Healthcare

Smartphone, texting when you drive is more and more dangerous

Using smartphone behind the wheel can be dangerous. Even a 2-second distraction can increase the risk of accidents by 20%, claims a study by driving analytics company Zendrive. The US-based study examined sensor data from more than 3 million drivers and 5.6 billion miles of trips and found that drivers are using their phones on 88% of their journeys. According to WHO (World Health organisation), car crashes accounts for 1.2 million people deaths and over 50 million disabilities every year.

Continue reading

Switzerland: medical delivery drones ready to fly and save lives

Logistics company Matternet has announced a permanent autonomous drone network in Switzerland that will now see lab samples like blood tests and other diagnostics flown between hospital facilities, clinics, and labs. The first delivery network will be operational from next month, with several more to be introduced later in the year. Matternet says medical items can be delivered to hospitals within 30 minutes.

Continue reading

Philip Morris launched Foundation to fight tobacco smoking

Philip Morris on Wednesday announces its support for the establishment of the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World. The Foundation will fund research and encourage innovative measures to reduce the harm caused by smoking. It will evaluate the impact that smoke-free alternatives can have on smokers and public health, assess the effect of reduced cigarette consumption on the industry value chain, and measure overall progress towards a smoke-free world.

Continue reading

Hackers could focus on pacemakers than credit cards

WhiteScope, an independent provider of cyber security services and training, has just released research that shows that pacemaker programmers, from four major manufacturers, have 8,000 bugs that leave them vulnerable to hacking.

More importantly, the researchers said they’ve also discovered that pacemakers don’t authenticate programmers, so any working tool listed on eBay has the potential to harm patients with the implant. “Any pacemaker programmer can reprogram any pacemaker from the same manufacturer.This shows one of the areas where patient care influenced cybersecurity posture.” wrote the researchers in their summary.

Continue reading

Switzerland placed 3rd in global healthcare system ranking

Switzerland ranked third with 92 points in a global list of countries assessed for health care availability and quality (HAQ), while the tiny European nation of Andorra topped the list with an overall score of 95 out of 100, followed by Iceland (94), according to the latest report by the British medical journal The Lancet.

At the bottom of the table was the Central African Republic, scoring just 29 on the overall index, while UK ranked 30th and US 35th with an overall score of 81, tied with Estonia and Montenegro.

Continue reading

Novartis expects Chinese drug market will accelerate soon

Novartis expects growth in China’s pharmaceuticals market to accelerate as the nation’s health authorities expedite approvals for new medicines and increase reimbursement. The Chinese pharmaceutical market may exceed $300 billion in sales by 2020, Chief Executive Officer Joe Jimenez said in an interview in Geneva on Tuesday. That will happen as regulators in the country push to offer new drugs to sick patients who’ve traditionally not had access to the world’s groundbreaking meds. The country is now the world’s second-biggest pharmaceutical market, behind the U.S.

Continue reading

Mobile can cause cancer, Italian court sentenced

In a potentially landmark case, an Italian court has ruled that excessive, work-related use of a mobile phone caused an executive to develop a benign brain tumour.

In a ruling handed down on April 11 but only made public on Thursday, the court in the northern town of Ivrea awarded the plaintiff a state-funded pension. The ruling is subject to a possible appeal.
The worker, 57-year-old Roberto Romeo, used the company mobile phone for three hours a day for a long time without protection, bringing about the non-cancerous tumor and the consequent loss of hearing in one ear, Phys.org cited."The standards say severe use is one hour a day," Romeo told Sky TG24. "I went well past the limit." Romeo sued the social security agency, not Telecom Italia, where he still works. And he added "but I believe we have to be more aware about how to use them".

Continue reading