, for very different reasons, in Pakistan, Somalia, Syria and Lebanon must be highlighted.

Regarding international health policy, there is great concern in the WHO and other organizations about the effects of persistent covid. Threat of hospitals in Germany by covid. The Economist introduces the debate on the legalization of cocaine, which it strongly defends, considering that the problems of an illegal market far outweigh those that could arise in a controlled market. Put the simile of whiskey and cigarettes.

If we talk about national health policy (Spain), the rise in the incidence of covid continues, although in Spain without notably affecting hospitals. Promising launch of the Neurotechnology Center in Madrid.

In the field of companies, at the international level, the WTO (World Trade Organization) continues with its efforts to free the patents of medicines related to covid. As far as Spain is concerned, HIPRA suffers a new delay in the approval of its vaccine by the EMA, which practically excludes it from the fourth dose vaccination campaign.

Biomedicine

Global Health

International health policy

  • European Union
    • A step forward towards a Europe of health. The reinforcement of the ECDC (European Center for Disease Prevention and Control), the EMA (European Medicines Agency) and the creation of the Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority, constitute important steps towards a European policy of health, something not contemplated in the founding European treaties (https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(22)01980-8/fulltext)
  • The debate on the legalization of cocaine
  • New Code of Medical Ethics
    • Approved the new International Code of Medical Ethics of the World Medical Association. After the initial version of this Code in 1949, a new wording has been approved at the General Assembly of the World Medical Association, held in Berlin in October 2022 (https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2797507)

National health policy

Companies