Eurocare welcomes the Council’s call for an EU Alcohol Strategy 2016-2022 on the 7th December 2015. “Prevention of alcohol related harm is a smart investment for the economy as it costs Europe 2-3% of GDP, it cuts long-term healthcare expenditures and at the same time raises workforce productivity,” says Mariann Skar, Secretary General of Eurocare. “The Commission now needs to respond as…
Last week during the United Nation’s Conference on Climate Change, health system representatives from around the world have gathered in Paris to announce a series of commitments to reduce carbon emissions and exert leadership to combat climate change.
The European Tissue Symposium (ETS) has launched a brand new website, which offers a one-stop-shop for information and sound science. It will prove invaluable for anyone looking for details on the most hygienic way to dry hands following a visit to the washroom.
Astellas Pharma EMEA today announced that it will host the Antimicrobial Resistance in Europe: Innovating Today to Protect our Health Tomorrow debate at the Bibliothèque Solvay, Brussels, on 3rd December, 2015. The event will convene leading scientists and economists from across Europe to discuss how policy-level innovation can address antimicrobial resistance (AMR) – the single greatest…
Access to pain relieving medication varies greatly within Europe. ‘The availability and reimbursement of certain pain relieving medications for patients depends less on medical criteria than luck – living in the right country,’ declared Professor Hans Georg Kress, past president of the European Pain Federation EFIC, speaking in Vienna this September at the 9th EFIC Congress. Report:…
Leading Spanish experts presented the latest developments in hepatitis C management in their country during the May meeting of the Spanish Society of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology (SEIMC) in Seville. Report: Mélisande Rouger
New studies reveal the heightened risk of death that patients face if admitted to hospital over a weekend. Researchers have studied what effect the day of hospital admission has on death rates across England in 2013-2014, as well as on hospitals in other countries, such as Australia, the USA and The Netherlands. Report: Mark Nicholls
Around 25 treatments for seriously ill patients with specific cancers listed on England’s National Health Service’s Cancer Drug Fund are to be removed. This large change is likely to affect patients with cancers of the breast, bowel, prostate, blood, upper gastrointestine, brain and central nervous system, as well as gynaecological cases. Report: Mark Nicholls
Royal Philips and its ACT-program consortium partners today announced the debut of a ‘cookbook’ outlining key enablers necessary to scale connected care and telehealth programs. The cookbook is the result from a two-and-a-half year scientific evaluation of data from different connected health programs in five European regions. It provides new insights that apply across the EU on why certain…
The new set of dates running from Monday to Thursday has been widely accepted by the specialist visitors of the world’s largest medical trade fair, the MEDICA 2015, as well as the specialist supplier trade fair, COMPAMED 2015, being held in parallel. Both were well received right from the start this year. “The 19 trade fair halls were intensely visited without exception. The concentration of…
Whether they are wireless pacemakers or catheter-guided heart valve implants, new, really innovative products must reach patients – somehow. Thus manufacturers need to ensure that the hospitals that buy their products will be reimbursed. New diagnostic and treatment methods are not captured by a system based on the analysis of older methods. Holger Zorn spoke with Nicole Eisenmenger, Director…
Today’s hospitals must achieve sustained efficiency on an economic, ecological, qualitative and social level. However, only those that know their own weaknesses can act. Interviewed by European Hospital, Jens Schneider, head of Siemens Healthcare Consulting, introduces Blue Hospital certification, conceived to scrutinise an entire hospital. Interview: Sascha Keutel
As the World Health Organization (WHO) ramps up its fight against antibiotic resistance, a new multi-country survey shows people are confused about this major threat to public health and do not understand how to prevent it from growing.
JADAK will launch the XE-80P, a portable, battery-powered thermal printer and chart recorder, at Medica, in Düsseldorf, Germany, Nov. 16-19, in Hall 13, Suite Room 8. The XE-80P’s unique Charge-on-Demand™ feature allows the user to choose when the printer will charge, which reserves all power for the host device’s functions during a critical event. The XE-80P is the first printer JADAK…
Every year, worldwide, over a million patients have a pacemaker or defibrillator implanted. Home monitoring systems can significantly improve the safety and quality of life for these patients, says Professor Gerhard Hindricks, head physician in the rhythmology department at Leipzig’s Heart Centre. Report: Sascha Keutel
The European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Disease (ESCMID) is calling on the healthcare industry to lead by example and implement universal flu vaccination for healthcare workers. ESCMID is encouraging all health workers to take personal responsibility and get vaccinated this season, particularly those who come into contact with high-risk groups.
Large patient volumes and a shrinking pool of skilled resources in the European healthcare industry are creating the need for efficient workflow solutions. Hence, hospitals will increasingly invest in digital radiography (DR) as the revival of the regional economy picks up pace. While the saturated computed radiography (CR) segment is declining in terms of both unit shipment and revenue, the…
Necessities, challenges and opportunities in recruiting and retaining medical professionals
In a hospital, what you can’t see could hurt you. Healthcare facilities continue to battle drug-resistant organisms such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) that loiter on surfaces even after patient rooms have been cleaned and can cause new, sometimes-deadly infections.
The newly founded Tübingen company CENATA GmbH has been offering the Harmony non-invasive pre-natal test since May 2015. CENATA has obtained a licence from the U.S. company Ariosa Diagnostics, and is now the only company in the world outside the United States that is permitted to conduct the analysis and evaluation. This examination enables pregnant mothers to test their unborn children for…
Half a million square feet. More than 350 beds. And tomorrow, they clean it all over again. Every day, Environmental Services (EVS) staff members work to disinfect every surface in Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, playing a crucial behind-the-scenes role in preventing infections and keeping patients safe. Now, on top of scrubbing, spraying, mopping and wiping, they can add another action –…
At this year's European Health Forum Gastein (EHFG), several discussions focused on the increasing demands for new strategies to ensure equal access to high quality healthcare. The funding and pricing of medicines as well as universal access to healthcare were also addressed, as was the role of the EU in this area.
Health technologies are not governed by the real needs and challenges of healthcare systems, reveals a new University of Montreal study. "Such concerns are absent from public innovation policies and indeed in the way venture capitalists think," said Professor Pascale Lehoux of the university's Department of Health Administration, who led the research. She was motivated by a desire to…
Two of the core tenets underpinning the European vision – the euro and the Schengen agreement – are coming under unprecedented threat through financial challenges and the impact of the refugee crisis across the continent. It is these critical issues that keynote speaker Professor Martin McKee will tackle during the opening plenary session at the European Health Forum in Gastein in…
In an interview in advance of the European Health Forum in Gastein, Dr. Stanimir Hasurdjiev, a board member of the European Patients’ Forum, talked about the challenge of multimorbidity and how to make it work for the patient. Report: Michael Krassnitzer
