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Monday 30 March 2020

Poems to live for: live webinars from the Hippocrates Initiative for Poetry and Medicine

To raise spirits in these very troubled times, the Hippocrates Initiative for Poetry and Medicine is launching a series of live webinars on Poems to live for.

See the Poems to Live for website for details about how to join the sessions by computer/laptop/smartphone or by dialling in by phone.

There will be discussions on poetry. Invited poets around the world will read a poem that seems full of the spirit that's worth living for, and will say why this poem means so much to him/her.  Sessions will also provide updates from the 2020 Hippocrates Prize  and other activities of the Hippocrates Initiative for Poetry and Medicine.

The organisers also welcome suggestions for poems in English (out of copyright) from contributors from anywhere in the world would like read. Contributors should email suggestions or a link to a reading of a favourite poem (must not your own AND must be out of copyright).
Please email your suggestions or links to a reading to hippocrates.poetry@gmail.com

Programme for the first live session:

Poems to Live for

Session 1Wednesday 8th April 9pm UK time

Introduction
Michael Hulse

Contributors

Michael Hulse, UK, Luz Mar Gonzales, Spain, Geoffrey Lehmann, Australia, Professor John Stein, UK, Lawrence Sail, UK, Donald Singer, UK.


Short-lists announced for the 2020 Hippocrates Prize for Poetry and Medicine
Open shortlist: announced by judge Geoffrey Lehmann, Australia
Health Professional shortlist announced by judge Professor John Stein, UK
Young poets short list: announced by judge Lawrence Sail, UK


Readers include 

Michael Hulse, UK
Luz Mar Gonzales, Spain

Friday 27 March 2020

European Medicines Agency advises continued use of medicines to treat hypertension, heart failure and kidney disease

27.3.20: Briefing from the European Medicines Agency
EMA reports that it is aware of recent media reports and publications which question whether some medicines, for instance angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs, or sartan medicines), could worsen coronavirus disease (COVID-19). ACE inhibitors and ARBs are most commonly used for treating patients with high blood pressure, heart failure or kidney disease. 
The EMA has providing the following advice from its Public and Stakeholders Engagement Department.
"It is important that patients do not interrupt their treatment with ACE inhibitors or ARBs and there is no need to switch to other medicines. There is currently no evidence from clinical or epidemiological studies that establishes a link between ACE inhibitors or ARBs and the worsening of COVID-19. Experts in the treatment of heart and blood pressure disorders, including the European Society of Cardiology, have already issued statements along those lines. To gather more evidence, EMA is proactively reaching out to researchers working to generate further evidence in epidemiological studies.
As the public health crisis rapidly extends across the globe, scientific research is ongoing to understand how the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) reproduces in the body, interacts with the immune system and causes disease, and whether ongoing treatment with medicines such as ACE-inhibitors and ARBs could impact the prognosis of COVID-19.
The speculation that ACE-inhibitors or ARBs treatment can make infections worse in the context of COVID-19 is not supported by clinical evidence. These medicines work by affecting the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS). Because the virus uses a target called angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), which is part of this system, to enter human cells, and the medicines can increase ACE2, one of the suggestions among others is that they could also increase virus activity. However, the interactions of the virus with the RAAS in the body are complex and not completely understood.
EMA is monitoring the situation closely and is collaborating with stakeholders to coordinate epidemiological studies on the effects of ACE inhibitors and ARBs in people with COVID-19.
EMA is helping to coordinate urgent ongoing research and is fully committed to keep the public up to date with any development in this field. EMA is also aware of reports questioning whether other medicines such as corticosteroids and non-steroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs) could worsen COVID-19, and has recently issued a communication on NSAIDs medicines. It is important that patients who have any questions or are uncertain about their medicines speak to their doctor or pharmacist and do not stop their regular treatment without speaking to their healthcare professional first.
Medicines should be prescribed and used in line with clinical judgement, taking due note of any warnings and other information provided in the summary of product characteristics (SmPC) and thepackage leaflet, as well as guidance issued by the WHO and relevant national and international bodies.
Within the EU medicines regulatory network, evidence on the safe use of medicines is reviewed as it emerges. Any new advice that arises is disseminated appropriately through EMA and national competent authorities.
EMA will provide further information as appropriate.
This information and related content are published here. Please check EMA’s dedicated webpage on COVID-19 for the latest updates."

Wednesday 25 March 2020

New International Awards from the FPM for trusted Medical Writing in Social Media


Medical society the Fellowship of Postgraduate Medicine is partnering with its journals – Health Policy and Technology and the Postgraduate Medical Journal – to launch international awards for well-informed, clear writing on health matters in social media. 
Patients, members of the public, health professionals and policymakers increasingly use social media as a source for health information and to guide important decisions on choices and actions about prevention and treatment of disease. Where the information is accurate and easy to follow, this can be very helpful. However, we are increasingly at the mercy of a spectrum of unreliability, from incomplete or inaccurate reports, to claims that inconvenient truths are ‘fake news’.

These are not new problems. Sinclair Lewis in his geopolitical satire of 1935 It Can’t Happen Here refers to fake news in the political domain [1]. George Orwell features unreliable reporting by government-controlled media in his dystopian 1984 [2]. However, the geographical reach and speed of spread of reports in current social media and present numerous ways to disseminate ‘alternative facts’ have new global implications for the consequences ofunreliable ‘news’ [3].

Concerns in the health sector include social media posts making spurious health claims for ‘alternative medicines’ and containing misinformation about causes, severity and treatments of disease – from coronaviruses [4] and HIV infection [5] to cancers [6]. A striking example of the serious impact on the public of misinformation is a sustained large increase in vaccine hesitancy for measles and other immunisations since the late 1990s [7]. This arose from a later withdrawn report in the Lancet of a link between autism and measles immunisation [8]. Although findings in the report were judged to be fraudulent, anti-vaccine activists persist in providing misleading information on social media based on this report. Particularly worrying is how difficult it continues to be for international public health authorities to counter this vaccine hesitancy. Immunisation rates against measles remain sub-optimal 22 years after the original flawed report [8]. Social media undoubtedly plays a role here, and its potency is reflected in the fact that just one source is enough to disseminate and propagate untruths [9]. However, this very potency also represents a means to inform and educate patients, members of the public, health professionals and policymakers.

The FPM International Awards for Medical Writing in Social Media are new annual awards for medical graduates from anywhere in the world. To be eligible, an article or blog must be in English and should have been published online between 1st July 2019 and the closing date for the awards: 30th June 2020. There will be up to 5 prizes per year. Each award winner will receive a £100 prize. Award winners will also have winning content published in one of the FPM’s journals, either Health Policy and Technology or the Postgraduate Medical Journal.

For more details and information about how to enter online, see the website for the FPM International Awards for Medical Writing in Social Media.

References
1. Sinclair Lewis. It Can’t Happen Here. 1935, Doubleday, Doran and Company. ISBN 045121658X.
2. George Orwell. Nineteen Eighty-Four: A Novel.  1949, Secker and Warberg. OCLC 470015866.
3. Launer J. The production of ignorance.  Postgrad Med J 2020 xxxxxx.
4. Frédéric Lemaître. China denounces being placed under quarantine. Le Monde. 4th February 2020.
5. National AIDS Trust. HIV fake news: NAT sets out to tackle misinformation. December 1st, 2017
 www.nat.org.uk/press-release/hiv-fake-news-nat-sets-out-tackle-misinformation Accessed 4th February, 2020.
6. Bessi A, Coletto M, Davidescu GA, et al. Science vs conspiracy: collective narratives in the age of misinformation. PLoS One. 2015;10:118093.
7. Vaccine Hesitancy. European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/immunisation-vaccines/vaccine-hesitancy Accessed 29th January 2020.
8. Retracted Lancet 2010;375:445: Wakefield AJ, Murch, SH, Linnell J et al. Ileal-lymphoid-nodular hyperplasia, non-specific colitis, and pervasive developmental disorder in children. Lancet 1998;351:637-641.
9. Waszakab PM, Kasprzycka-Waszak W, AlicjaKubanek, A. The spread of medical fake news in social media – The pilot quantitative study. Health Policy Technol 2018;7(2):115-118.

COVID-19: Beware of falsified medicines from unregistered websites

25.3.20: News from the European Medicines Agency
The EMA is urging the general public not to buy medicines from unauthorised websites and other vendors aiming to exploit fears and concerns during the ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
Vendors may claim that their products can treat or prevent COVID-19 or may appear to provide easy access to legitimate medicines that are otherwise not readily available. Such products are likely to be falsified medicines.
Falsified medicines are fake medicines that vendors pass off as real or authorised. They may contain the wrong or no active ingredient or the right ingredient in the wrong amount. They may also contain very harmful substances that should not be in medicines. Taking such products can lead to severe health problems or a worsening of your condition.
To protect yourself from fraudulent vendors, only buy medicines from a local pharmacy or retailer or from an online pharmacy that is registered with the national competent authorities. You can find the lists of registered online pharmacies in EU countries via EMA’s website or directly from websites of the national competent authorities.
All registered online pharmacies have a common logo which you can use to confirm that the site is registered. The logo consists of a rectangle with horizontal stripes and a white cross placed in the left half of the rectangle adjacent to the midline. Below this is the flag of the EU country where the online pharmacy is registered.
 
Before buying a medicine from a site, check that the site has the logo and then click on it. You will then be taken to the website of your national authority and shown a list of all legally operating online pharmacies. Check that the online pharmacy you have visited is listed there before continuing with your purchase. If it is not listed, do not buy any medicine from that site.
 
 
Keeping safe when buying medicines
  • Falsified medicines can cause serious harm
  • When buying over the internet, only use registered online pharmacies
  • Check that the online pharmacy you are using has the common logo
  • Click on the logo and confirm that the online pharmacy is listed on the national authority website
  • Do not buy medicines advertised as cures or preventive treatments for COVID-19. To treat COVID-related symptoms such as fever, discuss with your doctor or follow advice from authorities
The public is reminded that there are currently no treatments authorised for COVID-19. Medicines are available for treating symptoms such as fever in line with advice from your doctor or pharmacist.
In the event of a shortage of any medicines, you should follow the advice of your doctor, pharmacist or national competent authority. You can find some information about ongoing shortages on the websites of EMA and the national competent authorities.
This information has been published on our website with related content. Please check EMA’s dedicated webpage on COVID-19 for the latest updates.
You have received this mail because you have registered in the EMA stakeholders database and subscribed to receive this kind of information. However, if you no longer wish to receive such communications from us, please send an email to StakeholdersDB@ema.europa.eu to unsubscribe.
We would be grateful if you could disseminate this email to anyone else who might be interested in this information.

The above release was disseminated by the EMA's Public and Stakeholders Engagement Department
Amsterdam | The Netherlands