Medexpress news summary - November 22, 2022

Almost half of the world's population suffers from oral diseases, and 75% of those affected live in low- and middle-income countries. The number of cases of oral disease worldwide has increased by one billion in the last 30 years. These are the conclusions of the latest Global Oral Health Report, published last week by the World Health Organization. The report is the first-ever attempt to create a comprehensive picture of the burden of oral disease, with data profiles for 194 countries. The most common oral diseases are tooth decay, severe gum disease, tooth loss and oral cancer. Untreated tooth decay affects around 2.5 billion people. Severe gum disease, the leading cause of total tooth loss, is estimated to affect one billion people worldwide. About 380,000 people are also diagnosed each year. new cases of oral cancer.

Six voivodeships joined the pilot program of the National Cardiac Network: Dolnośląskie, Łódzkie, Małopolskie, Pomorskie, Śląskie and Wielkopolskie. This means easier and faster access to a specialist and professional therapy for another nearly 160,000. people by the end of 2024 - Cardiovascular diseases are the first cause of death in Poles. To prevent this, timely diagnosis and treatment are necessary. That is why we are expanding the program of the National Cardiac Network. In six new voivodships, it will cover over 124.7 thousand. people, and the number of patients from the Mazowieckie Voivodeship will increase to nearly 35,000. Our goal is to guarantee citizens the widest possible access to specialists and to accelerate the implementation of specialized therapies - explains the Minister of Health, Adam Niedzielski.

The Ministry of Health has published an announcement on the increase in the amount of subsidies for the maintenance and development of teaching and research potential granted for 2022. The total amount of the increases granted is PLN 50 million. The Medical University of Warsaw and the Medical University of Lodz will receive the most, over PLN 7 million each. Ten medical universities are on the list of universities that will receive additional money.

For the last nearly a quarter of a century, we have lived in the belief that money from health insurance premiums is beyond the reach of political decisions. It was the crowning argument for maintaining a system based on health insurance premiums, which of course can hardly be called insurance, but contributory. Last week, decisions were made that deprive us - citizens paying contributions - of our last illusions, writes Małgorzata Solecka in her column.