All news

Healthcare and its transformation towards new technologies depend heavily on the currently negotiated new EU budget perspective and funds earmarked for digitisation, social measures and healthcare. A portion of EUR 9 bn under the “Digital Europe” programme is likely to be invested in the healthcare sector. Reinier Schlatmann, Philips CEO for Central & Eastern Europe, emphasised that in order to meet the challenges faced by healthcare, it is essential to develop eHealth services, make decisions supporting their development and establish cooperation between entities from the healthcare sector.

Medicine is one of the fields recording the fastest technological development. Virtual reality unravels new possibilities, enabling the performance of telemedical procedures and advanced training courses without experimenting on actual patients. Physicians specialising in plastic dermatology and clinical dermatology will soon have an opportunity to undergo training using a VR simulator. The equipment is to ensure a high level of realism thanks to double immersion. The market launch of the simulator is planned for 2020.

Medicine lags behind the evolution of super-bacteria resistant to many types of drugs. As reported by the WHO, every year these bacteria kill 700,000 people – by 2050, this might be 10 million. Polish scientists want to prevent that by introducing a high-precision diagnostic system to develop complete bacterial resistance profiles.

Work on the PCR/ONE system is to be completed by 2020 to ensure the fastest detection of bacteria and viruses in the world. The system will be able to carry out an automatic analysis of the genetic material obtained from bacterial and viral pathogens. It will aim in particular at detecting Staphylococcus aureus, which causes, among other things, pneumonia, myocarditis, meningitis and phlebitis.

In 2018, the government plans to allocate unprecedented resources for physical culture. When compared to 2015, the expenditures for this purpose will increase by 93% and will include investments in sports infrastructure and projects aimed at children and seniors. Witold Bańko’s ministry in this way wants to encourage Poles to engage in physical activity, which should translate into the country’s improved economic situation. Increasing Poles’ sporting activity was one of the topics discussed at the 2nd Health Congress of Employers of Poland.

Human biological rhythm depends on the light, including serotonin secretion, which conditions the quality of sleep and activity during the day. Thanks to a cocktail of light developed by Polish scientists, which consists of various wavelengths, it is possible to create conditions in space similar to those on Earth. A prototype already exists, and can be implemented after the tests. It will also find its use in greenhouses, hydroponic systems, bioreactors and even in depression treatment.

Scientists from the Medical University of Warsaw have discovered that oleaceine, found in extra-virgin olive oil, has a unique ability to prevent the atherosclerotic plaque in the neck artery from breaking and hence reduce the high risk of death due to a stroke or heart attack. However, Prof. Marek Naruszewicz, leading the research, stressed that these valuable properties can only be found in bitter, greenish and cloudy extra-virgin oil. The yellow oil, less expensive and milder in taste, has a much lower content of beneficial substances.

Polish doctors have been the first in Central and Eastern Europe, and the fourth worldwide, to successfully implant next-generation hearing aids. The aids work on the basis of bone conduction to provide patients with natural and clear hearing experience. This gives hope to patients with hearing disorders in whom other treatments have failed, ENT doctors say.