EAPM: 'עס איז געווען וואַלן טאָג יוו און אַלע דורך די הויז ...

...‘I knew in a moment he must be...’ Donald Trump/Joe Biden (choose as you prefer). Ah, the US elections – for your European Alliance for Personalised Medicine (EAPM) update today, we are drawing parallels between bitter rivalries coming together in peace across the European Union and tackling COVID 19 in 2020, and what is being cited as one of the most important elections in living memory stateside, and the implications both have for health as well as what is happening at an EU level, שרייבט עאַפּם אויספֿיר דירעקטאָר דעניס האָרגאַן.

Health in our time

Any attempt to bring a more coherent view to health policy planning must also take into account the state of flux of the EU – itself in constant evolution, in a period of active review of its priorities and coping with the impending withdrawal of the UK.

Lest we forget, within less than a lifetime, bitter enemies on either side of the Rhine have become the backbone of a union of peace across Western Europe, permitting a growth in security, healthcare and quality of life now shared by more than half a billion people. At the same time, the ceaseless development of innovation for citizens has transformed the quality for everyday life for Europeans – to low-cost diagnos, in access to 24/7 global communications to share/access data, to the availability round the year of an unprecedented variety of high-quality of care from this specialists, and in ever-more sophisticated health care through personalised medicine.

The European Union itself recognizes this necessity.  In early 2018 the European Commission initiated a formal process of reflection on options for the EU's own future evolution. In a White Paper it set out five possible scenarios, ranging from minimalist to maximalist approaches. 

The five scenarios were: 

• Carrying on much as at present, with the EU-27 focusing on "its positive reform agenda".

  אַדווערטייזמאַנט

• Nothing but the Single Market, with the EU-27 "gradually re-centred on the single market".

• Those who want more do more: The EU-27 allows willing member states to do more together in specific areas

• Doing less more efficiently: The EU-27 focuses on delivering more and faster in selected policy areas, while doing less elsewhere 

• Doing much more together: Member states decide to do much more together across all policy areas.

But opinions are divided on how to act and the same parallels are reflected at the other side of the pond. For instance, while there is wide agreement that maintaining dozens of distinct procedures for health technology assessment across Europe is inefficient, there is less consensus on just how to streamline the system. What might seem a logical answer – to set up an EU-level scientific assessment of a product's clinical characteristics, and leave the decision over reimbursement at national level – has run into vigorous opposition from some member states who see a risk of EU intrusion into national decision-making. 

יו. עס. ילעקשאַנז

And, concerning wide (and widening) divides, voters on both sides of the US’s chasm are now poised to deliver a verdict on President Trump’s four tumultuous years in the White House and, in particular, his management of the coronavirus pandemic that has upended American life for the past eight months. 

As Trump and Joseph R. Biden Jr. raced across the most important battleground states in a frenzied final push for votes, the 2020 election is unfolding in a country with urgent problems: an uncontrolled public health crisis, a battered economy, deep ideological divisions, a national reckoning on race and uncertainty about whether the outcome of the vote will be disputed. 

Undeterred by the pandemic, Americans have already displayed an uncommon determination to have their voices and votes heard this year. Nearly 100 million cast their ballots in advance of Election Day, shattering records as they endured long lines at early voting sites or sent in their ballots by mail. Much of the country felt on edge, as if it truly is “the most important election of a lifetime”. Ahead of the polls opening today (3 November), businesses in cities from Denver to Detroit to Washington, DC, were boarding up their windows with plywood as they readied for the possibility of civil unrest, and some governors were even readying the National Guard.

חודש לונג ראַק וויסיקייַט

November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month, and as you would expect, EAPM is taking an important role in proceedings – to begin, on 5 November, the association is organizing an expert panel on lung cancer, keep tuned for more details. 

Von der Leyen urges data share for cross-border COVID-19 treatment

Following her videoconference meeting last week, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called on EU governments to share more data on intensive care capacity so COVID-19 patients can be transferred between member countries under a €220 million plan. “If we have more data-sharing on ICU capacity, and where it’s lacking, we can increase cross-border patient care,” von der Leyen told a news conference. We’re making €220m available to finance a safe cross-border transfer of patients where it is needed,” she said.

Health research secures €508 million in Horizon 2020

Health research projects have been awarded €508 million for the final year of the Horizon 2020 programme, the Commission has announced. The 75 projects include the development of digital diagnostics and vaccines as well as work on cancer, antimicrobial resistance and infectious diseases. 

The projects will be carried out by participants from 58 countries, something that the Commission said indicates how Horizon 2020 is “open to the world”. Research Commissioner Mariya Gabriel said the EU was “not neglecting other vital issues for our health and well-being”. In addition, researchers are waiting to see if a UK-EU deal concerning Horizon Europe is imminent, to follow on from Horizon 2020. 

Hydroxychloroquine battle moves into courts in France

The battle over the ability to use hydroxychloroquine as a way of treating the symptoms of Covid-19 has moved into the law courts in France. The French doctor who championed the drug’s use, filed a complaint Thursday (29October) against the French health authorities, accusing it of “endangering lives” by not allowing its widespread use. 

The French government suspended its use of hydroxychloroquine and Raoult had asked the ANSM (the National Medicines Safety Agency) to be able to prescribe it on a temporary basis to treat Covid-19 patients. The ANSM declined, and a complaint has now been lodged against the organization, claiming the agency and its director Dominique Martin are “endangering the lives of others”.

WHO chief self-isolates as Germany starts 'wave breaker' lockdown 

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has gone into self-quarantine after someone he had been in contact with tested positive for Covid-19.  He stressed on Twitter that “it is critically important that we all comply with health guidance. This is how we will break chains of #Covid-19 transmission, suppress the virus, and protect health systems.”

מוטערלעך געזונט

The BBC has reported that England’s patient safety body has launched a review of the rise in stillbirths during the pandemic after noting a “concerning” increase. The report from the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch is set to be published in 2021, following 40 stillbirths between April and June this year, compared with 24 during the same period in 2019. Later today (3 November), MPs will hear evidence on whether maternity safety could be improved by changes to England’s clinical negligence and litigation processes, with bereaved parents, doctors and researchers set to speak.

לאַקדאַון 2.0

Over the weekend, Europe has been plunged into lockdown again as governments try to protect their health systems from becoming overwhelmed. England, Austria and Portugal have now implemented various forms of lockdown, joining Germany, Belgium, France, Greece, Wales and Ireland in a push to stem coronavirus cases. The other major consideration is Christmas, with governments repeatedly telling their citizens that the hope is for families to be able to come together for the holiday. 

And that is all from EAPM for now – stay tuned to the US elections, stay safe and well, and see you later in the week.

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