News in December that moves us: health insurance companies should pay a higher proportion of medicines +++ weather service warns of black ice +++ that’s why the fever juice for children is currently scarce +++ flu wave is already above the average of the past few years
The most important news in the BRIGITTE ticker
What moves the world? What moves the BRIGITTE editors? In this ticker we summarize the most important news in December for you.
December 20, 2022
Lauterbach wants to make the production of children’s medicines in the EU more attractive
Physicians fear that the bottlenecks in pediatric medicine will worsen over Christmas and New Year’s Eve. “At the moment we are observing that infections with the RS virus are declining, but more and more children are now coming with the flu and other respiratory diseases,” said Jörg Dötsch, President of the German Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, to the newspapers of the Funke media group. “Due to the personnel situation on the holidays, the situation in clinics and practices will be even more tense than it is now.”
Health Minister Karl Lauterbach wants to counter the current supply bottlenecks with a price regulation for children’s medicines. The measures are intended to open up a significantly larger market for the manufacture of medicines, according to ministry circles, according to the “Zeit”. Above all, medicines for children should remain available in this way.
According to this, up to 1.5 times the fixed amount should be covered by the statutory health insurance companies for certain preparations. According to the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”, this measure is intended to ensure long-term economic attractiveness for children’s medicines. Similar measures should also apply to certain cancer drugs and antibiotics for adults. In general, when it comes to the procurement of medicines, it should no longer be the case that only the cheapest provider is chosen.
According to the key paper by the Federal Ministry of Health, it says that there will be two contracts for important funds in the future. One with the cheapest provider in other European countries and one with the cheapest manufacturer from the EU. The order will then be shared. In this way, future supply bottlenecks should be avoided or minimized.
December 19, 2022
Attention today it is slippery on the streets
When the lights are reflected on the streets, it looks nice, but be careful! The suddenly occurring warmer temperatures have caused black ice in many parts of Germany. Weather-related accidents occurred during the night. The German Weather Service currently advises avoiding spending time outdoors as much as possible.
At the start of the week it started with freezing rain in the west and northwest. After the past few very sunny and cold days, the weather has turned 180 degrees just before Christmas. The problem: Due to the past cold, the ground is frozen up to 20 centimeters deep in many places. A severe weather warning is currently in effect for most parts of Germany. Roads and rails can sometimes be impassable, in some federal states the schools are canceled or start much later.
According to the forecast, the foothills of a low south of Iceland will first spread to the west and then to the east of Germany over the course of Monday. “Black ice rain occurs. Then the air gradually becomes milder,” the German weather service told the “Tagesschau”. The black ice will most likely continue into the morning.
December 16, 2022
Fever-reducing drugs for children scarce – Lauterbach assures quick support
Coughs, runny noses, sore throats, corona and flu, overcrowded children’s wards in hospitals and queues in front of pediatrician’s surgeries, empty classrooms, exhausted parents – the current wave of illness is pushing families, doctors and pharmacists to their limits. Currently, the respiratory infection rate is about eight times higher than usual at this time of year. The demand for medicines is correspondingly high, but right now fever juice for children, among other things, is scarce.
The shortage of medicines has long affected many common medicines such as fever syrups, painkillers, antibiotics, cancer medicines and also medicines for high blood pressure and diabetes. In the opinion of many experts, one reason for this, in addition to the above-average number of infections, lies in German procurement practice. The president of the professional association of paediatricians, Thomas Fischbach, criticizes in the “Rheinische Post” that the fixed price regulation in Germany has led to production moving to low-wage countries such as China and India. “There are now supply chain problems there, which in turn leads to supply bottlenecks.” Another problem from the point of view of the Federal Ministry of Medicine and Drugs are pharmacies and wholesalers who fill their warehouses and thus contribute to an unequal distribution of medicines.
Due to the current wave of illnesses, the drug shortage is now becoming particularly clear. The federal government wants to change the procurement law. A spokesman for the Ministry of Health said at the end of November that the aim is to broaden supply chains so that dependence on individual manufacturers decreases. “We went too far with economization in this area, too.” According to Federal Minister of Health Lauterbach, the price played the only role, the availability of medicines played too little a role. Next week he wants to present a bill to counteract this.
December 8, 2022
The number of people with respiratory diseases is alarmingly high
The spread of acute respiratory diseases in the population is exceptionally high, according to the experts at the Robert Koch Institute (RKI). The current weekly report says: “The values are currently even higher than the level of previous years at the peak of severe flu waves.” The values for the spread of acute respiratory diseases have increased compared to the previous week. According to reports, around 9.5 million acute respiratory diseases in the population are assumed in the week under consideration (week 48) – regardless of a doctor’s visit.
The number of doctor visits due to respiratory diseases was also “above the values of previous years at this time and in a range that was otherwise only reached in peak weeks of strong flu waves.” According to laboratory tests, there have been 27,200 cases of influenza, nearly 160 influenza outbreaks since October, including around 60 in schools and 30 reported deaths. However, the reporting figures only offer a small part of the actual situation.
In particular, small children under the age of two are currently particularly affected and are mainly infected with the RS virus – the respiratory syncytial virus. Reports of increasing flu and high RSV activities are also coming from other European countries. The nationwide seven-day incidence of new corona infections is currently 214.2 (as of December 8, 2022). This information is also insufficient, since the statistics only include positive PCR tests, but these are no longer carried out across the board.
December 7, 2022
Caution! This is just a practice warning
Danger! The so-called warning day will take place on December 8, 2022. The Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BBK) is asking all cell phone users to carry out the updates required to receive warning messages via the new cell broadcast system by Thursday.
At 11 a.m. there will be a test warning. This is to test whether the technical infrastructure works. The all-clear is scheduled for 11:45 a.m. Warnings are given on various channels. The message is also distributed via radio, television and warning apps such as NINA and KATWARN. There will be additional messages on city information boards. In addition, sirens, loudspeaker vans and the information systems of Deutsche Bahn are used. The new cell broadcast method is to send notifications to every mobile phone that has received at this point in time. The so-called warning mix is intended to ensure that as many people as possible reach the information.
The flood disaster of 2021 showed how important such a warning can be in an emergency. At that time, the warnings came too late, and many residents could no longer save themselves.
December 6, 2022
Weather: It’s getting wintry in Germany
Winter is now also arriving in Germany. We can expect low temperatures at the weekend, which will result in 5 to 10 centimeters of snow, especially in southern and eastern Germany.
On December 9th, cold air masses from the polar region will reach us, accompanied by humid air from the south. Temperatures around zero are already causing the first snowfalls in the south on Friday, while the north will initially remain dry. At the weekend, the north will also be affected by the wintry weather and a few centimeters of snow can be expected, while the larger amounts of snow will mainly fall in the higher regions.
At the beginning of next week, the cold temperatures will continue to accompany us without new snow, apart from the southern federal states such as Baden-Württemberg.
It gets really cold at night. Experts speak of up to minus 12 degrees – especially in the regions where there is a few centimeters of snow. Nights with permafrost await us. Should the Siberian cold high Erik move further to Europe, the probability of a wintry Christmas is no longer so small.
December 5, 2022
Is the end of the moral police in Iran sealed?
The mass protests in Iran have been going on for several months and the political situation continues to deteriorate. Last Sunday, the government under President Ebrahim Raisi held a crisis summit in the parliament in Tehran to assess events and discuss how to proceed. This is reported by the Isna news agency.
In addition, the day before, the Attorney General Mohammed Jafar Montaseri had made the following statement on the controversial vice police, according to Isna: “The vice police have nothing to do with the judiciary and were closed by those who set them up in the past.” As a result, the criticized institution responsible for adhering to dress codes in Iran, especially for women, would be dissolved.
However, experts do not believe that the organization, which has existed since 2005 with a short interruption, should ever be abolished. According to the political scientist Ali Alfoneh, it is probably a kind of diversionary maneuver on the part of the government to contain the unrest in the country and still not have to make any political concessions. Also, the end of the moral police has not yet been confirmed by any official institution.
Even more news
That was the news in November.
Sources used: tagesschau.de, deutschlandfunk.de, spiegel.de, wetterprognose-wettervorhersage.de, wetteronline.de, zeit.de, sueddeutsche.de