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When most people think about chronic conditions, certain disease areas come to mind – diabetes, heart disease, obesity, asthma, allergies…the list goes on.  However, it is unlikely that you think about chronic wounds as being part of that list.  Why is that?  Given that wounds impact 4 million Europeans per year (more than cancer and […]

Access to quality healthcare and medical technologies has risen to the top of the international health agenda. In this regard, diabetes is a particular challenge as good management relies on continuous access to both medicines and medical devices. In its latest study, IDF Europe found that hundreds of thousands of people living with diabetes in Europe do not have access to the treatment they need, putting their health at risk.

Despite the overwhelming impact that wounds have on healthcare systems, many people are still unaware of the risks for developing wounds when entering a healthcare setting.  In fact, 27-50 percent of acute hospital beds are likely to be occupied on any day by patients with a wound. Many of these patients will be at high risk of infection, which can result in extended hospital stays and for some, amputation.  Yet, patients can be better protected against such risks by instituting evidenced based guidelines in healthcare settings that include multidisciplinary approaches to wound care treatment.

Does Europe have a proper start-up culture? Are we doing enough for young professionals? According to Neelie Kroes, Vice-President of the European Commission, in her article for the World Economic Forum, we could do more to make Europe fertile ground for start-ups, and engage the youngest generation entering the workforce. As a young professional in Brussels well-acquainted with millennial woes, I was eminently interested in the views of an established and influential official at the European Union.

Why do the mHealth Grand Tour, I mean, I’ve never been a sporting cyclist (yes, I’ve commuted by bike for years but not a 100 miles a day) nor am I a huge Tour de France fan, neither do I have diabetes… and developing a rather numb posterior, day after day, seriously?

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.

I was diagnosed with Diabetes Type I in December 1997 at the age of 19. I had just graduated from high school, moved to the city, started university and was in the middle of applying for Harvard and MIT scholarships. I thought personal computers and Microsoft Windows 95 uncool, had gone through my range of Ataris and C64s, and was proud owner of my first Apple Macintosh Performa – 56k modem and all. And my first, brick-like cellphone was soon to be exchanged for Nokia’s 7622, one of the first mobile phones with WAP technology: Internet on the go.

In vitro diagnostic (IVD) tests are likely to be a part of everyone’s life, in many cases, more than once. Yet most people do not know what these tests are or what they do.

For the past two years, I have been working with great passion on the subject of mobile health (or mHealth), having set up the global mHealth programme of the GSMA – the organisation that represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide. I am therefore very pleased that the momentum for mHealth has really been building.