Cypriot patients’ access to qualitative health care could be placed at risk

January 21, 2014 Org Medlines No comments

KEFEA warns that Cypriot patients’ access to qualitative health care could be placed at risk

Constant references to “expensive” medicines and wrongful comparisons between the private sector prices in Cyprus and prices of other countries with comprehensive health systems, paint a distorted picture of medicine prices in Cyprus. The Cyprus Association of Research and Development Pharmaceutical Companies (KEFEA) denounces this attempt to mislead the public and clarifies that the pricing policy is defined by the state and there are no margins for profiteering by the pharmaceutical companies, as it has been implied.

Commenting on statements by Auditor General Chrystalla Georghadji at the House Committee on Development Plans and Public Expenditure Control that she had received threats due to her assertions on high medicine prices, as well as the reference by DIKO MP Georgios Prokopiou that he too had been subjected to interventions on the same topic, KEFEA is calling on the two officials to submit specific evidence, so as to avoid stigmatising persons and companies.
KEFEA considers it an oxymoron that the Audit Office investigates data regarding medicine prices in the private sector, but never refers to the public sector, which services 80% of patients and where medicine prices are considered to be among the lowest in Europe.

Saddened by the fact that medicines in Cyprus are often seen as a consumer product and not a commodity, KEFEA warns that Cypriot patients’ access to qualitative healthcare could be placed at risk through incorrect actions and practices. It refers specifically to a number of innovative medicines that are available in other European countries, but are completely absent from state hospitals in Cyprus due to outdated procedures followed by the state in purchasing them. In fact, it is calling on the Audit Office to examine this matter, which is effectively hindering patients’ access to new, effective treatments, with the same zeal.

KEFEA remains a firm supporter of implementing the NHS, as it feels this will set aside these inequalities and allow the introduction of innovative medicines at fair prices. Concluding, it expresses concern over information claiming the proposed NHS may not be implemented or might be delayed.

KEFEA was established in 2006 and represents the innovative pharmaceutical industry in Cyprus. KEFEA’s members are the companies GSK, Lilly, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, Sanofi and Amgen Hellas. Its mission is to provide Cypriots with innovative medicines. Among its objectives are to ensure uninterrupted access to medicines in the Cyprus market, provide qualitative healthcare, offer scientific educational information on diseases and treatments to healthcare providers, and ensure that European objectives regarding high healthcare standards are implemented in Cyprus.

Pin It

France OKs sale of medical cannabis

January 20, 2014 Org Medlines No comments

France OKs sale of medical cannabis

The French drug safety agency has approved commercial sales of a medicine derived from cannabis for the first time in France.

Read: More about dagga (cannabis)

France’s Health Ministry has said in a statement that sales of Sativex, produced by Britain’s GW Pharmaceuticals, will be allowed for the treatment of muscle spasms associated with multiple sclerosis.

Sativex contains marijuana’s two best known components – delta 9-THC and cannabidiol. The company’s website says the medicine has already been launched in 11 countries and approved in more than a dozen others.

A number of countries have been easing curbs on the sale of cannabis-based products for medical use in recent years, and the US state of Colorado allowed the nation’s first legal recreational marijuana shops to open starting this year.

Pin It

Greece and Bulgaria were ranked on top for countries with the most women smokers

January 19, 2014 Org Medlines No comments

Greece and Bulgaria were ranked on top for countries with the most women smokers

More people smoke worldwide today than in 1980, as population growth surges and cigarettes gain popularity in countries such as China, India and Russia, researchers said Tuesday.
Globally, the number of smokers has climbed from 721 million in 1980 to 967 million in 2012.
The number of cigarettes smoked annually has also risen 26 percent over the past three decades.
“The greatest health risks are likely to occur in countries with high prevalence and high consumption,” said the study.Those countries include China, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Korea, the Philippines, Uruguay, Switzerland and Russia, it said.

This data shows to number of smokers in the countries Data: http://smokersmate.co.uk/different_faces_of_tobacco

The highest smoking rates among men in 2012 were in Timor-Leste (61 percent) and Indonesia (57 percent), followed by Armenia (51.5 percent), Russia (51 percent) and Cyprus (48 percent). Top countries for women smokers were Greece (34.7 percent) and Bulgaria (31.5 percent).

http://tribune.com.pk/story/656341/more-smokers-worldwide-than-in-1980-study/

Pin It

What is a traumatic brain injury?

January 18, 2014 Org Medlines No comments

What is a traumatic brain injury?

A severe blow to the head, such as the one that Michael Schumacher received recently in a skiing accident, can cause traumatic brain injury. It can either heal – or become life-threatening.

Even a small brain injury can have grave consequences. Although the bones that make up our skull protect the brain, strong concussions through a blow or a fall can damage the skull, the brain, and the blood vessels inside it, causing a so-called traumatic brain injury (TBI).

After an accident, it’s not always easy to see whether and to what extent the brain has been injured. Dangerous hemorrhages or swellings often only occur hours or days later. For that reason, doctors often only judge the severity of an injury by its external symptoms – how the patient is behaving, whether or not they open their eyes when addressed, whether or not they are able to control their movements, whether they react to pain stimuli, and for how long they remain unconscious.

Traumatic brain injuries can be relatively harmless – or they can be deadly. Doctors subdivide the severity of brain injuries into various degrees: the first and mildest of these is commonly known as concussion. Scans show no damage, and if brain functions are impaired, they usually return to normal within around four days.

The second gradation occurs when the patient is unconscious for some time – 15 minutes or longer. A rule of thumb dictates that the longer unconsciousness continues, the greater the risk of lasting physical and mental damage. With this moderate form of brain injury, the injury generally fades after four weeks. After-effects, however – such as concentration problems, headaches, or dizzy spells – can continue for years.

Patients with a third-degree brain injury are often unconscious for more than an hour, and the neurological consequences are massive. A patient with a severe brain injury like this can suffer seizures, paralysis, and even personality changes. Such damage is usually irreparable.

A definitive diagnosis of the severity of a brain injury can be provided by imaging technology, such as computer axial tomography (CAT), which supplies three-dimensional x-ray scans of the brain. This allows doctors to see signs of hemorrhaging, bruises (or hematoma), and swellings (or edemata).

Patients with a moderate or severe traumatic brain injury should be treated in intensive care. An emergency operation is often necessary to reduce life-threatening pressure inside the skull, since the bone casing has no room for expansion.

In cases like this, the doctor has to drill small holes into the skull to relieve pressure from built-up blood or other fluids. Brain pressure needs be constantly monitored, while medication having a diuretic effect can also help reduce pressure.

Pin It

German scientists develope artificial bone marrow

January 17, 2014 Org Medlines No comments

German scientists develope artificial bone marrow

FTimes- Xinhua Report

German scientists have developed a prototype of artificial bone marrow, which can simplify the treatment of leukemia in a few years, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) announced on Friday.

Scientists from KIT, Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Stuttgart and the University of Tubingen have recreated basic properties of the natural bone marrow artificially in a laboratory. The haematopoietic stem cells provide replenishment of red blood cells or immune cells, so they can be used for the treatment of leukemia, in a way that the diseased cells of the patient are replaced with healthy haematopoietic stem cells from a matched donor.

However, at present not every leukemia patient can find a matchable doner, so a simple solution to this problem would be to increase hematopoietic stem cells. As the hematopoietic stem cells retain their stem cell properties only in their natural environment, the scientists need to create an environment that resembles the stem cell niche in the bone marrow. To accomplish this goal, the German scientists created with synthetic polymer a porous structure that mimics the structure of the spongy bone in the area of the hematopoietic bone marrow. In the artificial bone marrow, the researchers directed isolated hematopoietic stem cells freshly from umbilical cord blood and incubated them for several days.

Analyzes with different methods showed that the cells actually proliferate in the newly developed artificial bone marrow. Now the scientists can study the interactions between materials and stem cells in detail in the laboratory to find out how the behavior of stem cell is influenced and controlled by synthetic materials. This knowledge could help to realize an artificial stem cell niche for the targeted increase of stem cells to treat leukemia patients in 10 to 15 years.

- See more at: http://www.finlandtimes.fi/health/2014/01/04/3982/German-scientists-develope-artificial-bone-marrow#sthash.gXdrWYwv.dpuf

and also at : http://www.dw.de/scientists-create-artificial-bone-marrow-that-helps-stem-cells-thrive/a-17351465

Pin It

Serbia potential hotbed of super-resistant bacteria

January 16, 2014 Org Medlines No comments

Serbia potential hotbed of super-resistant bacteria

Serbia has reported several deaths caused by the NDM-1 bacteria, resistant to even the strongest antibiotics, Belgrade’s Blic daily said on Thursday, adding that world experts had designated Serbia as a potential hotbed of this dangerous superbug.

According to Blic, scientists have warned that NDM-1 has been found among people from Great Britain, the United States, Canada, Australia and the Netherlands who travelled to India or Serbia for surgery.

The new bacteria gene, called New Delhi Metallo-beta-lactamase-1 or NDM-1, is present in bacteria resistant to nearly all known antibiotics, including the carbapenem family, considered the strongest and most reliable antibiotics for many infections.

“The superbug has been identified in eight patients in our country in 2011 and 2012, but this isn’t the real picture of NDM-1 presence, just the tip of the iceberg. The patients were treated at the Military Medical Academy and at a private clinic,” Dr. Branko Jovcic from the Belgrade Faculty of Biology was quoted as saying.

This expert said it was long believed that this bacteria started spreading in India, but later data showed that the Balkan region, notably Serbia, was a reservoir of NDM-1 and possibly its second endemic region.

Jovcic lamented the lack of a reaction from the relevant institutions.

He said the death rate in NDM-1 cases was up to 50 per cent, depending on a patient’s age, immune system, and quality of health care.

He said Serbia had been brought to this position because of antibiotic abuse, resulting in more resistant bacteria.

Jovcic said hospitals were full of bacteria which “have made themselves at home” there, becoming much more resistant.

Pin It

For the first time HIMSS conference to be held in Turkey

January 15, 2014 Org Medlines No comments

For the first time HIMSS conference to be held in Turkey

HIMSS is a global, cause-based, not-for-profit organization focused on better health through information technology (IT). HIMSS leads efforts to optimize health engagements and care outcomes using information technology.

HIMSS is a part of HIMSS WorldWide, a cause-based, global enterprise producing health IT thought leadership, education, events, market research and media services around the world. Founded in 1961, HIMSS WorldWide encompasses more than52,000 individuals, of which more than two-thirds work in healthcare provider, governmental and not-for-profit organizations across the globe, plus over 600 corporations and 250 not-for-profit partner organizations, that share this cause. HIMSS WorldWide, headquartered in Chicago, serves the global health IT community with additional offices in the United States, Europe, and Asia.

This is the first time the conference will be held in Turkey. With all the exciting developments happening, this event promises to be an exciting gathering for both public and private participants from Turkey and abroad. HIMSS is currently collecting data from all 820 public hospitals in Turkey and will provide an overview from the data collection at the conference.

Turkey’s total healthcare spending in 2014 is forecast at US$ 63 billion.

The Ministry of Health of the Republic of Turkey (MoH) has launched a Public Private Partnership program to create the most modern and efficient healthcare infrastructure in Turkey. Under the new law on public-private partnerships the state will rent city hospitals built and run by the private sector for 25 years.

This is the first time the Turkish Ministry of Health and HIMSS Europeare co-hosting an event.

The Conference will consist of two days with:

Two educational tracks
An exhibition floor
Onsite matchmaking with translation services provided
Networking events

For registration and others please visit: http://himssturkey.org/2014/

Pin It

Bird flu outbreak: 20 hospitalized in Spain

January 14, 2014 Org Medlines No comments

Bird flu outbreak: 20 hospitalized in Spain

Twenty people have come down with the H5N1 strain of avian influenza, or bird flu, in the Spanish region of Aragon, local media are reporting.

The infected patients have been admitted into hospitals in Teruel and Zaragoza as a result of the outbreak. Local health authorities said on Thursday the H5N1 strain of influenza A virus involved was unusual but covered by standard medical guidelines. Among the measures being taken are vaccination of family members and isolation of patients, local daily El Periódico de Aragon reported.

Health authorities are now warning people of the importance of prevention. Vaccinations are available at health centres until March. ”You don’t have to belong to a risk group” such as children or people aged over 65 years of age, the regional health department said of the outbreak. Bird flu rose to international prominence in 2009 after a global pandemic

Most cases of avian influenza — a respiratory disease which originates in birds — are relatively mild, but severe cases can lead to hospitalization or even death.

http://www.thelocal.es/20140110/bird-flu-strikes

Pin It

Croatioan medical bribe saga continues

January 13, 2014 Org Medlines No comments

Croatioan medical bribe saga continues

Health Minister Rajko Ostojic has said that the issuance of an indictment against a large number of physicians and the pharmaceutical firm Farmal reflects a very serious situation in the Croatian public healthcare.

“The issuance of the indictment means that there are suspicions and that this is a serious situation. We will see what will be proved and what will not be proved during the court proceedings, and the ministry or the (national medical) association will act accordingly,” the minister told the HRT national broadcaster on Sunday.

In the case codenamed ” Hippocrates” the Croatian anti-corruption office USKOK has indicted 364 doctors and the pharmaceutical firm Farmal for conspiracy to commit crime, bribery, abuse of office and incitement to abuse of official capacity, the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office (DORH) said on its website on Friday night. The indictment covers the largest number of the accused in the country’s judicial history.

According to the indictment, Farmal’s CEO Drazen Dedi and four other executives set up and ran a network of doctors and pharmacists across Croatia to sell the company’s products and in return gave them various gifts, including money and travel, worth between five and ten per cent of the medicines prescribed. The indictment covers the period from 2009 to October 12, 2012.

The police arrested nine suspects on November 13, 2012 as part of the Hippocrates operation, including Dedi and his closest associates, who were later remanded in 30-day investigative custody. In order to achieve their goal, the company’s executives hired 22 suspects who regularly visited doctors and pharmacists to reward them for prescribing Farmal’s products.

As for claims by an unnamed physician that doctors could not travel abroad where they attend congresses and symposiums without financial assistance of pharmaceutical companies and in the same vein, he raised the question who paid for Ostojic’s training in the USA and how come that as a gastroenterologist, Ostojic attended a symposium of psychiatrists in Cuba, Minister Ostojic refuted all those allegations.

“I have never been to Cuba. I was awarded a scholarship at an international tender of the American Gastroenterological Association as the only representative from Europe,” Ostojic said.

source: http://dalje.com/en-croatia/minister–indictment-in-hippocrates-case-reflects-serious-situation/493338

Pin It

EMIS Web Helps Occupational Health Team Improve Care for 25,000 NHS Staff and Healthcare Students

January 12, 2014 Org Medlines No comments

One of the biggest NHS occupational health (OH) services in the UK is saving time and improving healthcare for over 25,000 staff and students thanks to EMIS Web. The Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is one of the first NHS OH departments in the UK to go entirely paperless with health care for its employees. Using EMIS’ transformational clinical system, the service is able to respond more quickly to health emergencies among staff and has significantly reduced admin time spent in preparing for OH clinics.

The SEQOHS-accredited department is one of the biggest in England, responsible for the occupational health of staff and students across several sites including two major hospitals – Leeds General Infirmary and St James’s University Hospital. Before introducing EMIS Web, the department was swamped in paperwork.

Andrea Hildred, business manager for the Occupational Health Service, explained: “We have a multidisciplinary team of consultants, specialist nurse practitioners and advisors, psychiatrists, a psychologist and dedicated administration professionals. An individual member of staff may have interactions with any number of these team members from multiple sites. A paper-based records system was a massive headache as each interaction had to be recorded separately, collated and added to the employee’s OH file.

“We desperately wanted a system that would enable authorised team members to access and update an employee’s OH file safely, securely and in real-time – EMIS Web was the solution.”

“For example, in infection prevention and control, we may have a situation where 50 employees need to be followed up. In these scenarios we need to code, track and monitor employees and update OH records according to developments. With EMIS Web the process is quicker, safer and more accurate than paper records because the templates drive consistency and information gathered is in real-time.

“The system also enables us to react more efficiently in an emergency. For example, we support staff who are inadvertently exposed to blood. In these situations, enabling members across the team to view and update the affected individual’s file immediately is fantastic – the need for speed and accuracy is paramount.”

She added: “Preparing clinics is one of our biggest tasks. Getting each attendee’s file, ensuring clinicians have the right details and then updating individual employee OH files with notes and actions took a great deal of resource. With EMIS Web, time on this task is reduced because the data is there in a centralised hub – quickly accessible and updateable. The time saved by efficiencies like these mean the new system is effectively self-funding.

“Also, because the system is so adaptable, we’ve been able to really tailor it to our specific needs – creating bespoke templates and reports. This was a big plus for us.”

It’s not just the OH team that have been quick to see the benefits of the new system. “In some cases, it used to take several days to release reports for managers but now everything is done electronically on EMIS Web, the process is much quicker.”

The OH team is now looking at linking EMIS Web to an on-line health screening programme for assessing the health of student doctors and nurses.

http://www.emis-online.com/emis-web-helps-occupational-health-team-improve-care-for-25,000-nhs-staff-and-healthcare-students

Pin It

MEDICAL JOBS

WE OFFER

Premium Medical jobs

Archives

Recent Posts

Viniseera anti-cancer supplement

Categories

Google Groups

Top Posts & Pages

Monthly Archives: January 2014

KEFEA warns that Cypriot patients’ access to qualitative health care could be placed at risk

France OKs sale of medical cannabis

Greece and Bulgaria were ranked on top for countries with the most women smokers

What is a traumatic brain injury?

German scientists develope artificial bone marrow

Serbia potential hotbed of super-resistant bacteria

For the first time HIMSS conference to be held in Turkey

Bird flu outbreak: 20 hospitalized in Spain

Croatioan medical bribe saga continues

MEDNEWSofficial

Follow Us

Advertisement

FRENCH MEDICAL JOBS

Recent Posts

Recent Comments

Recent Pins