Millions of people with rare diseases to benefit from faster diagnosis and better access to treatment
- Millions of people with rare diseases will benefit from faster diagnosis and new treatments following the launch today of England’s first Rare Diseases Action Plan by Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid
- New technology and digital tools will support faster diagnosis, and improvements to virtual consultations will make it easier for patients to see multiple specialists at once
UK scientists fear brain drain as Brexit rows put research at risk
- After Brexit, ministers had agreed a deal that would allow Britain to continue to play a major role in Europe’s vast research programme. But the subsequent failure of talks over Northern Ireland has led to a major delay with this arrangement
- “British scientists are now in the position where they are getting no research funding from the EU and no funding from the UK government to fill that gap,” said Liam Smeeth, director of LSHTM
Antibacterial bioactive glass dramatically reduces microbial resistance to antibiotics
- Scientists at Aston University have discovered a new method that significantly increases the antimicrobial properties of a material utilised in many medical devices such as catheters and clinical surfaces – bioactive glass
- The Aston University team had already developed bacteria-killing bioactive glass laced with a single metal oxide of either zinc, cobalt, or copper. However, their latest research combined pairs of metal oxides in the material, and they discovered that some combinations were more than 100 times better at killing bacteria than single oxides alone
NICE has developed a medtech innovation briefing (MIB) on Lumella point-of-care test for assessing pre-eclampsia risk
- The technology described in this briefing is the Lumella test. It is for assessing the risk of pre-eclampsia during pregnancy
- The innovative aspects are that it is based on a novel biomarker (glycosylated fibronectin) that may have improved sensitivity and specificity compared with standard care. The test requires a finger prick blood sample (5 microlitres) and can be done in around 10 minutes
https://www.nice.org.uk/advice/mib287
Sajid Javid announces focus on technology to improve healthcare
- Health Secretary said he would like for 75 percent of adults in England to be using the NHS App by March 2024
- Javid also announced that he would like to see 90 percent of NHS trusts to have an electronic patient record (EPR) in place or be processing them by December next year
- “The NHS app has shown how people are receptive to having healthcare literally in their hands – and we have the opportunity to use platforms like apps and websites to access diagnostics and therapies, helping them to manage their own conditions”
Early screening tool will ‘almost eliminate’ baby loss in black and Asian women
- Women from black and Asian backgrounds are two to three times more likely to have a still birth or perinatal death compared to their white counterparts
- The new screening algorithm has been found to reduce baby deaths in women from ethnic minority backgrounds by 60 percent and has seen the perinatal mortality rate fall 73 percent
World leaders and experts call for action to protect the environment from antimicrobial pollution
- The Global Leaders Group on Antimicrobial Resistance today called on all countries to reduce the amount of antimicrobial waste entering the environment
- The call comes ahead of the UN Environment Assembly which takes place in Nairobi and online from 28 February to 2 March 2022 where countries will discuss the world’s most pressing environmental challenges
- The Global Leaders Group’s call to action calls for all countries to improve measures for the management and disposal of antimicrobial-containing waste and runoff from manufacturing sites, farms, hospitals and other sources
Clinical jobs increase as R&D and lab roles experience record growth
- Life sciences firms in England and Wales are hiring R&D and laboratory scientists in record numbers, as the government continues to promote the UK as a global life sciences hub
- A report by specialist recruiters Cpl Life Sciences and data analysts Vacancysoft revealed that the sector experienced a very fruitful 2021 and levels of all new jobs grew by 37% year-on-year in the wake of Brexit
- Meanwhile, laboratory roles contributed to the majority of new jobs, accounting for 17.3% of total scientific hiring, with over 1,100 vacancies
