bsbh, Author at Better Science, Better Health

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So far bsbh has created 241 blog entries.

Webinar: Cancer Inequalities between and within Member States

15 December, 16-17.15 CET

Objective: The objective of this virtual event is to link EU CANCER PLAN and Beca Report with Country specific recommendations in order to reduce the Inequalities for (lung) cancer patients between and within Member States with focus on Eastern Europe.

Background:
Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan is one of the key pillars of the European Health Union project. For the successful implementation of the Plan, significant multi-level cooperation between institutions, member states, regional and local authorities as well as social partners and civil society organisations is required, in particular to bridge the important disparities in cancer prevention and access to cancer care between and within European countries. These inequalities have a deep impact on cancer incidence rates, survival and mortality across the EU. Strengthening EU cooperation to boost cancer research, innovation and new technologies in the fight against cancer and health inequalities is one of the underlying tools to ensure the highest standards of cancer care and equitable access for all Europeans, no matter where they live, and therefore one of the priorities of the BECA draft report.

The BECA draft report provides a wide range of concrete actions and tools in the fields of health and cancer research where the EU can complement and support national efforts to defeat cancer.

Webinar: Cancer Inequalities between and within Member Statesbsbh2021-12-01T14:18:41+00:00

Webinar: Climate and Health – why should policymakers and the public be concerned?

23 November

With the global temperatures on the rise and increasing climate instability, what will be the impact on health? How can society best respond now to future challenges that both address the economic realities of climate change and anticipate any demands that may be placed upon public health systems which are already under severe strain due to demographic shifts and aging populations.

Natural experiments of the impact of enforced rapid reduction in economic activity and reduced pollution are being seen in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Topics to be considered in the webinar include impacts of planned efforts to limit climate change on financial health and thus funding for healthcare; increasing need for emergency support for floods and associated epidemics; health effects of forced migration; and climate change, pollution and health. Reducing global warming via less pollution would reduce risks of communicable diseases and non- communicable diseases, including cancers. What evidence on health benefits of limiting climate change would lead to a change in policy?

Video

Webinar: Climate and Health – why should policymakers and the public be concerned?bsbh2021-12-01T14:21:18+00:00

Webinar: Addressing Geopolitical Challenges to the Price of Medicines

26 October, 4pm UK

Innovative health technologies are often enthusiastically viewed as game changers however their costs are sharply criticised. Take, for example, CAR T-Cell therapy, which has a price of up to 500,000 euro per person. This raises many questions. For example, what is a fair price for a medicine? How should the price be related to the effectiveness or the number of end-users? What about the risks taken by the company to get the therapy to market? What about the risks taken by the end-user who use the medicine? And what about the risks taken by the payer? Is it unrealistic to think that there is a solution that would be fair to all stakeholders? And how can we ensure that the whole system is financially sustainable in the long term?

Video

Webinar: Addressing Geopolitical Challenges to the Price of Medicinesbsbh2021-12-01T14:15:11+00:00

Early Bird: Diagnosed but not treated? Prioritizing timely care in Europe’s cancer plans

13 October, 2021

Timely access to optimal treatment has great promise for significantly improving outcomes for cancer patients. For instance, the early diagnosis and treatment of skin cancer provides a 99% chance of 5-year survival – yet in later stages, the odds drop to just 27%. As well, the length of time it takes for cancer treatments to reach patients is vitally important to European and national cancer policies, including Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan.

Current political debates around access cancer medicines often overlook the interplay of factors that cause suboptimal treatment rates. Ineligibility requirements, late diagnostic testing, treatment delays, poorly defined clinical guidelines, and resource constraints worsen a patient’s access to timely and adequate treatments.

How can we ensure that patients are diagnosed promptly and can access treatment in a timely manner? Why does reimbursement not always correlate to access to innovative treatments across Europe? How should we prioritize treatment rates in cancer plans?

Video

Early Bird: Diagnosed but not treated? Prioritizing timely care in Europe’s cancer plansbsbh2021-10-13T13:29:04+00:00

Webinar: Improving patient safety: why perioperative care and effective monitoring matters

28 September, 2021, 2-3pm CET

In Europe, 2.4 million patients undergo high-risk surgery every year and while surgery is safer today than ever – it is not totally risk free, Evidence suggest that death during surgery is now rare but the 30 days after the procedure are crucial – more than 1 in 100 adults (1.5%) die in the first 30 days following their operation. During high-risk surgery it is vital that blood continues to flow to organs. If blood pressure drops, and organs do not get enough blood, the higher the risk of severe postoperative complications, such as myocardial injury, acute kidney injury, and increased mortality, These drops in blood pressure are known as intraoperative hypotension (IOH) and are common – particularly in more senior patients. As little as a minute of IOH can increase the risk of patient harm or death and there is low awareness of this urgent issue among patients, clinicians, and policy makers. However, if IOH is effectively monitored and managed, many of these issues can be reduced or avoided. In addition, the need to improve perioperative care has been accentuated by the pandemic, which has put pressure on hospital capacity.

video

Webinar: Improving patient safety: why perioperative care and effective monitoring mattersbsbh2021-10-13T13:32:54+00:00

Webinar: Equity and Outcomes, Ensuring Fair Access to Healthcare

28 September 2021, 4pm UK

Life expectancy is generally on the increase, including healthy life expectancy. New treatments that have greatly improved the chance of survival following the diagnosis of life-threatening diseases.

However, comparisons of survival rates reveal striking differences among countries for cancers, cardiovascular disorders and other serious non-communicable and communicable diseases, even between countries with a similar GDP. What are the reasons for these differences and, more importantly, what are the best ways to address them? The aim of the session is to raise awareness among health policy makers, clinical and biotechnology, health professionals, academics and interested public and patients about gaps and needs for equity in health outcomes and fair access to healthcare.

Video

Webinar: Equity and Outcomes, Ensuring Fair Access to Healthcarebsbh2021-10-07T11:58:24+00:00

Webinar: Artificial Intelligence – Improving Health, from Smart Hospitals to Smart Homes

24 August 2021, 4pm UK

What do developments of smart hospitals and smart homes mean for patients, health professionals and policy makers? Better diagnostics? Better medicines? Greater efficiency? Nowadays use of the term artificial intelligence (AI) elicits all sorts of reactions, from enthusiasm to fear. How much are these reactions well-founded? One thing is clear: when it comes to health, AI can be applied in myriad ways, from all of the departments in a hospital to all corners of one’s home.

Given the patchy performance of public health approaches during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the benefit of hindsight, how can we better harness available data to improve decision making for improved societal health, cost management, and patient outcomes – better safety of medicines, control of long-term conditions and solutions for rare/orphan diseases?

More Info

Webinar: Artificial Intelligence – Improving Health, from Smart Hospitals to Smart Homesbsbh2021-10-07T12:01:17+00:00

Webinar: Vaccines, Trusted Information and Fake News

27 July, 4pm UK

Within many countries the COVID—19 pandemic is entering a 3rd wave and vaccine confidence is a live issue. According to an August 2018 edition of the Economist, “Italy, France and Serbia … have lower child-vaccinations rates than Burundi, Rwanda and Senegal.” On a background of differences in regulatory approaches to COVID-19 vaccine approvals and statements critical of COVID-19 vaccine efficacy by national leaders, Belgium at one point in 2021 had received 200,000 units but had only been able to distribute 4% of their quantity due to a lack of acceptance in the general public. In contrast, the WHO notes preparedness to accept a COVID-19 vaccine of 65% in recent surveys in Less Developed Countries.
How do we ensure that valid information regarding vaccines is circulated and accepted at all levels of society both in developed and in less developed countries? How do we disentangle outright vaccine refusal from vaccine hesitancy?

Watch Video

Webinar: Vaccines, Trusted Information and Fake Newsbsbh2021-10-07T11:57:41+00:00

H.R. 3’s international reference pricing misses the mark

By Susan Peschin and Duane Schulthess, April 28, 2021

The White House and Congress have declared that reining in Medicare prescription drug costs to help older adults and people with disabilities is a top priority. But one drug pricing strategy on the table would have an outsized negative impact on people with Alzheimer’s disease and decimate research trying to find effective treatments for it. This strategy, known as international reference pricing, ties the price that Medicare pays for some drugs to those paid by other countries. The idea was first introduced as a model for Medicare Part B drugs by then-HHS Secretary Alex Azar in 2018. The next year, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s drug pricing plan, known as the Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act (H.R. 3), significantly expanded the scope to allow federal government use of foreign price controls in direct negotiations with pharmaceutical companies for the cost of 250 prescription medicines in Medicare Part B and Part D. It also extended the negotiated price to insurers and the commercial market at large.

H.R. 3’s international reference pricing misses the markbsbh2021-10-07T11:58:42+00:00

Webinar: Taking the next step: health literacy and the fight against cancer

14 April, 8.30-9.00 CET

Higher degrees of health literacy support patients at every stage of their journeys: they help to navigate decision-making and elevate patients to partners. If combined with health literate institutions, the coproduction of health can improve patient care and help reduce costs of unnecessary and inappropriate medical intervention.
Policy changes to increase health literacy have been notoriously difficult to implement, due also to a lack of evidence about the correlation between measures to increase health literacy and actual outcomes. Several initiatives have taken on the task to create such evidence. Most recently, Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan promises to make cancer literacy a priority for European policy makers, guidelines, and programs of action.
What do we know about the value of health literacy, where do we need to know more? How can we achieve higher degrees of health literacy? What lessons can we draw from the current pandemic? Join two outstanding experts for an Early Bird discussion on health literacy!

Watch Video

Webinar: Taking the next step: health literacy and the fight against cancerbsbh2021-10-07T11:59:03+00:00

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