CAPSULES. Digital health technologies: WHO sets up technical group

The World Health Organization is establishing a global multi-disciplinary technical group to advise it on issues related to digital health. The WHO’s newly-established Digital Health Department will work to harness the power of digital health technologies and steer developments to contribute to the attainment of all people to the highest level of health through the General Programme of Work (GPW13) triple billion goals and Sustainable Development Goal 3 (Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages), a WHO note said. To support this work, WHO is establishing a roster of experts in various areas related to digital health, such as strategic approaches, areas for intervention and governance structures for regulations and adoption of digital health solutions and products.

Members of the technical advisory group will have understanding of and experience working in digital health, national or large-scale digital health programmes and policy, artificial intelligence and health, virtual and augmented reality in healthcare, biomedical innovation, robotic surgery, wearable technologies, health and wellness, traceability (e.g. block chain) and health, ethics, governance and security in healthcare ecosystem.

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved Vyndaqel (tafamidis meglumine) and Vyndamax (tafamidis) capsules for the treatment of the heart disease (cardiomyopathy) caused by transthyretin mediated amyloidosis (ATTR-CM) in adults. These are the first FDA-approved treatments for ATTR-CM. Vyndaqel and Vyndamax have the same active moiety, tafamidis, but they are not substitutable on a milligram-to-milligram basis and their recommended doses differ.

“Transthyretin-mediated amyloidosis is a rare, debilitating and often fatal disease,” said Norman Stockbridge, director of the Division of Cardiovascular and Renal Drugs in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. ATTR is caused by the build-up of abnormal deposits of specific proteins known as amyloid in the body’s organs and tissues, interfering with their normal functioning. These protein deposits most frequently occur in the heart and the peripheral nervous system.

Roche Diabetes Care (India) has unveiled an Integrated Diabetes Management Solution (IDMS) with the launch of its “mySugr” app and “Accu-Chek Instant” blood glucose monitoring system which, together, form the next generation blood glucose monitoring system, according to a note from Roche. Together, the mySugr App and Accu-Chek Instant bring advanced connectivity and accuracy to help people with diabetes manage their blood sugar levels and spend more time in the range. The app provides bluetooth connectivity with Accu-Chek Instant, enabling the automatic uploading of data. It also provides easy access to blood glucose monitoring data to caregivers and doctors, enabling dynamic therapy modification, the note said.

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