This week’s World healthcare news highlights several areas of concern for global health. These issues include vaccines, pandemics, and ECMO. If you’re interested in learning more about these topics, consider reading up on the following topics. World healthcare news this week features vaccines, treatments, and pandemics.
Vaccines
This week has seen some news about vaccines. The FDA recently attached a warning to a Johnson & Johnson vaccine because of the possibility of Guillain-Barre syndrome. This is a rare condition that typically occurs in the first 42 days of vaccination. However, the warning is temporary. The vaccine will be available to the public once the FDA ends its moratorium in April 2021.
While North Korea has a large population unvaccinated and limited health care capacity, the country faces the threat of thousands of preventable deaths from COVID. Dr. William Hanage, an associate professor of epidemiology, said that an outbreak of the BA.2 subvariant of the virus could lead to a death toll of 125,000.
Treatments
Immune checkpoint inhibitors are now safe for patients with stage III melanoma, and a new study has demonstrated that they clear all viable tumor cells in more than half of patients. Despite the new findings, one problem still remains: tumor cells become resistant to the treatments. This is due to a protein that the tumor cells produce. Another breakthrough is the use of patient-derived parathyroid organoids in drug-screening and physiology studies.
Pandemics
Pandemics are a huge problem in the United States, but the public health system is lacking resources and a system to deal with them. A former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Robert Redfield, and public health director of Santa Clara County, California, Sara Cody, explained the challenges facing public health workers during the early stages of the flu pandemic.
The WHO is leading the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network, which comprises more than 150 organizations. This network relies heavily on volunteers. However, there has been a recent proposal by Bill Gates to set up a similar network that relies on fully-paid international pandemic responders. To combat future pandemics, it is imperative that data from different health-care providers be shared, collated, and made public.
ECMO
ECMO has been in the world healthcare news this week, with reports of a COVID-19 patient who has undergone ECMO therapy. The procedure oxygenates the patient’s blood outside the body before pumping it back into the body. The shortage of trained staff and resources has led to an increased number of patients requiring ECMO.
While ECMO is not a cure for the virus, it is a life-saving treatment for patients with COVID-19. But it is not without its challenges. This life-sustaining therapy requires a small army of nurses and respiratory therapists, and patients often stay on the therapy for months. The ECMO program at Vanderbilt hospital in Nashville has seven ECMO beds to help patients in such need.
The latest trials of ECMO are promising, and some patients have shown good results. The technique stabilizes the heart and lungs. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are redefining their masking guidelines to take the health of the patient’s healthcare system into consideration.
Mental health
Mental health is a major issue in the world today, and this week’s headlines reflect a number of positive developments. For example, the UN health agency WHO has launched a social media campaign to help people understand that mental illness is one of the top risk factors for suicide. The agency estimates that mental illness can contribute up to 11 per cent of the risk of suicide.
The stigma surrounding mental illness is a big issue affecting people all over the world, but there are several different ways to address it. The first is by offering more services that address mental health issues. For example, the University of Utah Health is preparing to roll out an electronic health record feature that will suggest treatment options for patients who are concerned about their mental health. Another initiative is the Project ECHO initiative, in which teaching hospitals host online sessions in which a psychiatrist lectures and participants discuss their cases. There are also call-in lines for patients who want to speak with a psychiatrist about a mental health issue.
