News • Saving lives
Ukraine signed declaration for action on stroke
Ukraine announced that the Ministry of Health of Ukraine along with the National Health Service of Ukraine support and have signed the Declaration for Action on Stroke.
Healthcare politics
Article • Drug repurposing
Social impact bonds leverage private investment
Identifying new uses for approved therapeutic drugs continues to drive academics and clinicians to provide safe, affordable and rapid development of new treatment options for patients with common or rare diseases.
Article • Intelligent health
Introducing AI across the NHS
Artificial Intelligence in health and care is being introduced across the UK via a major national project that is already producing a range of innovations. Latest developments were outlined to the online Intelligent Health conference in a headlining presentation by Dr Indra Joshi, Director of AI at NHSX, which is a joint unit bringing together teams from NHS England and NHS Improvement, and the…
Article • Oncology expert debate
Post-Brexit and future cancer research: What EU/UK deals may mean
Despite Brexit uncertainties, four leading UK cancer research experts expressed optimism for continued pan-European collaboration and innovation during the online panel debate ‘Brexit deal: What it really means for cancer research and innovation’ hosted by the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI).
News • EC proposal
Health industry welcomes European innovation partnership
The European Commission has proposed a European Partnership for Health Innovation under Horizon Europe - an endeavour that is supported by health industry stakeholders representing pharmaceutical and medical technology companies. In a joint statement, COCIR, EFPIA, EuropaBio, MedTech Europe and Vaccines Europe voice their approval: The Covid-19 pandemic has shown the importance of an environment…
News • Legal, ethical, medical challenges
12 things to consider before introducing Covid-19 vaccine passports
Covid-19 vaccine passports could be created, but significant challenges need to be overcome first, according to a report from a panel led by Oxford Professors Melinda Mills and Chris Dye, which outlines a dozen issues which must be addressed before passports can be introduced. The report is published by the SET-C (Science in Emergencies Tasking: Covid-19) group at the Royal Society and it…
News • Five things you need to know
Delaying the gap between COVID-19 vaccine doses
As the first coronavirus vaccines started to be rolled out at the end of a tumultuous 2020, UK officials unexpectedly endorsed stretching the gap between the first and second vaccine dose by up to three months – an approach also considered by other countries.
Article • Diagnosing SARS-CoV-2
The arsenal: Molecular (PCR), antigen and antibody testing
Germany’s lack of diagnostic ability led to significantly underestimation of its own as well as global Covid-19 infection levels during the first wave. Now, however, improved testing and diagnosis of the condition more realistically reveal nearer 20,000 new cases a day across the country, according to Professor Hendrik Streeck, one of the country’s leading virologists. Speaking at a virtual…
News • European Region of the International Diabetes Federation
Improved funding and training for nurses as key players in resilient health systems
How extraordinary it is that the 200th anniversary of the birth of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing, is celebrated on the year of the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Her key nursing values – including regularly washing hands and maintaining good hygiene – and her pioneering work in statistics and data collection have proven more relevant than ever.
Article • Antimicrobial Resistance Action Fund
AMR research gains $1 billion funding
A unique, ground-breaking global campaign, which has seen major pharmaceutical companies unite to fight antibiotic resistant infections, has been launched with a one-billion-dollar investment fund. The Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Action Fund aims to help save the collapsing antibiotic pipeline and make 2-4 new antibiotics available within a decade.
News • Impact of a 'lost decade'
Adult social care in the UK reaches breaking point, warn experts
Urgent reform of the funding of UK adult social care is needed to save a desperately overstretched system which has now reached breaking point, warn policy experts at the University of Birmingham. The crisis is partly the result of a ‘lost decade’ in which policymakers systematically failed to act on alarms raised back in 2010, say the researchers in a hard-hitting report published in the…
News • Restriction research
COVID-19: The earlier the lockdown, the fewer new cases, study shows
Physical distancing measures, such as closing schools, workplaces, and public transport, and restricting mass gatherings, are associated with a meaningful reduction in new COVID-19 cases, finds a study published by The BMJ. The data, gathered from 149 countries and regions, also show that implementing lockdown restrictions earlier was associated with a greater reduction in new cases. “These…
Article • Digital health approaches
The struggle to create COVID-19 contact-tracing apps
While scientists recently confirmed the crucial role contact-tracing apps play in containing the COVID-19 pandemic, politicians are exploring which app architecture offers better privacy protection. However, there is no doubt that in Western countries such an entirely voluntary app can only be successful if the population at large supports it.
Article • Modernising healthcare via digitisation
Public acceptance of electronic health on the rise
Focused on updating healthcare through digitisation, 41 experts and around 500 delegates gathered for the 4th ‘Digital Health Conference’ late in 2019. At the Berlin venue, they focused on solutions such as the potential lack of skilled staff, demographic changes, urbanisation and multimorbidity.
News • 30 years after reunification, health disparities still exist
Germany: reunited but still divided (in healthcare)
East Germany has many more hospitalisations for heart failure compared to West Germany despite a nationwide healthcare system, according to research presented today on HFA Discoveries, a scientific platform of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC). Heart failure is the most common reason for hospital admissions and is responsible for a large part of the total health expenditure on…
News • Clinical and healthcare information systems
Andrea Fiumicelli is new CEO of Dedalus Group
Dedalus Group, leader in Europe and one of the world’s leading players in clinical and healthcare information systems supporting clinical professionals and healthcare facilities has appointed Andrea Fiumicelli as CEO of the Group. The manager returns to Italy after several years spent abroad as top manager of large international companies operating in the ICT (Information & Communication…
Interview • Social care during the coronavirus pandemic
COVID-19: Don't forget the most vulnerable people
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought more strain on healthcare systems but it has also highlighted the necessity to integrate social care to healthcare to protect the most vulnerable populations in ageing societies, an eminent healthcare consultant told us in an exclusive interview.
News • Coronavirus politics
Experts attest Trump's "astounding incompetence" in dealing with COVID-19
Donald Trump has downplayed the risk of COVID-19 and delayed action, costing countless avertable deaths, argue experts in The BMJ. Gavin Yamey, professor of global health and public policy at Duke University, and Gregg Gonsalves, assistant professor of epidemiology at Yale School of Public Health, say Trump’s “astounding incompetence” was a political determinant of the US COVID-19 epidemic.…
Article • COVID-19 in the UK: an update
UK goes into 'controlled lockdown', Boris Johnson infected
As the United Kingdom enters its third week of lockdown and the battle against COVID-19 continues, the country’s health and care services are facing an ever-growing number of patients with the condition. The hospital-recorded death toll sat at 5,373 on April 6, up by 439 from 4,934 the previous day, with a total of 51,608 (up 3,802) confirmed cases reported. That compared with 5,683 cases of…
News • Study: 700,000 cases prevented
What China got right in the first 50 days of COVID-19
China's control measures during the first 50 days of the COVID-19 epidemic may have delayed the spread of the virus to cities outside of Wuhan by several days and, by interrupting transmission nationwide, prevented more than 700,000 infections across the country, according to an international team of researchers.
Article • Coronavirus chronology
COVID-19 in the U.S.: Government inaction gave virus a head start
The sense of fear is palpable in the images and videos of hospital intensive care units (ICUs) and emergency departments that are broadcast on television and posted on social media. Fear and heartbreak can be heard in the voices of physicians and nurses who describe what they are experiencing.
News • Primary care cooperation
Rwanda's ambitious aims for digital health
A partnership between the Rwandan government and Babyl, the country's largest digital health service provider, creates the framework for Rwanda's ascent to be a world leader in digital health. The partnership will allow people over the age of 12 to have a consultation with their doctor or nurse through their phone within minutes. They will be able to receive prescriptions, lab requests and…
News • Pharma for the people
Is it time to nationalise the drug industry?
Critics of the pharmaceutical industry say it is misaligned with public interest. So is it time to nationalise the sector? Experts debate the issue in The BMJ today. Mariana Mazzucato and Henry Lishi Li at the UCL Institute for Innovation & Public Purpose believe the state should play a greater role in the sector. They acknowledge that the private sector is crucial to bringing cutting-edge…
News • Early detection
Support for lung cancer screening gains momentum in Scotland
The need to consider a formal recommendation on early screening for lung cancer was acknowledged by the Cross Party Group for Cancer, held at the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh in January. Attended by over 40 people representing patients, the medical community, and the pharmaceutical industry as well as political advisers and Members of the Scottish Parliament, the Group agreed to write to the…
Interview • Diagnostics & therapy
AI: Hype, hope and reality
Artificial intelligence (AI) opens up a host of new diagnostic methods and treatments. Almost daily we read about physicians, researchers or companies that are developing an AI system to identify malignant lesions or dangerous cardiac patterns, or that can personalise healthcare. ‘Currently, we are too focused on the topic,’ observes Professor Christian Johner, of the Johner Institute for…