#EAPM update: retards d’HTA, tractament post-COVID ... i aquestes aplicacions

Greetings, colleagues, and here’s the latest European Alliance for Personalised Medicine (EAPM update as we approach what we would normally call ‘summer’, escriu Directora Executiva EAPM Denis Horgan.

It’s all just a bit different this year, of course, and not for the better. Although a lot of countries are winding-back their lockdown processes slowly but surely, it remains to be seen how many of us decide to take a holiday abroad - wherever that may be - amid continuing fears in respect of COVID-19.

Some daring souls will go for it, of course, but it’s clear that the travel and tourism industries are in for a rough ride for the foreseeable future. ‘Staycations’ are likely to be the order of the day this time around, with many of us deciding to holiday in our own countries.

In the meantime, don’t forget that EAPM has a conferència virtual coming up very soon - next week, in fact, Dimarts 30 juny.

Amb el títol 'Maintaining public trust in the use of Big Data for health science in a COVID and post-COVID world', actua com un esdeveniment pont entre les presidències de la UE Croàcia i Alemanya.

Juntament amb els nostres grans oradors, els assistents seran escollits pels principals experts en l’àmbit de la medicina personalitzada, inclosos pacients, contribuents, professionals de la salut, a més de la indústria, la ciència, el món acadèmic i el camp de la investigació.

Aquí és l'enllaç per registrar-se.

anunci

HTA process is victim of COVID crisis

Parlant de EU presidencies…Croatia has not-surprisingly stated (in a progress report) that the coronavirus crisis put a spanner in the works of the HTA process, which had already been dragging on anyway.

The Council negotiations over the Commission’s proposals - especially the mandatory parts of joint clinical assessment - had reached a sticking point, with some member states complaining of attempted over-reach on the part of the EU Executive in an area - health care - that is closely guarded.

The report by the presidency argues that the pandemic “emphasises the importance of having a legally sound and functioning HTA system in place”. Of course, it isn’t in place just yet - at least not as the Commission and others envisage it - which is not in the least surprising as Croatia only managed to hold two of six planned working party meetings on the topic.

Despite the Commission plans being backed by the European Parliament, a blocking minority of EU countries still stands in the way of serious progress.

Fragile EU project

And it’s not just issues over HTA that have been highlighted due to the situation we currently find ourselves in. No lesser personage than the German Chancellor and, to many, the leading light of the EU, Angela Merkel,, says the crisis has illustrated just “how fragile the European project still is”.

Merkel offered the opinion to the German parliament, adding that: “The first reflexes, including our own, were rather national and not entirely European. This was, as good as some reasons may have been, above all unreasonable. 

“A global pandemic requires joint international action and mutual support.” 

Germany’s finest went on to say that: “We must not allow the pandemic to lead to a drifting apart of the economic perspectives of the EU Member States and thus weaken the common internal market, a core element of Europe.

“We should not be naive…The anti-democratic forces, the radical, authoritarian movements are just waiting for economic crises to be exploited politically. They are just waiting to stir up social anxiety and spread insecurity.”

That’s a lot of ground covered there, in a few short sentences, but one could hardly argue.

Angela’s wish list…

Mentre mirem cap al Conferència sobre el futur d’Europa, Merkel says it shouldn’t merely focus on a few issues, adding “we could achieve concrete and tangible results in the foreseeable future”.

The chancellor has some key things on her mind and, for the record, these include the further development of the Schengen system, the modernisation of competition law to adapt it to the challenge of digitalisation and globalisation, the development of a Europe-wide pandemic preparedness, and the creation of a European Security Council in foreign policy matters.

Someone is going to be very busy…

gravar vegades 

Comissari d'Economia Paolo Gentiloni said last week that the EU will stand behind EU countries “that have moved forward with their own digital services taxes”.

“And if needed, we will react as one.” 

France has said it will go forward with plans to impose digital taxes at national level after the US confirmed it had pulled out of talks on global rules for taxing the digital economy. Well, there’s a surprise, said nobody, ever.

Not to be defeated, Gentiloni pledged: “The European Commission wants a global solution to bring corporate taxation into the 21st century…But if that proves impossible this year, we have been clear that we will come forward with a new proposal at EU level.”

Post-coronavirus care

While the wave of COVID-19 patients is heading downwards in many major cities, another surge is ongoing and looks set to have a considerable impact going forward. It turns out that a substantial amount of survivors are suffering serious medical problems post-treatment.

Obviously, that will further stretch the resources of hospitals, rehabilitation centres and other medical providers as, over the coming weeks and months, we’ll be learning a lot about the quality of survival, from the thick end of it.

During lengthy amounts of time in intensive-care units, patients often end up on ventilators, 24/7 for a week. With this comes sedation to stabilise their breathing, atrophying muscles and, worse, the development of acute kidney injury.

The data is young and limited, of course, but it seems that patients who end up in intensive care units for extended periods are prone to developing conditions which may include cognitive, muscular and neurological problems, plus PTSD. 

It seems reasonable to conclude therefore that many patients will come out of the other end of COVID-19 and an extended spell in an ICU with debilitating infirmities and major care challenges. That’s bad enough, even before we get hit by a possible second wave of the virus.

Not app-y

Recentment va sorgir que el UK has ditched its original standalone track and trace app due to inherent inaccuracies in its processes. 

It was only effective on 4% of Apple devices and, while with Google it hit around 75%, it has been deemed insufficient.

But Britain is not alone in having big issues with these coronavirus apps. For example, Noruega paused its own app this week after only 14% of the population had signed up, and privacy campaigners just about everywhere you look have been warning against potential government surveillance of health data through dedicated devices.

Concerns are also rife among security professionals, while the developers of the app being used in Itàlia have said that there is a high likelihood of both false positives and negatives. 

As it stands, the UK is relying on citizens heavily, by asking them to conduct ‘contact tracing’, or calling those infected with the virus to determine whom they have been in contact with. 

Unfortunately, many people are either failing to answer the tracers' calls or declining to give details.

PPE boost

Bulgària has received several tonnes of PPE - personal protective equipment - including 500,000 protective masks - through the EU's rescEU. 

Sofia paid for the items, while the EU covered the transport costs.

I en Polònia, the health ministry has said that local governments will be able to distribute free PPE for officials working at voting stations for the presidential elections that are just around the corner.

The local governments can order face masks, visors, gloves, hand sanitisers and disinfectant - all for free.

That’s it for now. More later in the week - and don’t forget to register in advance for the conference on the 30th.  Aquí is the link to register again!

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