Today the OECD published the 2013 edition of it’s annual Health at a Glance report. Based upon the OECD’s 2013 Health Statistics report, this glance at the current state of health and health care across the world seeks to highlight differences in practice, outcomes and expenditure between the richest countries in the world.
So what key points can we take away from this report?
Software digests thousands of research papers to accurately identify proteins that could be productive targets for cancer drugs.
Software that read tens of thousands of research papers and then predicted new discoveries about the workings of a protein that’s key to cancer could herald a faster approach to developing new drugs.
An invention from Argentine car mechanic Jorge Odón could prevent complications or infant death during childbirth. The device was inspired by a YouTube video, which shows how to extract a cork that has pushed to the bottom of a wine bottle using a plastic bag: the bottom of the bag is inserted into the spout of the bottle, which is then inverted, so the cork is positioned near the spout. The bag is inflated and then pulled, which yanks the cork out.
In times of crisis and budgetary restraint, EU governments still need to value innovation and new solutions to tackle the increasing pressure on European healthcare systems, experts say.
Since 2008, there has been a rise in health inequalities and they will continue to increase as current governments are running unsustainable health systems.
Governments must therefore innovate to make healthcare accessible, while still cost-effective and of high quality, experts say.
“Technology is at its best and the most empowering when it simply disappears.” That is what Jony Ive, Apple’s chief designer said about the new iPhone 5S. Although many may argue whether the technologies used in iPhone 5S are truly the “best” and “most empowering,” Mr. Ive made a good point about the importance of keeping technology simple.
Two recent cases in the mobile health and public health area have suggested that simple and straightforward design can lead to impressive results.
Studio Dental is a mobile clinic based in San Francisco, catering to workers who can’t find the time to regularly see their dentist.
New York’s Manicube has been delivering quick, in-office manicure appointments to those too busy to leave work, and now Studio Dental is doing the same for San Francisco workers who can’t find the time to regularly see their dentist.
La tecnología genera oportunidades empresariales en el ámbito de la salud. La crisis económica y los recortes del gasto público están llevando a algunos profesionales a fundar sus propias compañías.
El sector de la salud nunca ha destacado por un gran espíritu emprendedor en nuestro país, con un gran peso del sector público aunque siempre han existido también los servicios de índole privada. Pero parece que las cosas están cambiando en un ámbito señalado por los expertos en megatendencias como uno de los campos con mayores perspectivas de crecimiento.
The European Commission is stepping up the fight against antimicrobial resistance (AMR) by funding 15 new research projects, as new data reveals that Europe's health systems are increasingly relying on a frail last line of antibiotic defence.
While the EU has witnessed a decrease in antibiotic use since 2009, data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention (ECDC) has shown a significant increase of the multi-drug resistant Gram-negative bacteria in Europe.
Social robots are simpler to interact with than humans, can repeat games with infinite patience and record the data for further study. That’s changing the way autistic children learn new skills, say therapists.
One of the emerging applications of social robotics is in providing therapy for children with autism. Social robots are ideally suited to this task because they are simpler than humans to interact with, their actions are perfectly repeatable and they can be modified in various ways to meet the requirements of different children.
A novel kind of clinical trial is set to test several new lung cancer drugs based on the molecular profiles of each participating patient’s tumor.
If successful, the trial could help bring cancer-genome-targeted medicines to patients more quickly than has been possible to date. Trials often only test one new drug at a time, and in cases when researchers do use genomic profiling to match a patient to a new treatment, they may struggle to find suitable candidates.
