Category: Health
COVID-19 shows blatant need to rethink how we develop medicines
If the coronavirus crisis is described by the media as “an unprecedented crisis”, for scientists it is not. They knew that a new pandemic would emerge one day. It was only a matter of time. We were not sufficiently prepared...
COVID-19 and the digitalisation of health: five risks you need to know
Some claim that artificial intelligence (AI) will always be better than natural stupidity, especially when it comes to decisions about health. But it is important to be aware of the risks using AI in health care might entail for us.
How EU-funded research can deliver to consumers
Between 2021 and 2027, the EU Horizon Europe programme is planning to spend around a whopping 100 billion euros on research projects. No surprise therefore that academics, industry representatives and others will flood Brussels this week to attend the huge...
E-health: your every personal detail online
New technologies have flooded our lives: many day-to-day products and activities now begin with the prefixes i-, e-, cyber-, info-, techno-, m-, net-, tele-, and the list goes on. It’s easy to get lost in this carrousel of innovation! Digitalisation...
When medicines cost an arm and a leg. And an eye
Last week, a pharmaceutical company was accused of intentionally inflating the price of one of its medicines by 2,000%[1]. Does this kind of news seem like déjà vu? Most probably, because escalating medicine prices are getting more and more coverage....
Mhealth – opportunities and privacy risks
Out of the apps on your phone, how many of them are about health, fitness or lifestyle? Quite a few probably. Mobile health (mHealth) is trendy. It has the potential to transform the way healthcare is delivered because it allows...
Playing with consumers’ health: game over?
When you can’t access a drug treatment because of its price, you’ve probably run out of options. This is what happened some years ago to some patients affected by a severe eye disease [1]. They were denied treatment due to...
Lisa’s story and the price of anti-cancer drugs
The child of a dear friend of mine, whose name is Lisa, unfortunately developed cancer when she was only 4. She is now 8 and has received the all-clear from the doctors. She was one of the lucky children who...
When drug approval is quick, it should not be dirty
Imagine you or a loved one have a disease. It can be treated, but only with a new medicine that is not yet available. The time it normally takes for a new drug to reach the market means it might...
A bitter pill to swallow
The trend is clear: the cost of medicines is increasing. Many EU healthcare systems are now spending more than ever before on pharmaceutical products. At a time when the words ‘economic crisis’ rhyme with ‘normality’, consumers are having to shoulder...