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Merci la science! Un guide d’auto-assistance pour le coronavirus

Comment répondre à nos besoins en période de confinement ? Voici un guide des innovations qui nous permettent de passer ce désagréable moment.

Les deux dernières semaines ont probablement été les moments les plus étranges de la plupart de nos vies. Peu d’entre nous ont connu une restriction aussi massive de leurs voyages et de leur vie sociale avant l’apparition du coronavirus. Même en tant que passionné d’aviation et grand voyageur, je n’ai même pas vu l’immobilisation au sol de flottes entières d’avions au lendemain du 11 septembre 2001.

Les réunions d’affaires, conférences ou événements sportifs semblent être suspendus pendant au moins les six à huit semaines à venir. Ce n’est probablement qu’une question de temps avant que la plupart des pays ne ferme les salles de sport et les pubs.

Ce sera un défi non seulement pour l’économie, mais aussi pour notre vie sociale. Il sera important de garder le moral et la santé mentale. Il s’avère que des conversations vidéo régulières, mais très informelles avec des amis et des collègues, autour d’un verre, peuvent beaucoup aider à soulager l’anxiété accumulée par l’hystérie médiatique et le sentiment de ne pas être maître de la situation, impuissant.

Alors que nous essayons tous de nous adapter à une nouvelle réalité pour les 6 à 10 prochaines semaines, il y a aussi des raisons pour lesquelles je suis très heureux que cette crise survienne en 2020 et non en 2000. Beaucoup d’innovations se sont produites dans ce nouveau millénaire dont nous devrions être extrêmement reconnaissants.

Avant tout, nous devrions bien sûr être reconnaissants envers toutes les infirmières et tous les médecins qui ont aidé les patients en première ligne de l’épidémie. Ce seront des mois difficiles pour tous les professionnels de la santé et ils devraient recevoir tout le soutien nécessaire.

Et avant de nous plonger dans l’innovation médicale et la recherche d’un vaccin, regardons qui d’autre nous aide à prendre de la distance sociale, à nous isoler et à aplatir la courbe.

BESOIN DE TRAVAILLER ?

Les outils de travail à distance tels que Zoom, Asana ou les outils de Google ont déjà révolutionné le monde du travail. La plupart des réunions peuvent être converties en appel vidéo.

Ainsi, l’économie du savoir ou les emplois de défense des droits, comme ceux de mon organisation, peuvent au moins continuer à être productifs. Mais il est évident qu’il y a aussi la vie au-delà du travail et qu’il faut s’en occuper, y compris la garde des enfants.

BESOIN DE NOURRITURE ?

Grâce à des services de livraison de produits alimentaires tels qu’AmazonFresh et Ocado, j’ai pu constituer une bonne quantité de réserves de conserves, de produits secs et de produits pour la salle de bains, sans même avoir à me battre pour les derniers produits dans certains supermarchés presque vides. Au cours des prochaines semaines, nous aurons des livraisons régulières de produits frais, vu que je ne me contenterai pas de pâtes tant que corona ne sera pas vaincu. 

Les services de livraison de nourriture permettent de travailler encore plus facilement à domicile, tout en créant de la valeur, et d’être nourri par Papa John’s, Nando’s ou notre restaurant indien local. Domino’s Pizza est allé encore plus loin et vient de m’envoyer un courriel annonçant « Contact Free Delivery » au Royaume-Uni et en Irlande (j’habite à Londres) :

« En introduisant la livraison sans contact, nous pensons que nous donnerons à nos clients la tranquillité d’esprit lorsqu’ils commandent un Domino’s, tout en protégeant nos livreurs.

Vous pouvez sélectionner une livraison sans contact lors du passage de votre commande sur notre application ou notre site web. Votre chauffeur vous appellera à son arrivée pour convenir de l’endroit où vous souhaitez que votre nourriture soit laissée. Une fois la commande passée à l’endroit convenu, le chauffeur se tiendra à au moins deux mètres de vous pendant que vous irez chercher votre commande. Pour que le service soit vraiment sans contact, toutes les commandes de livraison sans contact doivent être prépayées en ligne ou par téléphone ».

Après m’être occupé de toute la pizza et du papier toilette dont j’ai besoin dans un avenir proche, il est maintenant temps d’examiner quels seront les besoins en matière de divertissement.

BESOIN DE DIVERTISSEMENT ?

Netflix et Amazon arrivent directement dans ma vie et, comme l’a fait remarquer ma collègue Maria, « c’est un fléau avec le WiFi ». Il n’est donc pas nécessaire d’aller dans le magasin de location de vidéos qui a fermé ses portes, mais vous pouvez diffuser en continu toutes les saisons de Buffy, et si cela dure plus longtemps que prévu, même Angel, directement chez vous.

Ma salle de sport vient de m’envoyer un e-mail m’informant qu’ils avaient un cas de COVID-19 et qu’ils sont actuellement fermés pour un nettoyage en profondeur. C’est bien que Kelli et Daniel de Fitness Blender aient plus de 500 vidéos d’entraînement gratuites sur YouTube. Sortez vos tapis de yoga !

Mais Buffy et HIIT ne sont pas disponibles en quantité suffisante pour une journée. Heureusement, les jeux vidéo (auxquels je n’ai pas prêté attention depuis longtemps) sont maintenant surtout diffusés en streaming ou téléchargés. Mes amis des médias sociaux m’ont recommandé Red Dead Redemption 2, The Witcher 3 et Europa Universalis IV (probablement trop compliqué pour moi). Je pense donc que nous sommes tous prêts ici aussi !

BESOIN DE MÉDICAMENTS ?

Passons maintenant à l’une des plus grandes inventions de ces dernières décennies : les pharmacies en ligne ! Venant d’Allemagne et ayant travaillé dans le domaine de la politique de santé, je suis toujours perplexe quant à l’ampleur de la lutte contre les pharmacies en ligne et les ordonnances électroniques. En ces temps d’isolement et de distanciation sociale, ces deux mots sonnent comme de la musique à mes oreilles. 

J’ai pu commander et stocker toutes sortes de médicaments délivrés uniquement sur ordonnance, tels que des médicaments contre l’asthme, des inhibiteurs de la pompe à protons et des antibiotiques, sans même quitter mon appartement ; et tout cela LÉGALEMENT (avertissement : je souffre d’asthme) ! Il vous suffit de consulter un médecin en ligne ou de répondre à un quiz et de recevoir une ordonnance électronique.

C’est un soulagement énorme pour le système de santé, déjà mis à rude épreuve, car les patients n’inondent pas les cliniques juste pour demander des ordonnances et les pharmaciens peuvent se concentrer sur la production d’un plus grand nombre de désinfectants.

RÉJOUISSONS-NOUS DE CES INNOVATIONS

La plupart de ces services et entreprises mentionnés ci-dessus n’existaient même pas il y a vingt ans. Grâce à l’innovation et à la concurrence, les entrepreneurs ont mis au point ces nouvelles façons de servir les clients. C’est étonnant et, même si ce n’était peut-être qu’un simple gadget il y a quelques semaines, tout, de la vidéoconférence aux prescriptions électroniques, rend cette crise beaucoup plus gérable. Nous devrions nous en réjouir !

Il est évident qu’il existe des groupes vulnérables et que de nombreuses personnes souffriront lourdement du virus. C’est pourquoi nous avons besoin de plus d’innovation. Il y a déjà une course au premier vaccin et d’autres sociétés pharmaceutiques travaillent à la réorientation des antiviraux utilisés par exemple pour lutter contre le virus Ebola.

Certaines études suggèrent que certains médicaments contre le paludisme pourraient être utiles pour renforcer le système immunitaire des patients gravement malades atteints de coronaropathie. Il s’agit souvent de médicaments récemment découverts dont le développement nécessite beaucoup de temps et de capitaux. 

Nous devrions être reconnaissants pour l’innovation en médecine et admettre que ces percées ne sont possibles que grâce à des chercheurs enthousiastes et à l’appétit d’innovation risqué du secteur privé.

C’est pourquoi, à l’Agence pour le choix du consommateur (Consumer Choice Center), nous continuons à nous battre (depuis nos ordinateurs portables) pour le choix, l’innovation et l’élaboration de politiques pro-science. Nous en tirerons profit lors de la prochaine crise (un robot de garde d’enfants inclus) !

Originally published here.

The Consumer Choice Center is the consumer advocacy group supporting lifestyle freedom, innovation, privacy, science, and consumer choice. The main policy areas we focus on are digital, mobility, lifestyle & consumer goods, and health & science.

The CCC represents consumers in over 100 countries across the globe. We closely monitor regulatory trends in Ottawa, Washington, Brussels, Geneva and other hotspots of regulation and inform and activate consumers to fight for #ConsumerChoice. Learn more at consumerchoicecenter.org

In times of Coronavirus: policy-makers won’t stop legislating your consumer choice away

Disclaimer: Independently of my arguments in this blog post, it remains very important that sanitise your hands regularly, avoid physical contact with other people, and reduce your social interactions to the necessary levels. Particularly avoid contact with elderly people, and those with underlying health conditions. Consult your local government health websites for more information, particularly on detecting symptoms. 

As the world is paralysed by the Coronavirus crisis, many people have altered schedules. Working from home, different commute, restrictions on crossing borders and severely impacted air travel: for a while, our lives will look very different. While healthcare workers and medical researchers are working around the clock to provide life-saving help and discover possible cures, our media attention is shifting away from our day-to-day worries to the well-being of our friends and family.

Meanwhile, policy-makers are not on a break. In the United States Senate, the re-authorisation of the Patriot Act was passed, giving warrantless collection of personal data an extension of 77 days. The French National Assembly is currently suspended, yet set to resume next week with a debate on nuclear deterrence, as President Macron has been criticised for not keeping his word on the reduction of nuclear weapons capabilities. In Russia, President Vladimir Putin changed the constitution on March 14, allowing him to run for yet another two terms. Just last week, the UK Parliament narrowly voted down an amendment that would have banned the Chinese telecommunications operator Huawei, under considerable flack for not guaranteeing consumer privacy, from engaging in the UK market. 

What we’re also experiencing is a number of media stories on harm-reduction tools such as e-cigarettes and heat-not-burn products being dangerous in times of the virus, leading the way to further restrictions from governments. As consumers are paying attention to their own health and that of their families, authorities have an easier time passing otherwise unpopular decisions. Thus, consumers remain forced to consider their own attention as a valuable resource: the fight for consumer choice doesn’t rest.

Note that as a follower of the work of the Consumer Choice Center, you can send in tips through this website, making us and our volunteers aware of current events in the realm of consumer choice. Your local municipal council or government might be in the midst of trying to pass certain measures unnoticed, as news outlets are focused on this pandemic. Consumers will know that it is always a bigger struggle to repeal active legislation, than it is to stop those rules that are in the process of being made.

Some bans limiting consumer choice hurt especially in times of self-isolation: Home deliveries of alcohol, bans on online pharmacies, and limited opening hours of supermarkets are things you really don’t need right now.

Ultimately, legislators and regulators should give consumers a break, not only because people have more important things to do, but also because from a democratic standpoint, new restrictions ought to be carefully weighed and debated, before they pass the houses of parliament on the same day as people see their loved ones transported into emergency rooms. There are smart rules and relief for consumers that are being passed as we speak, and they should be applauded, but reductions in consumer choice need their fair share of input before they go to a vote.

For the sake of the standards we expect governments to abide by, let’s give consumers a break on new taxes, new bans, new infringements on their personal privacy, and new paternalistic policies. 

The Consumer Choice Center is the consumer advocacy group supporting lifestyle freedom, innovation, privacy, science, and consumer choice. The main policy areas we focus on are digital, mobility, lifestyle & consumer goods, and health & science.

The CCC represents consumers in over 100 countries across the globe. We closely monitor regulatory trends in Ottawa, Washington, Brussels, Geneva and other hotspots of regulation and inform and activate consumers to fight for #ConsumerChoice. Learn more at consumerchoicecenter.org

What we should be thankful for: A CORONA SELF HELP GUIDE

The last couple of weeks were probably some of the strangest times in most of our lives. Only few of us have seen such a massive restriction of travel and social life prior to the coronavirus. Even as an aviation geek and frequent traveler, the grounding of entire fleets of planes is something I haven’t even seen in the aftermath of 9/11.

Physical business meetings, conferences, or sports events seem to be off for at least the next six to eight weeks. It is probably only a matter of time until most countries close down gyms and pubs. This will not only be a challenge for the economy but also for our social lives. Keeping up morale and mental health will be important and I figured out that regular but very casual video chats with friends and colleagues (over a drink) can help a lot to ease the anxieties built up by media hysteria and the feeling of not being in control of the situation (helplessness).

So while we are all trying to adjust to a new reality for the next 6-10 weeks there are also reasons why I am very happy that this crisis happens in 2020 and not in 2000. There are many innovations that happened in this new millennium we should be extremely thankful for.

First and foremost we should of course be thankful for all the nurses and doctors helping patients at the frontlines of the outbreak. This will be some challenging months for all healthcare professionals and they should receive all necessary support.

And before diving into medical innovation and the search for a vaccine let’s look who else is helping us to social distance, self-isolate, and flatten the curve.

Remote working tools such as Zoom, Asana, or Google Suite have already revolutionized the workplace. Most meetings can be switched to a video call. So at least the knowledge economy or advocacy jobs such ours can still keep being productive. But obviously there’s also life beyond work and that needs to be taken care of (including child care).

Thanks to grocery delivery services such AmazonFresh and Ocado I was able to build up a good amount of supplies of canned and dried foods and bathroom supplies even without having to fight for the last products in some nearly empty supermarkets. For the next few weeks we have regular deliveries of fresh foods so I won’t run fully on Mac n Cheese until corona is defeated. 

Food delivery services make it even easier to work from home, still create value, and being fed by Papa John’s, Nando’s, or our local Indian restaurant. Domino’s Pizza went even further and just sent me an email announcing ‘Contact Free Delivery’ in the UK and Ireland:

“By introducing Contact Free Delivery, we believe that we will give our customers peace of mind when ordering a Domino’s, while also protecting our delivery drivers.

You can select a Contact Free Delivery at the checkout on our app or website when placing your order. Your driver will call you when they arrive to agree where you want your food left. Once the order has been placed in the agreed location, the driver will stay at least two meters away while you collect your order.  To ensure the service is truly contact free, all Contact Free Delivery orders must be pre-paid online or over the phone.”

Having taken care of all the pizza and toilet paper I need for the foreseeable future it is now time to look at what entertainment needs will be important. Netflix and Amazon stream directly into my living and as my colleague Maria pointed out “It’s a plague with WiFi”. So no need to go to the defunct video rental store but be excited to stream all seasons of Buffy (and if this goes longer than expected even Angel) directly into your home.

My gym just emailed me that they had a case of COVID-19 and they are currently shut down for deep cleaning. Good that Kelli and Daniel of Fitness Blender have over 500 free workout videos on YouTube. Get your Yoga Mats out!

But there’s only so much of Buffy and HIIT you can take a day. Fortunately video games (which I haven’t paid attention to for a long time) are now mainly also being streamed or downloaded. My social media friends recommended me Red Dead Redemption 2, The Witcher 3, and Europa Universalis IV (probably too complicated for me). So I think we are all set here as well!

Now to one of the greatest inventions of the past decades: Online pharmacies! Coming from Germany and having worked in health policy I am always puzzled how much vested interest fights against online pharmacies and e-prescriptions. In times of self-isolation and social distancing these two words sound like music to my ears. 

I was able to reorder and stock up all sorts of prescription only drugs such as asthma medicine, proton pump inhibitors, and antibiotics without even leaving my flat – and all of this LEGALLY (disclaimer: I do have asthma)! You just have an online consultation with a doctor or take a quiz and receive an electronic prescription. This is definitely a massive relief on the already challenged health system as patients don’t flood clinics just to ask for prescriptions and pharmacists can focus on producing more sanitizers.

Most of these above mentioned services and companies did not even exist two decades ago. Thanks to innovation and competition entrepreneurs carved out these new ways of servicing customers. This is amazing and while it might have been a mere gimmick some weeks ago, everything from videoconferencing to electronic prescriptions makes this crisis much more manageable. We should be thankful for that!

Obviously there are vulnerable groups and many people will suffer heavily from the virus. That’s why we need more innovation. There’s already a race to the first vaccine and other pharmaceutical companies are working on repurposing antivirals that are being used for instance in fighting the Ebola Virus. Some studies suggest that certain Malaria medication might be helpful to boost the immune system of severely sick corona patients. These are often recently discovered drugs that require a lot of time and capital to be developed. 

We should be thankful for innovation in medicine and acknowledge that these breakthroughs are only possible thanks to keen researchers and a risky appetite for innovation shown by the private sector. This is why we at the Consumer Choice Center keep fighting (from our laptops) for choice, innovation, and evidence-based policy making. We will benefit in the next crisis from it (a child care robot included)!

The Consumer Choice Center is the consumer advocacy group supporting lifestyle freedom, innovation, privacy, science, and consumer choice. The main policy areas we focus on are digital, mobility, lifestyle & consumer goods, and health & science.

The CCC represents consumers in over 100 countries across the globe. We closely monitor regulatory trends in Ottawa, Washington, Brussels, Geneva and other hotspots of regulation and inform and activate consumers to fight for #ConsumerChoice. Learn more at consumerchoicecenter.org

Fight Viruses by releasing the Gene Scissors: What is Gene Editing and why should we get excited about it?

Understanding gene editing with comic book figures

Humanity is currently facing a huge challenge imposed by the Coronavirus. Borders are being shut down, planes grounded, and factories closed. At the same time, scientists and public health professionals are working on tests, treatments, and vaccines to soon provide a medical response. Coping with corona might be one of the largest tests humans have faced in the past decades but it won’t be the last virus we need to defeat. It is time to embrace bioscience and allow more research and applications of genetic alteration methods.

For the layman, all this technobabble about mutagenesis and genetic engineering is difficult to comprehend and it took me personally a good amount of reading to start grasping what different methods exist and how these can massively improve our quality of life.

Let’s first look at the four most common ways to alter the genes of a plant or animal: 

  • Dr. Xaver – Mutations per se just happen regularly in nature – This is how some amino acids ended up being humans a billion years later. Biological evolution can only happen thanks to mutations. Mutations in nature happen randomly or are caused by exogenous factors such as radiation (e.g. sun). For the comic book readers among us, X-men have mutations that (in most cases) occurred randomly.
  • The Hulk – Mutation through exposure (mutagens): One of the most common ways to manipulate seeds is exposing them to radiation and hoping for positive mutations (e.g. higher pest resistance). This method is very common since the 1950s and a very inaccurate shotgun approach aiming to make crops more resistant or palatable. It requires thousands of attempts to get a positive result. This method is widely used and legal in nearly every country. In our comic book universe, the Hulk is a good example of mutations caused by radiation.
  • Spiderman – Genetically Modified Organisms (transgenic GMO): This often-feared procedure of creating GMOs is based on inserting the genes of one species into the genes of another. In most cases, GMO crops have been injected with a protein of another plant or bacteria that makes the crop grow faster or be more resistant towards certain diseases. Other examples can be seen in crossing salmon with tilapia fish which makes the salmon grow twice as fast. Spiderman being bitten by a spider and suddenly being able to climb skyscrapers due to his enhanced spider-human (transgenic) DNA is an example from the comicverse. 
  • GATTACA/Wrath of Khan – Gene Editing (the scissors): The latest and most precise way of altering an organism’s genes is so-called Gene Editing. In contrast to traditional GMOs, genes are not being implanted from another organism but changed within the organism due to a precise method of either deactivating certain genes or adding them. 

This can be even done in grown humans that are alive, which is a blessing for everyone who suffers from genetic disorders. We are able to “repair” genes in live organisms. Gene editing is also thousands of times more accurate than just bombarding seeds with radiation. Some applied examples are deactivating the gene responsible for generating gluten in wheat: The result is gluten-free wheat. There are several methods that achieve this. One of the most popular ones these days is the so-called CRISPR Cas-9. These ‘scissors’ are usually reprogrammed bacteria that transmit the new gene information or deactivate defunct or unwanted genes. Many science fiction novels and movies show a future in which we can deactivate genetic defects and cure humans from terrible diseases. Some examples of stories in which CRISPR-like techniques have been used are movies such as GATTACA, Star Trek’s Wrath of Khan, or the Expanse series in which gene editing plays a crucial role in growing crops in space.

What does this have to do with the Coronavirus?

Synthetic biologists have started using CRISPR to synthetically create parts of the coronavirus in an attempt to launch a vaccine against this lung disease and be able to mass-produce it very quickly. In combination with computer simulations and artificial intelligence, the best design for such a vaccine is calculated on a computer and then synthetically created. This speeds up vaccine development and cuts it from years to merely months. Regulators and approval bodies have shown that in times of crisis they can also rapidly approve new testing and vaccination procedures which usually require years of back and forth with agencies such as the FDA?

CRISPR also allows the ‘search’ for specific genes, also genes of a virus. This helped researchers to build fast and simple testing procedures to test patients for corona.

In the long term, gene editing might allow us to increase the immunity of humans by altering our genes and making us more resistant to viruses and bacteria. 

This won’t be the last crisis

While the coronavirus seems to really test our modern society, we also need to be aware that this won’t be the last pathogen that has the potential to kill millions. If we are unlucky, corona might mutate quickly and become harder to fight. The next dangerous virus, fungus, or bacteria is probably around the corner. Hence we need to embrace the latest inventions of biotechnology and not block genetic research and the deployment of its findings.

Right now a lot of red tape and even outright bans are standing between lifesaving innovations such as CRISPR and patients around the world. We need to rethink our hostility towards genetic engineering and embrace it. To be frank: We are in a constant struggle to fight newly occurring diseases and need to be able to deploy state of the art human answers to this.

What we should be thankful for: A corona self help guide.

What we should now be thankful for: A corona self help guide

To fight severe coronavirus disease and even ageing, make metformin an OTC drug, now!

This is a post by a Guest Author. 
Disclaimer: The author’s views are entirely his or her own, and don’t necessarily reflect the opinions of the Consumer Choice Center.

For more than a month now, the COVID-19 epidemic that struck China and risks spreading globally has understandably captured the attention of much of the world. While apparently less fatal than its close relative SARS, COVID-19 is much more easily spread and, like the former, capable of causing severe lung pathology and aberrant immune responses that kill 1–3% of the patients and probably cause serious disability in those with severe illness who recover.

As Zumla et al. note in the recent Lancet piece, much of the response so far has understandably been aimed at arresting the spread of the disease from central China, however, this should not undermine the urgency of developing treatments against it, especially its severe form. While Gilead’s novel anti-Ebola drug remdesivir has shown glimpses of promise against COVID-19 and could even see mass production in China in generic form, according to Zumla et al., there is another, extremely cheap and widely available drug that could potentially help those that need help the most. The drug in question is the wonder-drug against diabetes type II, metformin:

Specific drugs to treat 2019-nCoV will take several years to develop and evaluate. In the meantime, a range of existing host-directed therapies that have proven to be safe could potentially be repurposed to treat 2019-nCoV infection. Several marketed drugs with excellent safety profiles such as metformin, glitazones, fibrates, sartans, and atorvastin, as well as nutrient supplements and biologics could reduce immunopathology, boost immune responses, and prevent or curb ARDS [acute respiratory distress syndrome — D.G.].

Thus, even though metformin is not a direct treatment for the Wuhan coronavirus itself, it is quite possibly a means of preventing severe, potentially fatal complications in the already infected people, which is a significant benefit, in my book.

There is even more to this drug, however, than its role in treating diabetes and potentially helping save people with COVID-19.

Basic facts and history of metformin

Metformin is the most widely used treatment against diabetes type II. As David Sinclair, tells us, “Metformin is a derivative of a natural molecule called a “biguanide,” from a flower called Galega officinalis, also known as “goat’s rue” or “French lilac.” It has been used as a herbal medicine in Europe for centuries. In 1957, Frenchman Jean Sterne published a paper demonstrating the effectiveness of oral dimethyl biguanide to treat type 2 diabetes. Since then, the drug has become one of the most widely taken and effective medicines on the globe.” Metformin’s mechanism of action in diabetes is through decreasing glucose production in the liver.

It is one of the cheapest medicines and is universally considered as highly safe and effective, and only causes the severe complication of lactic acidosis in a small proportion of users, usually those with impaired renal and (or) hepatic function. Some researchers think that it may actually not cause lactic acidosis at all.

Metformin, ageing and diseases of ageing

Even though the exact mechanism of how metformin might slow down ageing is not well-understood, it has been known at least since 2002 that its administration activates the AMPK pathway, at least in the human skeletal muscle cells of type II diabetics.

The most fascinating hint that metformin could have significant anti-ageing benefits in humans has been provided by the recent study conducted by Bannister et al. In it, they compared the mortality of British diabetics who were prescribed metformin to those who were prescribed another drug and that of non-diabetics. Astonishingly, the results suggest that people taking metformin could live longer than even non-diabetics, even though diabetes is supposed to be a systemic, debilitating disease.

Another extremely impressive result that directly relates to humans comes from the study in which metformin was one of the three drugs administered to nine volunteers for a year (the other two were human growth hormone and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA)). Astonishingly, the volunteers have shown signs of reversal of their epigenetic age as measured by their epigenetic clocks (by on average 2.5 years).

Finally, metformin is a potential drug candidate against several severe particular pathologies of ageing such as Alzheimer’s, some cancers, heart disease, chronic inflammation and leaky gut. Even outside aging, it could help treat debilitating conditions like inflammatory bowel disease.

Metformin’s restricted status is a global disgrace

The fact that metformin could help save people struck by severe Wuhan coronavirus disease, that it could prolong people’s lives and make them better able to benefit from more revolutionary anti-ageing treatments down the road, while being safe for the vast majority of people makes it astonishing, jaw-dropping, if you will, that there is apparently only one country in the world where it is officially available over-the-counter — Thailand.

To say that this situation is outrageous would be a severe understatement. There is no remotely reasonable justification under any possible risk model to continue classifying metformin as a prescription drug. The only plausible result of doing that is massive suffering and premature deaths. Public health authorities all over the world must follow the example of Thailand and release metformin over the counter.

The World Health Organization (WHO) must play its role, too. It lists metformin among the world’s essential medicines but the best possible way of ensuring access to it, if it is so sorely needed and safe, is to make it an OTC drug. It should call upon countries to do just that. The WHO’s position on ageing also needs to be thoroughly revised. Its current approach is to promote something called “healthy ageing.” It should lead in recognizing that ageing is a pathology, and the one that causes the most suffering at that. Ageing cannot be healthy by definition.

Recognizing ageing as the pathology it is would quickly pave the way to making drugs like metformin available to everyone who would like to try to prolong their lives.

Guest post by Daniil Gorbatenko.

The Consumer Choice Center is the consumer advocacy group supporting lifestyle freedom, innovation, privacy, science, and consumer choice. The main policy areas we focus on are digital, mobility, lifestyle & consumer goods, and health & science.

The CCC represents consumers in over 100 countries across the globe. We closely monitor regulatory trends in Ottawa, Washington, Brussels, Geneva and other hotspots of regulation and inform and activate consumers to fight for #ConsumerChoice. Learn more at consumerchoicecenter.org

DIE WELTGESUNDHEITSORGANISATION VERSAGT MAL WIEDER: DIESMAL CORONAVIRUS

Letzte Woche, während des Weltwirtschaftsforums in Davos, konnte man den Generaldirektor der Weltgesundheitsorganisation (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus noch lachend und entspannt über die Davoser Promenade schlendern sehen. Zu diesem Zeitpunkt sah die WHO noch keine internationale Gefahr in dem chinesischen Coronavirus. Trotz Berichten aus China von rapide ansteigenden Ansteckungen und Unklarheit darüber, wie offen die kommunistische Regierung in Peking mit den wirklichen Zahlen umgeht, gab sich der Chef der Genfer Behörde entspannt.

Mittlerweile hat die WHO ihre ursprüngliche Einschätzung der Lage revidiert. So wird nun weltweit von einem hohen Risiko ausgegangen. Geschichte scheint sich hier wieder einmal zu wiederholen, schon 2014 reagierte die WHO mit monaten Verzögerung beim Ausbruch des tödlichen Ebolavirus in Westafrika.

Die wichtigste Aufgabe der WHO sollte in der internationalen Bekämpfung von Epidemien gesehen werden. Doch leider verbringt sie zu viel Zeit mit Konferenzen und thematischen Auseinandersetzungen in ganz anderen Bereichen.

Nächste Woche tagt der geschäftsführende Vorstand der WHO vom 3. bis 8. Februar in Genf. Anstelle sich nun wirklich auf die wichtigsten Themen zu konzentrieren, wie zum Beispiel eine zeitnahe und fehlerfreie Antwort auf den sich ausbreitenden Coronavirus, zeigt die Tagesordnung dieser Sitzung, wie die Behörde Zeit und Steuergelder mit peripheren Themen verschwendet.

Die Tagesordnung verbringt eine ganze erste Seite mit Reformvorschlägen für Gesundheitssysteme hin zu universellen Krankenkassen. Solche Themen sollten zwar eher Teil von Innenpolitik sein, die WHO scheint aber ideologische Grabenkämpfe wichtiger zu finden als die globale Bekämpfung von Killerviren.

Auf den hinteren Seiten der Tagesordnung findet sich dann neben “gesundem Altern” und der “Renovierung der WHO Zentrale” auch ein Krisenplan für globale Pandemien.

Bevor es zu Krisenbewältigung auf der Agenda kommt, wird es wahrscheinlich erstmal einige Tage und die Bekämpfung von Patenten und geistigem Eigentum gehen. In den letzten Jahren hat sich die WHO zu einem zentralen Sprachrohr gegen Innovation und Privatwirtschaft gemausert. Die Verwässerung und langsame Abschaffung von Patenten auf Medikamenten sieht die WHO als bestes Mittel um steigende Gesundheitskosten zu verhindern. Dass Einfuhrzölle und Verbrauchssteuern auf Medikamente gerade in Schwellenländern oft 40% des Preises ausmachen, erwähnt die WHO lieber nicht. Allein in China geben Patienten über 5 Milliarden Euro pro Jahr nur für Zölle auf importierte Medikamente aus. Gerade in Zeiten eines massiven Virusausbruchs sollten solche unethischen Steuern in Frage gestellt werden.

Es war auch die Privatwirtschaft die parallel vier unterschiedliche Ebolaimpfstoffe in den letzten Jahren schnell und effektiv entwickelt hat. Ähnliches wird nun beim Coronavirus benötigt. Die Strategie der WHO Anreize bei der Medikamentenentwicklung zu entfernen könnte extrem negative Auswirkungen für die Weltbevölkerung haben.

Es wäre dem WHO Vorstand zu raten, sich weniger mit der Verschönerung seiner Büroräume auszusetzen, sondern eher mit der sofortigen Antwort auf massive Bedrohungen für die weltweite Gesundheit und globale Handelsströme, wie Ebola und das Coronavirus. Mit einem Budget von 2 Milliarden Euro pro Jahr und über 10% davon für Reisekosten veranschlagt, muss sich die WHO die berechtigte Frage stellen, ob die Behörde nicht massiv geschrumpft und auf ihre Kernaufgaben ausgerichtet werden muss.

Selbst als Befürworter des schlanken Staates sollte man die Notwendigkeit eines internationalen Koordinierungs- und Aktivierungsorgans im Bereich transnationale Epidemien sehen. Leider kommt die WHO dieser Aufgabe nur wenig nach.

Originally published here.

The Consumer Choice Center is the consumer advocacy group supporting lifestyle freedom, innovation, privacy, science, and consumer choice. The main policy areas we focus on are digital, mobility, lifestyle & consumer goods, and health & science.

The CCC represents consumers in over 100 countries across the globe. We closely monitor regulatory trends in Ottawa, Washington, Brussels, Geneva and other hotspots of regulation and inform and activate consumers to fight for #ConsumerChoice. Learn more at consumerchoicecenter.org

È TEMPO DI RENDERE TRASPARENTE IL SETTORE FARMACEUTICO (TUTELANDO I BREVETTI)

La trasparenza nei prezzi dei farmaci può essere positiva per i consumatori, a patto che vada di pari passo con il riconoscimento dei diritti di proprietà intellettuale e il valore dei brevetti. Un processo più chiaro e poche regole certe potrebbero velocizzare l’approvazione dei farmaci più innovativi. Che cosa possono fare l’OMS, l’Unione Europea e i singoli stati membri (inclusa l’Italia)?

Nel 2019, l’Organizzazione Mondiale della Sanità (OMS) ha approvato una risoluzione – proposta, tra gli altri, da Italia, Spagna e Lussemburgo – intesa a rendere più aperti e trasparenti i mercati farmaceutici, che sono tipicamente caratterizzati da grande opacità e prezzi alti. Uno degli obiettivi di questa risoluzione è la progressiva diffusione al pubblico di informazioni sulla copertura brevettuale e il marketing status di nuovi prodotti farmaceutici, oltre all’ottenimento di maggiore chiarezza sul drug pricing.

Sorprendentemente, il Regno Unito –  con Germania ed Ungheria –  si è dissociato dalla risoluzione, proponendo di posporre la revisione al Gennaio 2020. Non è un caso che proprio il Regno Unito abbia un sistema di diffusione di informazioni su nuovi prodotti farmaceutici opaco e poco consumer friendly. Ogni anno, infatti, il Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), l’autorità nazionale preposta alla regolamentazione del settore farmaceutico, approva dozzine di prodotti (inclusi farmaci generici a basso costo), ma invece di notificare e rendere pubbliche informazioni sulla loro disponibilità e copertura brevettuale le tiene in buona parte nascoste. Per questa ragione i pazienti e gli operatori sanitari hanno difficoltà ad informarsi su quali farmaci siano o saranno presto disponibili sul mercato. Questo sistema si pone in controtendenza rispetto al trend internazionale di promuovere maggiore trasparenza e chiarezza. Sarebbe auspicabile quindi seguire le migliori pratiche internazionali e rilasciare pubblicamente più informazioni sui prodotti considerati per l’approvazione e sul loro statuto brevettuale.

Ad esempio, in Canada le Patented Medicine Regulations consentono il rilascio in tempo utile di queste informazioni, rendendo quindi i pazienti più informati su scelte di assistenza sanitaria. Inoltre, la maggiore trasparenza, come osservato dall’Organizzazione Mondiale della Sanità nel Pharmaceutical System Transparency and Accountability Assessment Tool, rende le decisioni pubbliche visibili e comprensibili al pubblico, rendendo quindi i governi più responsabili. Dal canto suo, L’Unione Europea ha da tempo adottato un simile meccanismo di notifica, che però riguarda solo alcuni tipi di medicinali innovativi e i farmaci orfani.

Purtroppo, in Italia manca una totale trasparenza di questo genere.Un governo aperto ed attento ai consumatori dovrebbe fornire ai pazienti, ai dottori e ai farmacisti le informazioni necessarie su quali prodotti siano in procinto di ricevere autorizzazione all’immissione sul mercato.

In conclusione, una maggiore trasparenza – in Italia ma anche altrove –  su informazioni riguardanti lo statuto brevettuale e l’approvazione all’immissione sul mercato dei prodotti farmaceutici possa aiutare consumatori e pazienti in diversi modi: in primo luogo, rinforzando i diritti di proprietà intellettuale, verrebbe incentivato il rilascio di prodotti innovativi ed efficienti; in secondo luogo, una maggiore chiarezza potrebbe accelerare il processo di approvazione di farmaci generici a basso costo.

Una possibile soluzione per l’Italia può essere l’implementazione di un database online che non solo elenchi medicinali brevettati in tempo reale, ma che mostri anche quali autorizzazioni all’immissione sul mercato vengono richieste dai produttori di farmaci. Idealmente, questi ultimi farebbero domanda di autorizzazione all’immissione sul mercato sulla stessa piattaforma, punto di riferimento per pazienti, operatori sanitari e produttori.

Al tempo di TripAdvisor, Amazon e Ocado, è ora che le nostre pubbliche amministrazioni diffondano questo genere di informazioni. I pazienti, i dottori e, più in generale, i consumatori ne trarrebbero grandi benefici.

Originally published here.

The Consumer Choice Center is the consumer advocacy group supporting lifestyle freedom, innovation, privacy, science, and consumer choice. The main policy areas we focus on are digital, mobility, lifestyle & consumer goods, and health & science.

The CCC represents consumers in over 100 countries across the globe. We closely monitor regulatory trends in Ottawa, Washington, Brussels, Geneva and other hotspots of regulation and inform and activate consumers to fight for #ConsumerChoice. Learn more at consumerchoicecenter.org

German minister endorses gene-editing technology

Federal Minister of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection Julia Klöckner revealed her hopes for farmers to access genome-editing as a means of innovation in agriculture and the climate opportunities that it could deliver.

Analyst Bill Wirtz welcomed the announcement as positive news for consumers: “Gene-editing technologies such as CRISPR represent an enormous opportunity in the realm of medicine and agriculture. Governments around the globe should take their clues from the German minister, who shows that there remains an openness to scientific innovation in Europe,” he urged. “Agro-tech innovation, reducing land and water use while increasing crop yield, is essential in a climate-changing world.

“Gene-editing already offers multiple advantages to plant-breeding,” he continued. “For example, by creating allergen-free foods we could create immense change for people affected by potentially life-threatening allergies.”

As reported on thescottishfarmer.co.uk, on July, 25 the European Commission registered the Citizens’ Initiative ‘Grow scientific progress: crops matter!’ Amongst the initiators are German students. They argue in the description of the initiative that EU Directive 2001/18/EC is outdated, and suggest an automatic mechanism to review it.

Originally published here.

GO TO THE GENE EDITING REGULATION INDEX

The Consumer Choice Center is the consumer advocacy group supporting lifestyle freedom, innovation, privacy, science, and consumer choice. The main policy areas we focus on are digital, mobility, lifestyle & consumer goods, and health & science.

The CCC represents consumers in over 100 countries across the globe. We closely monitor regulatory trends in Ottawa, Washington, Brussels, Geneva and other hotspots of regulation and inform and activate consumers to fight for #ConsumerChoice. Learn more at consumerchoicecenter.org

GLP Releases Global Gene Editing Regulation Tracker and Index

The Genetic Literacy Project has developed two interactive tools that track and index gene editing and gene editing regulations worldwide, helping to illuminate how regulations can encourage or hinder innovation.

The Global Gene Editing Regulation Tracker and Index sum up gene editing regulations in the field of agriculture, medicine, and gene drives per country, giving a picture of each country’s regulatory timeline, and indicate which products and therapies are in the pipeline. Another important feature of the tracker is the information on the reaction of gene editing critics, as well as the scientist and public interest groups that are pushing to give the technology a chance.

The Gene Editing Regulatory Index, developed by GLP in partnership with Consumer Choice Center, serves as a companion tool with the tracker as it turns the information from the tracker into a quantifiable index for comparing data among countries. It can be used to show which countries are being more or less conservative in terms of regulations.

Originally published here.

GO TO THE GENE EDITING REGULATION INDEX

The Consumer Choice Center is the consumer advocacy group supporting lifestyle freedom, innovation, privacy, science, and consumer choice. The main policy areas we focus on are digital, mobility, lifestyle & consumer goods, and health & science.

The CCC represents consumers in over 100 countries across the globe. We closely monitor regulatory trends in Ottawa, Washington, Brussels, Geneva and other hotspots of regulation and inform and activate consumers to fight for #ConsumerChoice. Learn more at consumerchoicecenter.org

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