28 results
Posted on 03.06.2015
How understanding breast cancer at a molecular level is revolutionizing our thinking
The evolution of past and modern therapies in breast cancer has been an inspiring illustration of the progress that has been made towards cancer cures. Breast cancer makes up a quarter of new cases worldwide and is the most common cancer in women. While the number of people with breast cancer has been increasing fewer people are dying […]
Clinical Evidence “for In Vitro Diagnostics” should be exactly that: “for IVDs”
Safe and accurate In Vitro Diagnostics (IVDs) are essential to a safe, efficient and effective healthcare system. Policymakers recognise this and that’s why they have included a clinical evidence requirement in the upcoming revision of the IVD Directive (IVDD). Because IVDs play such a pivotal role in the treatment pathway of patients, we, the IVD […]
When problems find people
Think of innovation in health and many people conjure up images of men and women in white coats – surrounded by coloured test tubes crouched over microscopes in sterile laboratories – developing intricate vaccines or other miracle cures. Yet these tightly controlled, high cost, industrial scale operations are only one end of a very long scale. In the developing world at least, we’re increasingly witnessing some of the more interesting, impactful healthcare innovations coming from lone entrepreneurs and problem solvers. Large multinationals just don’t operate in what can often be seen as the ‘scrappy long tail’ of social innovation. Not only are few present in these markets, many just don’t understand them – or even worse they don’t understand why they need to be in them.
Posted on 05.06.2013
Women’s Health and IVDs – An Investigative Report
My background in women’s rights has driven me to look into how my current field of work has taken issues which affect women into account. So as an EDMA Communications Intern, I decided to dive into the field of in vitro diagnostics (IVDs) to identify whether the makers of IVDs have played a role in empowering women. Here’s what my investigation revealed…
Posted on 15.05.2013
The importance of diagnostics in steering Europe’s healthcare future
With its Contract for a Healthy Future, the medical technology industry acknowledges its role and responsibility in maintaining high-quality, affordable healthcare in Europe despite an ageing population and constrained budgets. This industry commitment offers the much needed solutions to prove that innovation is not a cost driver but a facilitator for driving healthcare quality and efficiency in the future. From personalized medicine to disease monitoring, the role of the diagnostics industry will be crucial in managing healthcare spending.
Lady Gaga’s hip – From Born This Way to Torn This Way
Just Dance. People love dancing, whether it be for fun, as a workout or professionally as a dancer performing choreographies with great passion in front of an audience. This passion has resulted in a hip surgery for Lady Gaga, the American singer-songwriter known for such hits as Bad Romance, Poker Face, and – appropriately – Just Dance. For fans all over the world, the hip fracture was a synonym for cancelled concerts and missed opportunities to meet their idol. But why did this happen so suddenly? Why did we not hear about her problems earlier?
Lab Tests Online: A valuable information resource for pregnant women in Romania and abroad
As an activist for maternal health rights in Romania and the Head of the White Cross Foundation for Maternity Healthcare Services, increasing health literacy and access to healthcare for as many Romanian mothers as possible is extremely instrumental to me. It is important that they understand the role and significance of prenatal tests. Though we [my organisation] had already been directing women to Lab Tests Online as part of an effort to help them better understand the role and importance of these tests, we relied on the languages that were available – English, French or German (as most educated women in Romanian are fluent in at least one of these languages), Hungarian (as Romania has quite a large Hungarian-speaking minority), Italian and Spanish (spoken by many low-income Romanian women who engaged in seasonal work in Spain and Italy). Unfortunately, the great service Lab Tests Online sites provide was not available in Romanian, or at least so was the case until the launch of the country’s own site in November 2012 through the noteworthy efforts of the Romanian Association of Medical Products Providers.
Posted on 29.11.2012
When Good Medicine Isn’t Good Enough
Advances in in vitro HIV/AIDS diagnostics, combined with the development of highly effective antiretroviral (ARV) drugs, have significantly reduced the transmission of HIV from mother to baby and greatly improved health outcomes for mothers living with HIV. Simple and inexpensive tests screen for HIV within minutes, and point of care CD4 testing enables doctors to closely monitor a patient’s immune system to prescribe an effective combination of ARVs to keep mothers healthy during and after their pregnancy and their babies HIV-free. As a result, new pediatric HIV infections have nearly halved in the last eight years and the number of deaths each year attributed to AIDS-related causes dropped 24% since the peak in 2005, to approximately 1.7 million in 2011.
Posted on 11.01.2012
How should the EU regulatory framework change because of the PIP incidents?
Since the French authorities made their announcement just prior to Christmas, the PIP case has generated a large amount of press and political attention. Quite rightly, the main focus is on the women affected and on governments providing the right health advice and appropriate follow-up. As I am writing this posting a couple of days after we released our first statement, I understand that the European Commission is to seek an independent scientific opinion on the human health risks of silicone breast implants.