The decline of humanity, due to the birth crisis; 7 days in healthcare (August 30th-September 6th, 2026)

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Summary

News of the week:

  • The decline of humanity: the birth rate crisis is reaching every corner of the world and faster than expected.

The most impactful health news of the week were:

  • Biomedicine: Pig kidney successfully transplanted into humans.
  • Global health: How to save the WHO, which is in a critical situation.
  • International health policy: $480,000 a year represents the new normal for cancer drugs.
  • National health policy: The Treasury pushes through the reform of regional financing, agreed only with Catalonia, which, in relative terms, harms all the autonomous communities under the common regime.
  • Companies: Vithas enters the race for health data.

Biomedicine

  • Pig kidney successfully transplanted into humans. Trials in the USA and real clinical cases are promising. The shortage of organs is the biggest problem for transplants.

Global Health

  • How to save the WHO. The WHO is in a critical situation, as serious as the one a few years ago that led to the election of former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland as its director. The deadline for submitting applications is September 24, and four candidates are known. The article does not mention Spain’s potential candidacy.
  • The WHO expects the results of clinical trials for the Ebola vaccine in October or November.

International Health Policy

  • $480,000 a year represents the new normal for cancer drugs. Revolution Medicines, the manufacturer of the new therapy for pancreatic cancer, has set a price of $480,000 a year, or $663 per tablet, a cost that would have been unthinkable not long ago.
  • The Trump Administration announces pricing agreements with Alcon, Astellas, BeOne, BridgeBio, CSL, Kyowa Kirin, Sun Pharma, Teva, and UCB, which commit to applying Most Favored Nation pricing and increasing their production in the US.
  • In France, a proposal has been made to create an independent authority whose mission is to evaluate the health impact of laws and public policies, as the defense of health is sometimes at odds with other interests.
  • The US Embassy issues a health alert in Cuba, following the embargo, citing a spike in intestinal illnesses and diarrhea.

National Health Policy (Spain)

  • The Treasury pushes through the reform of regional financing, with the support of Catalonia and the Canary Islands. The new model was approved because the Government, which holds 50% of the vote, only needed the support of one region. The agreement was negotiated with Oriol Junqueras and, in relative terms, is detrimental to the other autonomous communities under the common regime. • Healthcare unions denounce the lack of transparency from the Health Ministry, which they claim is attempting to conceal the true state of healthcare in Ceuta.
  • Doctors will begin an indefinite strike in October to protest the Framework Statute and the government.

Companies

  • International
    • The arrival of generic GLP-1 drugs will expand access, which is currently very limited.
    • Kylian Mbappé founds a healthcare startup to expand in West Africa and buys an insurance company in Senegal.
  • National
    • Vithas enters the healthcare data race: a billion-euro business expected to grow by 15%. The hospital group launches the ‘Vithas Data Space’ platform to leverage its anonymized clinical information.

Biomedicine

  • Pig kidney successfully transplanted into humans. Trials in the USA and real clinical cases are promising. The organ shortage is the biggest problem with transplants (https://www.ft.com/content/e9548ff5-3b59-4d69-be26-5882e2c4a716?syn-25a6b1a6=1)
  • Lights and shadows of the Ozempic era. An editorial in Science focuses on the significance of these drugs. While they promise to revolutionize the approach to obesity, they face the commercial push for their use, which threatens to exacerbate the health inequality gap. On the other hand, the World Health Organization (WHO) and experts stress that the solution to obesity is not purely pharmacological, but requires medical support, healthy habits and preventive measures (https://www.elmundo.es/salud/2026/09/03/6a99a839e9cf4a5b668b45b7.html). Access the Science editorial titled “Unintended consequences of the widespread use of GLP-1 drugs” (https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ael8715)
  • Rethinking maternal cardiovascular health. Cardiovascular problems complicate 15% of pregnancies and are the cause of one-third of maternal deaths (https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(26)01759-9/fulltext)
  • What we need to know about postpartum mental illness, a topic brought to the forefront by the jury trial of a woman who killed her three children in the postpartum period (https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/what-know-about-postpartum-mental-illness-2026-09-04/)
  • Memory loss, depression, and aggression: brain alterations in contact sports practitioners. This is seen in the post-mortem examination of the brains of these athletes (https://sante.lefigaro.fr/medecine/pertes-de-memoire-depression-et-agressivite-la-responsabilite-des-sports-de-contact-plus-que-jamais-etablie-dans-les-degenerescences-cerebrales-20260905)
  • A trial with asymptomatic patients to see if Alzheimer’s can be predicted. The aim is to recruit 1,600 volunteers between 55 and 80 years old worldwide (https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/sep/05/alzheimers-trial-drug-dementia)
  • Could we really live to 120? Among people who live past 110, they are almost exclusively women. (https://sante.lefigaro.fr/mieux-etre/pourrions-nous-vraiment-vivre-jusqu-a-120-ans-20260902)
  • The drug that will revolutionize the treatment of pancreatic cancer is already available in the USA. When will it arrive in Europe? The EMA takes an average of three months longer to approve medications (https://www.elespanol.com/invertia/observatorios/sanidad/20260901/farmaco-revolucionara-cancer-pancreas-disponible-eeuu-llegara-europa/1003744368372_0.html)
  • This is how DNA shapes our personality: more than 1,200 genetic variants help determine personality. A large-scale study analyzing more than one million people concludes that the influence of the family environment on the development of curiosity or kindness is less than previously thought. (https://elpais.com/ciencia/2026-09-02/asi-moldea-el-adn-nuestra-forma-de-ser-mas-de-1200-variantes-geneticas-ayudan-a-determinar-la-personalidad.html)
  • Spanish gene therapy for Alzheimer’s reaches the clinical phase. Álvaro Pascual-Leone, professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School and medical director of Tetraneuron (a spin-off of the Cajal Institute-CSIC), pours all his scientific enthusiasm into a project by this biotechnology company that could represent a turning point in Alzheimer’s disease (https://www.diariomedico.com/medicina/neurologia/terapia-genica-espanola-alzheimer-llega-fase-clinica-aspiramos-revertir-patologia.html)
  • Longevity revolution 2026: the first clinical trials to reverse aging begin in Humans. From this perspective, aging is considered a treatable medical condition (https://www.eltiempo.com/mas-cincuenta/revolucion-de-la-longevidad-2026-inician-los-primeros-ensayos-clinicos-para-revertir-la-edad-en-humanos-3575840

Global Health

  • The decline of humanity: the birth rate crisis is reaching every corner of the world, and faster than expected. Humanity has entered a new era. For the first time in history, the birth rate is below the replacement rate of about 2.2 children per woman. And what is surprising is the pace of change. The collapse in the birth rate has arrived with greater intensity than demographers anticipated in all regions of the world. (https://www.elconfidencial.com/economia/2026-09-06/declive-humanidad-crisis-natalidad-llega-todos-los-rincones_4417654/)
  • How to save the WHO. The WHO is in a critical situation, as serious as the one a few years ago that led to the election of former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland as its director. The deadline for submitting applications is September 24, and four candidates are known, among whom Spain is not mentioned in the article (https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(26)01805-2/fulltext)
  • More than 6,000 people affected by Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to government figures (https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/more-than-6000-people-infected-with-ebola-congo-government-figures-show-2026-08-31/)
  • The WHO expects the results of clinical trials of the Ebola vaccine by October or November (https://sante.lefigaro.fr/social/sante-publique/ebola-en-rdc-l-oms-espere-des-essais-cliniques-de-vaccins-des-octobre-ou-novembre-20260902)

International Health Policy

  • USA
    • The uncomfortable discovery of “Make America Healthy Again”. Public health in the USA is threatened, as its institutions are being colonized by anti-vaxxers and prestigious scientists are being dismissed (https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/insight-and-analysis/blogs/uncomfortable-make-america-healthy-again-public-health)
    • Subscription medications. Two-State Experience (https://www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/forefront.20260831.263402/full/)
    • The Trump Administration announces pricing agreements with Alcon, Astellas, BeOne, BridgeBio, CSL, Kyowa Kirin, Sun Pharma, Teva, and UCB, which commit to Most Favored Nation pricing and increased US production (https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/trump-administration-announce-drug-pricing-deals-2026-08-31/)
    • The Pentagon-NIH agreement on biodefense raises alarm among Democrats (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/04/us/politics/pentagon-nih-biodefense-agreement.html)
    • Hospitals say the expected Trump Administration regulations will be Worse than Medicaid cuts (https://www.politico.com/news/2026/09/02/hospitals-say-coming-regulations-worse-than-medicaid-cuts-01060086)
    • $480,000 a year represents the new normal for cancer drugs. Revolution Medicines, the maker of the new pancreatic cancer therapy, has set a price of $480,000 a year or $663 per tablet, a cost that would have been unthinkable not long ago (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/31/business/pancreatic-cancer-drug-prices.html)
    • 600,000 seniors have already signed up for anti-obesity medication under Medicare (https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/600,000-seniors-have-signed-up-obesity-drugs-under-new-medicare-program-2026-08-31/)
  • China
    • Science, pigs, and money: the race between the US and China to make animal-to-human transplants viable. Techniques like CRISPR gene editing are already making survival rates of nearly a year possible, something unheard of until recently (https://elpais.com/ciencia/2026-09-06/ciencia-cerdos-y-dinero-la-carrera-entre-ee-uu-y-china-por-hacer-viables-los-trasplantes-de-animales-a-humanos.html)
  • United Kingdom
    • 24-hour prevention: how Greater Manchester is putting prevention into practice, where the new Prime Minister Andy Burnham comes from (https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/insight-and-analysis/blogs/greater-manchester-prevention-practice)
    • The UK offers an additional £50 million to contain Ebola in the DRC (https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/uk-pledges-additional-50-million-help-contain-ebola-outbreak-congo-2026-09-01/)
  • France
    • They propose the creation of an independent authority whose mission is to evaluate the health impact of laws and public policies. This is because the defense of health is sometimes in tension with other interests (https://www.lemonde.fr/idees/article/2026/09/03/nous-proposons-la-creation-d-une-autorite-independante-dont-la-mission-sera-d-evaluer-l-impact-sanitaire-des-lois-et-des-politiques-publiques_6765130_3232.html)
    • Shared electronic health records are not yet sufficiently developed to be fully interoperable. Doctors are not contributing enough to the shared medical record (https://www.lefigaro.fr/actualite-france/le-dossier-medical-partage-n-a-pas-atteint-un-niveau-suffisant-pour-en-faire-un-outil-pleinement-mobilisable-20260902)
    • Heat wave in France registers 7,000 additional deaths by the end of July, according to the health minister (https://sante.lefigaro.fr/vagues-de-chaleur-la-france-a-enregistre-7000-morts-supplementaires-jusqu-a-fin-juillet-annonce-la-ministre-de-la-sante-20260904)
  • Latin America
    • The US Embassy issues a health alert in Cuba following the blockade, which has led to a spike in intestinal illnesses and diarrhea (https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/us-embassy-issues-health-alert-cuba-amid-oil-blockade-sanctions-2026-09-05/)
    • Suicide now causes more deaths in Argentina and Uruguay than homicides (https://www.vozpopuli.com/internacional/el-suicidio-ya-causa-mas-muertes-en-argentina-y-uruguay-que-los-homicidios.html)
    • Patients in Colombia urge the government to urgently identify those responsible for key entities within the healthcare system. The organization warns that pending appointments are affecting institutional capacity amid the sector’s crisis (https://www.eltiempo.com/salud/pacientes-colombia-pide-al-gobierno-definir-con-urgencia-responsables-de-entidades-clave-del-sistema-de-salud-3581808)
  • Europe
    • Medical consultations are increasing in Europe; telemedicine is gaining ground in much of the region. Estonia, Portugal, and Sweden are the countries that have made the most use of telemedicine in recent years, according to data published by Eurostat (https://www.consalud.es/pacientes/aumentan-las-consultas-medicas-en-europa-la-telemedicina-gana-peso-en-gran-parte-del-territorio.html)
    • There is no basis for forcing pharmaceutical companies to pay for wastewater treatment, according to the Advocate General of the CJEU (https://www.elespanol.com/invertia/observatorios/sanidad/20260904/no-base-obligar-pharmas-pagar-tratamiento-aguas-residuales-abogada-general-tjue/1003744372951_0.html)

National Health Policy

  • Central Administration
    • The Treasury pushes through the reform of regional financing, with the support of Catalonia and the Canary Islands. The new model has gone ahead because the government, which holds 50% of the vote, only needed the support of one autonomous community (https://elpais.com/economia/2026-09-04/el-gobierno-sienta-a-las-comunidades-del-pp-en-la-reunion-con-hacienda-a-pesar-del-planton-de-ayuso.html)
    • Catalonia will have better healthcare and education. The autonomous communities, however, reject the fact that it was designed unilaterally with the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC), whose leader, Oriol Junqueras, was in charge of announcing it after meeting with Pedro Sánchez at the Moncloa Palace. The reform is also steeped in the principle of ordinality, a demand of Catalan separatists, to ensure that Catalonia is not disadvantaged when distributing the system’s resources (https://www.eldebate.com/economia/20260905/cataluna-tendra-mejor-sanidad-educacion-consejeros-psoe-desarman-financiacion-impuesta-sanchez_455529.html)
  • Regional Administrations
    • The relocation of the Hospital Clínic, the creation of one million homes, and the relocation of the Faculty of Pharmacy to Esplugues (https://elpais.com/espana/catalunya/2026-09-02/el-traslado-del-hospital-clinic-de-barcelona-habra-un-millar-de-viviendas-y-esplugues-acogera-la-facultad-de-farmacia.html)
    • La Rioja increases its healthcare budget by 70 million in 2027, reaching 749 million (https://diariofarma.com/2026/09/01/la-rioja-elevara-el-presupuesto-de-sanidad-en-70-millones-en-2027-hasta-alcanzar-los-749)
    • Catalonia opens two new private medical schools in the 2026-27 academic year (https://www.diariomedico.com/medicina/profesion/cataluna-estrena-nuevas-facultades-medicina-privadas-curso-2026-27.html)
    • The new hospital in Teruel opens. Finally, after a long wait, the new Obispo Polanco Hospital in Teruel has opened its doors. Problems finding professionals (https://www.consalud.es/autonomias/aragon/abre-el-nuevo-hospital-de-teruel-da-igual-la-infraestructura-si-no-hay-profesionales-para-utilizarla.html)
    • Real cost, transparency, and legal certainty: Madrid and the Basque Country’s objectives for the Health Cohesion Fund (https://www.redaccionmedica.com/autonomias/20260831/costes-reales-transparencia-seguridad-juridica-objetivos-de-madrid-euskadi-para-el-fondo-cohesion-sanitaria/349393_0.html)
  • The Ceuta conflict
    • Healthcare unions denounce the lack of transparency from the Ministry of Health in an attempt to hide the reality of healthcare in Ceuta (https://medicinaresponsable.com/actualidad-sanitaria/sindicatos-denuncian-opacidad-sanidad-ceuta)
  • Conflict Doctors
    • Doctors will begin an indefinite strike in October in protest against the Framework Statute and the government (https://www.elespanol.com/invertia/observatorios/sanidad/20260902/medicos-haran-huelga-indefinida-partir-octubre-rechazo-estatuto-marco-gobierno/1003744370149_0.html)
    • Legal action against the Framework Statute is among the options doctors are considering to join the strike (https://www.redaccionmedica.com/politica/20260905/la-via-legal-contra-el-estatuto-marco-se-cuela-entre-las-opciones-de-los-medicos-para-sumarla-la-huelga/350065_0.html)
  • Hospitals
    • Best in Class Hospital Ranking 2026 (https://gacetamedica.com/mas/bic/ranking-hospitales-best-in-class-2026-mejores-centros-espana/)
    • The Jiménez Díaz Foundation leads in patient experience in Spain, followed by CHUS and Sant Pau (https://www.redaccionmedica.com/autonomias/madrid/20260903/la-jimenez-diaz-lidera-la-experiencia-del-paciente-en-espana-seguida-por-el-chus-sant-pau/350132_0.html)

Companies

  • International
    • What the arrival of GLP-1 generics will mean. Generics will expand access, which is currently very limited (https://www.bmj.com/content/394/bmj-2026-100748)
    • Lilly is going to buy Merida Biosciences for up to $2.088 billion (https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/eli-lilly-buy-merida-biosciences-288-billion-deal-2026-08-31/)
    • Lilly is suing Galenicum in the USA for infringing Mounjaro’s patents (https://www.eleconomista.es/salud-bienestar/noticias/14011583/09/26/el-gigante-lilly-demanda-a-galenicum-en-eeuu-por-la-infraccion-de-patentes-de-mounjaro.html)
    • Kylian Mbappé is founding a health start-up for Expanding in West Africa and buying an insurance company in Senegal (https://www.ft.com/content/c4cc661e-cb38-4d40-9d34-950c22e02301?syn-25a6b1a6=1)
    • From Korea to Europe: the automated pharmacy revolution (https://www.diariomedico.com/farmacia/profesion/corea-europa-revolucion-farmacia-automatizada.html)
    • Nestlé agrees to sell its vitamin business to a fund for 850 million euros (https://cincodias.elpais.com/companias/2026-09-01/nestle-acuerda-la-venta-de-su-negocio-de-vitaminas-a-un-fondo-por-850-millones-de-euros.html)
  • NationalNews
    • Vithas enters the health data race: a business of 1 billion to grow at 15%. The hospital group launches the ‘Vithas Data Space’ platform to leverage its anonymized clinical data (https://www.eleconomista.es/salud-bienestar/noticias/14010866/08/26/vithas-entra-en-la-carrera-de-los-datos-sanitarios-un-negocio-de-1000-millones-que-crecera-al-15.html)
    • PharmaMar anticipates public reimbursement of its anti-cancer drug in 95% of the EU by 2027 (https://www.eleconomista.es/salud-bienestar/noticias/14010539/08/26/pharmamar-preve-el-reembolso-publico-de-su-antitumoral-en-el-95-de-la-ue-en-2027.html)
    • Palex increases revenue but loses €31 million after closing five acquisitions (https://www.expansion.com/catalunya/2026/08/30/6a948eaee5fdeac70d8b459a.html)

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