< PreviousDIGITAL INNOVATIONS 30 Pharma Business International www.pbiforum.net © Shutterstock /shuttersv Scripps Research invited the public to join the study, seeking to evaluate shared data from wearable users to improve detection and containment of infectious disease outbreaks in the USA, including coronavirus and influenza. Using this data, and evaluating individual changes day to day, scientists believe they will be able to bolster real-time surveillance of contagious respiratory illnesses, avoiding contact which could aid in transmission, and assist in situations where early detection is essential for effecting public health response. Researchers also hope it will enable earlier treatment and isolation for those who have been identified as potentially having a viral infection. Jennifer Radin, PhD, an epidemiologist at the Scripps Research Translational Institute who is leading the study said: “In light of the ongoing flu season and the global pandemic of COVID-19, we see enormous opportunity to enhance disease tracking for improved population health. One way to do this is to leverage and analyse the rich health data that’s already being collected by the millions of Americans who regularly use wearable devices.” The study follows a previous by Scripps, which indicated that by analysing data from 47,000 Fitbit devices with heart rate tracking capabilities, they could significantly improve predictions of influenza-like illness at the state level when compared with data from the CDC. AI meanwhile is being wielded to detect the spread of COVID-19, with firms employing big data analytics to track the spread of infectious disease by digging through news report information, animal disease outbreaks and airline data. Trends can then be analysed by epidemiologists. Additionally, AI algorithms are being applied to mobile phone location data to predict disease spread and AI is being used to aid diagnosis of Coronavirus, detecting pneumonia using CT scans, and in treatment development, to develop antibodies and vaccines, design drugs to Pharma Business International 31 www.pbiforum.net DIGITAL INNOVATIONS fight the outbreak and scan through existing drugs to be repurposed. AI was also a key partner for scientists recreating the genome sequence of COVID-19, allowing this to be done in just a month. Further, medical robots and robotic medicine carts with cameras, screens and medical equipment are being used in quarantined areas to prevent the spread of COVID-19. In the USA a man with Coronavirus has been treated by a robot, with a medical team communicating through a screen. The robot, with a stethoscope, has assisted in taking vitals. Robots are also cleaning hospitals, sanitising surfaces with ultraviolet C light, while wireless continuous body thermometers are being worn by patients, and mouthpieces and sensors are capturing vitals which are being sent to apps held by doctors. The opportunities digital solutions present have been pushed into the spotlight due to the spread of the novel Coronavirus and may well see patients and health professionals become more open to digital tools in the future, bringing new devices and platforms into play more quickly. In utilising digital health tools of course, growth is sure to be stunted by security and regulatory concerns. Software vulnerabilities will need to be monitored and health data protected. When it comes to regulation, digital health companies will need to note the EU’s new Medical Device Regulation incoming in May, which will see a number of symptom checker apps categorised as Class IIa medical devices and therefore witness tighter regulation. A further issue in implementing digital options worth noting is the digital literacy of elderly patients, a high-risk group in outbreaks like Coronavirus, who may not have the skills to access remote options, or indeed the technology. To overcome this, education programs will need to be in place as well as simplified platforms, adjusted to the needs of this group. 28-31.qxp_Layout 1 08/04/2020 11:19 Page 4PPE Pharma Business International www.pbiforum.net © Shutterstock /science photo Defence against infection Defence against infection Pharma Business International 33 www.pbiforum.net PPE P ersonal Protective Equipment is a necessity in any manufacturing industry to reduce the risk to workers, but few industries have quite the same requirements and pressure put upon them as the pharmaceutical sector. PPE is not only for the benefit of the workforce, but also prevents contamination of stock that might lead to costly recalls, or worse – pose a threat to the public. This has never been more important than with the COVID-19 pandemic gripping the globe and reported low levels of PPE for doctors on the front line. Looking back, the Ebola crisis faced much the same response from doctors with low levels of PPE reported – and it appears that Governments learned little from that time. After the fact however, it has been suggested that this was due to inexperience in the use of PPE however, rather than anything being intrinsically wrong with the products themselves, an excuse which now seems awfully half- hearted. More than two thirds of doctors have told the British Medical Association (BMA) in a new survey that they do not feel safely protected from coronavirus infection where they work. Despite repeated assurances by the government for over a week that millions of units of protective equipment have been delivered to the frontline, a BMA snapshot survey with almost 2,000 responses, revealed that large numbers of doctors are still expected to care for COVID-19 patients with little or no personal protective equipment. This comes amid increasing numbers of deaths among healthcare workers in the UK and in Italy where doctors’ representatives are linking over 100 deaths to lack of PPE. According to the survey, more than half of doctors working in high-risk environments said there were either shortages or no supply at all of adequate face masks, while sixty-five per cent said they did not have access to eye protection. Alarmingly, fifty-five per cent said they felt pressurised to work in a high-risk area despite not having adequate PPE. Almost ninety per cent of GPs in contact with COVID-19 patients reported either shortages or no access at all to eye protection, and sixty-two per cent reported problems with supply of facemasks. More than half of GPs who responded said they had had to buy their own facemasks or eye protection, with only two per cent saying they felt fully protected against the virus at work. The survey was launched following the Government’s updating of PPE guidelines for doctors and mounting anecdotal evidence that frontline workers simply don’t have access to enough masks, gloves and gowns. This survey shows that doctors are not being provided with the It only takes one case of contamination to spell disaster for a manufacturer, especially if the effects are devastating enough. 34 Á 32-35.qxp_Layout 1 08/04/2020 11:21 Page 2PPE 34 Pharma Business International www.pbiforum.net appropriate protective equipment as specified by the government’s own guidelines. One hospital doctor said: “The quality of our eye protection and apron is useless. Some of the PPE provided feels like a tick-box exercise just for psychological reassurance.” Another said: “I am the only Muslim anaesthetist with a beard in my department. I am being forced to shave my beard due to unavailability of hood masks with respirator, and a bearded doctor can’t pass a fit mask test.” While one GP told the BMA: “I feel betrayed by the government who are not transparent enough to say that they do not have the ideal supplies and are therefore asking us to put ourselves in harms’ way with suboptimal protection.” The survey also revealed that despite the government stating that it was ramping up testing for healthcare workers, only 195 respondents said they had ready access to tests. Furthermore, forty per cent of both hospital doctors and GPs said colleagues having to self-isolate because of suspected or confirmed COVID-19 was currently having a significant impact on capacity to treat patients. Dr Chaand Nagpaul CBE, Chair of the Council of the BMA, said: “In less than three days, nearly 2,000 doctors across the UK have told us how desperate their situation really is. Despite assurances from the Government that personal protective equipment is making its way to the front line, this snapshot survey reveals a very different picture - healthcare workers in the UK simply do not have enough protective equipment to keep them safe. We are weeks into the most serious health crisis this country has faced in modern times and doctors are telling us they don’t have any or don’t have enough protective equipment. Until now, we have been hearing anecdotal stories about shortages or a lack of PPE, this survey confirms the extent of this failure. “Doctors report being put into situations which clearly contravene the PHE guidance issued last week. They’ve told us they are pressurised to see a patient without adequate protection, or to perform a high-risk procedure where they are at risk of becoming infected, or where they may go on to infect another patient – and all because they don’t have the right PPE. They are putting themselves and the lives of their patients at risk. “A majority of doctors reported that they had not had either the advice or the training needed to properly fit, put on and take off PPE; without this training they increase their risk of exposure to virus and of spreading it. “For weeks now the Government has assured us that equipment is being rolled out, that the supply issues will be fixed. It has also repeatedly told healthcare workers they will have priority access to testing. This survey shows this is not the reality and doctors have told us they have little confidence in the Government to support and protect them. Doctors, indeed all healthcare workers, feel badly let down.” Investment in PPE and other safety equipment should always be kept at the forefront of business, but training of staff is also just as important – as the cases in the US with the Ebola virus highlighted, and as current cases with coronavirus show. 32-35.qxp_Layout 1 08/04/2020 11:21 Page 3Pharma Business International 35 www.pbiforum.net PPE © Shutterstock /Dmitry Kalinovsky • Just 12% of hospital doctors said they felt fully protected from the virus at work. • Nearly 30% of hospital doctors said their trust did not offer any COVID-19 testing for staff with self-isolating symptoms. • 36% of hospital doctors said capacity had significantly reduced because of colleagues having to self-isolate. • 27% of hospital doctors reported running low on basic anti-infection supplies such as soap. 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