Medexpress news summary - November 28, 2022

Community first level psychological care for children and young people is available nationwide. In the case of adults, it will cover over a third of the population by the end of 2022, said the Minister of Health, Adam Niedzielski, on Thursday. The Minister took part in the scientific conference "Psychiatry reform: systemic challenges related to changing the model of mental health care organization", organized by the Ministry of Health in cooperation with the Pilot Office of the National Mental Health Protection Programme. - We can say that the last four years, because in 2018, the reform of psychiatry for adults was launched first, and a year later, in 2019, the reform of psychiatry for children and adolescents fundamentally and thoroughly changed the model of service provision, moving it from only hospital places to environmental care - said the minister during the press conference organized during the break of the meeting. - Community care means building local mental health support centers that gather psychologists and psychotherapists - representatives of professions other than psychiatrists. This community care is reaching the patient, being the first line, a kind of family doctor in the field of mental health - he explained.

– There are more and more potential chemicals that can be used in the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases. Anti-TNF alpha inhibitors remain the basis of IBD therapy today - said prof. Maciej Gonciarz from the Department of Gastroenterology and Internal Diseases of the Military Institute of Medicine in Warsaw during the Inflammatory Bowel Inflammatory Education Day organized by the Mazovian branch of the J-elita Society, which took place last Saturday (November 26) in the auditorium of the Institute of Biocybernetics and Biomedical Engineering of the Polish Academy of Sciences. IBD patients could also learn more about the criteria for inclusion in the drug program, new ways of iron supplementation, and get tips on how to check drug interactions.

Air pollution is becoming one of the main, and perhaps even the primary risk factor for premature deaths in EU countries – warns the European Environment Agency by publishing a report on the health effects of poor air quality. Data on premature deaths are alarming - in 2020, due to poor air quality, 238,000 were recorded in 27 countries of the community, more than in 2019 (231,000), although air quality throughout the EU has improved. This may be due to two reasons: firstly, the correlation with the COVID-19 pandemic (smog, polluted air worsen the prognosis in the course of this disease, as well as other respiratory diseases - and not only). Secondly, air quality is not improving uniformly: first of all, Central and Eastern Europe (primarily Poland) and the Balkan countries have a lot of work to do in this regard.