Inequalities: The public health puzzle
Bettina Döbereiner reports on theories, policy strategies and current projects aired in the Berlin conference Reducing Health Inequalities. What do we really know about successful strategies?
Laws & regulations
Russia switches from high-tech medical centres to health centres
Two years ago, "The Health", a national project, began by wanting new high-tech medical centres in various parts of the country, with 15 new hospitals to be built for cardiosurgery, orthopaedics and oncology. Only five have been built. The government has decided to switch the focus of the project to preventive medicine and to create health centres for this purpose
MRI Alert!
The scanner shortage in France is a scandal, says chairman of the French Society of Radiology. New MRIs must be installed in 250 emergency departments
Safeguarding the future of MRI
Europe holds a leading position in the research and development of MRI, which has been used for over 25 years, imaging up to 500 million patients without evidence of harm to workers due to EMF exposure. It is also well known that MRI is free from health risks associated with ionising radiation such as X-rays, in many situations the alternative to MRI
Making public hospitals more attractive for practitioners
Following fierce parliamentary debates last spring, the newly enacted law on Hospital reform is beginning to show concrete moves. One of these is to modify the remuneration system for doctors, in order to reinforce the attractiveness of public hospitals, which are suffering recruitment difficulties.
The 2009 Organ Donation Congress
In 2008, EU organ transplants totalled 27,809, but, as of 31 December 2008, patients still on waiting lists numbered 63,283 and 3,812 of them died on that list. During 5th World Day and 11th European Day of Organ Donation held in Berlin this October, experts and patients from all over the world met to raise public awareness that, despite international transplants progress and successes, and…
Arzt mit Familie - (k)ein Widerspruch?
Der Frauenanteil im Medizinstudium hat mittlerweile die magische Grenze von 60% überschritten. Allerdings bleiben ca. ¼ aller Akademikerinnen kinderlos. Dennoch wird die Frage der Vereinbarkeit von Ärztinnenberuf und Familie zunehmend zur alltäglichen Managementherausforderung im Krankenhaus. Gleichzeitig sind so genannte Vereinbarkeitsfaktoren wichtige Attraktoren bei der…
Co-ordinated policies to tackle cancer
Cancer is a major cause of ill health within the EU, yet co-ordinated attempts to tackle it have been thin on the ground until now. At a dinner workshop at the European Health Forum Gastein*, speakers from the European CanCer Organisation (ECCO), set out their plans to tackle this anomaly and to promote collaborative action between all players in the field of oncology - patients, scientists,…
Cancer: Holistic approach is needed
Europe is facing the challenge of an expected dramatic increase in the prevalence of cancer that could reach 15 million Europeans by 2020. Health systems will require the promotion of innovative funding and a rethink in regulation, according to a new study released today at the European Health Forum Gastein (EHFG), the European Union's leading health policy congress for experts and…
Crisis threatens access to health and social services
According to leading economists, the current crises will hit the private sector heavily in 2010. Especially housholds in countries with poor social security networks will be affected heavily and are facing the danger of poverty. For healthcare systems this means an extra challenge additional to the burden of the demographic change. So the global economic crisis poses a massive threat to the…
Investing in medical progress
Talking about medical innovations, new drugs, techniques and technologies are the first things that come to mind, whereas new indications for existing pharmaceuticals, especially biological medicines, play a minor role.
Advancing growth in the European HIS market
Although most European hospitals have some kind of information system in place, very few have a fully integrated and functional hospital information systems (HIS) solution installed. Increasing accountability pressures on the government and regulatory authorities to garner more investments into healthcare IT adoption is boosting the HIS market potential.
US healthcare
Karen Dente reports on a feverish summer for reformers
Article • Personnel matters
Nurse migrations
Training healthcare personnel is not cheap; losing these human resources to other countries can prove even more costly. Where and why are nurses on the move?
Nurses call for drastic action on binge drinking
Responding to the publication of the Public Accounts Committee report, Reducing Alcohol Harm: health services in England for alcohol misuse, Dr Peter Carter, Chief Executive of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), renews the call for tighter alcohol regulation. "Nurses have said time and time again that the Government must take drastic action to stop this dire situation spiralling out of control,"…
Are clinical trials inadequate to ensure new treatments are safe?
Concerns over whether the tests a treatment undergoes before general release are enough to ensure its long-term safety have been raised in an editorial by Dr Vijay Sharma, Clinical Editor of BMJ Clinical Evidence. He suggests that treatments should be introduced gradually so that evidence can be built up and the treatment can find its proper niche.
When donors are not forthcoming
Expectations ran high when the German Transplant Law (TPG) was introduced in 1997. The government felt it had done its part to ensure more legal certainty for the donation, removal and transplantation of organs: the population could feel encouraged to sign up for organ donation and was supposed to follow suit. However, this did not occur.
The state of play in EU States
Waiting lists for organ transplants are lengthening in most European countries, forcing the need to increase donations higher up the medical and political agenda, Mark Nicholls reports. Spain continues to lead the way in organ donation with the so-called Spanish Model approach, while other countries, e.g. the UK, are debating whether to adopt 'presumed consent' and an 'opt-out' rather than…
Spanish healthcare
In July 2007, Bernat Soria Escoms, one of the world's leading experts in stem cell research, became Spain's new Health Minister, when his predecessor Elena Salgado was moved to Public Administration.
UK doctors urged to challenge 'aberrant corporate cultures'
Dr Jonathan Fielden, Chairman of the Consultants Committee of the British Medical Association (BMA), has called for private management consultants to be "ditched" from the UK's National Health Service (NHS).
Breast screening programme deemed a success
Preliminary results of a study on the acceptance of the German mammography screening programme indicate that women support current efforts to detect breast cancer early.
France re-engineers healthcare system
Reform of the French healthcare system was placed on a fast track for legislative approval that turned into a six-month marathon of debate punctuated by several street demonstrations. John Brosky reports
ICN Elects New President
Rosemary Bryant, outstanding nursing leader nationally and internationally, has been elected as the 26th President of the International Council of Nurses (ICN).
Article • Be prepared
The WHO Surgical Safety Checklist
Following the launch of the Action Alliance on Patient Safety (High 5s) initiative, launched in 2006 by the World Health Organisation (WHO) Collaborating Centre on Patient Safety (Solutions), the World Alliance for Patient Safety and the Commonwealth Fund, in June 2008 the WHO introduced a Surgical Safety Checklist, as part of the Safe Surgery Saves Lives Campaign. Over 300 organisations,…
Article • Aging society
Care of elderly and geriatric patients in EU countries
The system lacks a coherent structure to deal with its rapidly aging population.