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The Health | december , 2020
| Foreign News |
7 digital health trends in 2021
Digital health has the potential to vastly improve healthcare services , but up until recently , it hasn ’ t been much of a priority for investors . If anything , positive has risen from the coronavirus pandemic , it ’ s that it ’ s opened up a new opportunity to revisit how we think of healthcare , from telemedicine to research and data to collaboration .
Here are some of the top eHealth trends we
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predict will dominate in 2021 . . Expansion of telemedicine Telemedicine , or the practice of clinicians seeing patients virtually rather than in brick and mortar offices and hospitals , has increased tremendously during the pandemic as populations around the world have limited physical encounters . This practice has demonstrated that remote consultations are not only possible , but also easy and often preferable .
Some experts say that this is only the beginning ,
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and soon the scale of telemedicine will increase . . Virtual reality in healthcare The global market of digital health VR is expected to grow to $ 2.4 billion by 2026 , due to its potential to eliminate the need for certain medications or surgeries . VR technology is being used currently to treat chronic pain , anxiety , and post-traumatic stress
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disorder . . National digital health portals and big data Countries around the world are working on more comprehensive and accessible electronic health records . In Sweden , all citizens and residents have a personal identification number , known as the Swedish PIN , that is used for all healthcare documentation .
During the height of the pandemic , Sweden set up an Intensive Care Registry to collect data on the cases of coronavirus that end up in Swedish intensive care units .
“ This enabled us to follow the development of the corona crisis in society , and it was used nearly daily when reporting to people in the country how the crisis was developing ,” said Annemieke Ålenius ,
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Director of the Swedish eHealth Agency . . The power of AI and digital health Artificial intelligence will play a huge role in the digital transformation of healthcare . In fact , the AI healthcare market is expected to exceed $ 34 billion by 2025 .
Right now , most patients have probably interacted with or heard of some form of AI , like the PARO robotic seal for dementia patients , or chatbots that offer services from customer service to therapy . But the future of AI is in precision medicine , genomics ,
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drug discovery , and medical imaging . . Cross border collaboration of digital health The pandemic has shown that countries are facing similar healthcare challenges , not only in relation to coronavirus , but also in terms of delivering good quality and efficient care to people in need , such as demographic changes an increase in the number of chronically ill , according to Julia Hagen , Director of Regulatory and Politics at the Health Innovation Hub in Germany .
“ It ’ s a good reminder that we really need to build a European ecosystem of digital health together ,” she told TNW , highlighting that the partnership between Sweden and Germany should set as an example for
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the rest of the European Union . . Apps , wearables , and self-monitoring solutions During the event , Patrik Sundström , Head of Digital Health at the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions , noted that providers are accelerating solutions for self-monitoring for patients with chronic diseases , which has the potential to save money as the management and treatment of chronic illnesses accounts for around 80 per cent of the cost of healthcare .
Self-monitoring applications come in many forms , but one that ’ s seeing promising returns is wearable devices , a market that ’ s expected to reach more than $ 27 million in 2023 , up from $ 8 million in 72017 . . Digital health hubs and startup ecosystems “ Innovation and growth happens much faster in places where you have a critical mass and access to key players , everything from investors to partners ,” said Paul Beatus , CEO & Co-founder of H2 Health Hub , a digital health coworking space in Stockholm . “ In places like hubs you also get the chance to build relationships and create connections .
“ In most countries , there is no established process for how to buy , implement , and evaluate digital health technologies on a wider scale ,” he said .“ We find that the true experts on this are those startups that manage to successfully navigate the systems and implement digital solutions with good effect .”
If there were ever a time to invest in digital health , it ’ s now .
This article is brought to you by the Digital Hub Initiative .
World ’ s most innovative bio-manufacturing facility
Samsung Biologics officially began construction of its Plant 4 in Incheon , South Korea . Dubbed the “ Super Plant ,” the new , multistory 238,000-square-meter construction will be the world ’ s largest bio-pharmaceutical manufacturing facility of its kind boasting 256,000 liters total manufacturing capacity .
In a joint event with the Korean government and the Incheon City , Samsung Biologics showcased a virtual groundbreaking ceremony in light of Covid-19 protocols and announced an investment plan to build the “ Future of Biopharma .” Upon completion of Plant 4 , Samsung Biologics is expected to be accountable for a third of the total global bio-CMO manufacturing
capacity , offering a combined sum of 620,000 liters from a single site .
Plant 4 also features a modular design that will allow flexibility for certain parts of the plant to begin manufacturing activities by the end of 2022 , with the goal to commence full operations in 2023 .
To ensure client confidentiality and security , equipment and instruments will be fully implemented with data integrity
and cybersecurity to reduce risk and offer greater client satisfaction by allowing real-time , secure access to information .
The Super Plant will also provide a full range of CDO , CMO , and CRO processes to offer a complete onestop service , including early-stage development capabilities and largescale commercial manufacturing with integrated aseptic fill / finish capabilities and a full QC Lab for testing services .
“ We are committed to bringing client satisfaction to the next level . Plant 4 will add unbeatable value to our capabilities to develop and manufacture bio-medicines with the highest quality and innovative technology ,” said CEO of Samsung Biologics . Dr Tae Han Kim .
Briefs
Updated dashboard supports HIV testing
In coordination with United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS ( UNAIDS ), the World Health Organization ( WHO ) has updated its HIV Testing Services dashboard with new data for 2020 , ahead of this year ’ s World AIDS Day .
The interactive dashboard gives users a wide range of information on HIV testing from countries worldwide on , for example , HIV prevalence , the number of people testing positive for HIV and the number of people testing for HIV for the first time or repeating a test . Data are given in charts and tables and are differentiated by age , sex and other characteristics .
“ It is critical to have differentiated HIV testing data at this stage in the epidemic ,” said WHO Technical Officer , Cheryl Johnson .
Countries need to have a range of testing approaches to reach people living with HIV who do not know their status and others at risk of acquiring HIV . The dashboard will help countries develop the best mix of testing services — such as selftesting , index testing and various forms of community and facilitybased testing services — suitable for their settings .
Funding to help nurses tackle diabetes crisis
In conjunction to the World Diabetes Day , the International Diabetes Federation ( IDF ) is calling for more nurses to be trained to help people living with diabetes to understand and manage their condition .
Over 460 million people are currently estimated to be living with diabetes worldwide and the number expected to rise to 578 million by 2030 .
Last year alone , the condition was responsible for 4.2 million deaths and at least RM 3,108 billion in health expenditure – 10 per cent of the global total spent on healthcare . The impact of diabetes has come into even sharper focus this year , with half of people diagnosed with Covid-19 in some regions found to be living with the condition .
New Alzheimer ’ s disease workbench
The Alzheimer ’ s Disease Data Initiative ( ADDI ) was launched on Nov 18 , 2020 . Its Alzheimer ’ s disease ( AD ) Workbench , a cloudbased platform for scientists to accelerate discoveries and innovations for AD and related dementias .
ADDI is a new global effort that aims to advance AD innovation by connecting researchers with the data needed to generate insights and inform the development of improved treatments and diagnostic tools . ADDI , a 501 ( c )( 3 ) medical research organization , was created by a coalition of partners to increase sharing of dementia-related data among researchers and provide new ways to experiment with the most trusted datasets .