Lexology (30.10.2017) Healthcare technology is at a pivotal moment in its development. The healthcare industry is primed to take advantage of the innovative tools that technology can provide and governments are positive as to the potential healthcare cost savings that are expected to follow. Regulators around the world are increasingly starting to acknowledge that conventional approaches to regulation may act as an impediment to digital innovation in healthcare and are looking to modernise health regulation.

HuffPost (30.10.2017) Egypt is about to offer all of its citizens health insurance for the first time in the North African country’s history. Prime Minister Sherif Ismail approved on Wednesday a new comprehensive health insurance bill after meeting with the Minister of Health, Ahmed Emad, to review final details of the law.

AVERT (26.10.2017)  E-health can play an important role in making services more accessible and person-centred, as well as improving the operations and financial efficiency of health systems.

euractiv.com (14.09.2017) European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker wants to set up a new EU institution to monitor how labour law is applied in member states. The Commission will outline its plans for the supervisory authority by the end of 2018.

euractiv.com (24.10.2017) After lengthy negotiations, EU member states found a compromise on Monday (23 October) on the reform of posted workers, one of the pivotal issues for the EU reform pushed by Emmanuel Macron. 

The stakeholders' Working Group on mHealth assessment guidelines, which the Commission established in February 2016, recently concluded its works. A report, including a few case studies on mHealth, is now available.

While no consensus was reached amongst the represented constituencies on a set of guidelines, the Group allowed for valuable exchanges captured in a report summarising the process and the positions from the represented stakeholders.

With these words, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan captured the promise of information and communication technologies (ICT) in his opening address to the World Summit on the Information Society in 2003. Building on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), this compelling vision opened the door to new commitment, new investment and, most of all, to creativity and the drive to push the boundaries of technology far beyond anything ever dreamed.

Le Monde (19.10.2017) Les dépenses sociales des départements ont progressé de 24,5 % entre 2010 et 2016. Elles sont la première cause de la dégradation de leur situation financière, selon un rapport de la Cour des comptes  ntre 2010 et 2016, les dépenses sociales des départements (RSA, aide sociale à l’enfance, personnes âgées et personnes handicapées) ont crû de 24,5 %. Elles atteignent désormais 32 milliards d’euros et représentent plus de la moitié (55 %) de leurs dépenses de fonctionnement (65 % dans les outre-mer).

The Lancet (14.10.2017) The article briefly introduces the major-illness medical insurance in China, which has covered 1.01 billion people (of which 60% from rural areas) since its implementation in 2013. The new scheme is mainly funded (with an annual fee of 15 Yuan to 30 Yuan per person) through surpluses from the existing (social) medical insurance programmes (NCMS for rural residents and URMI for urban residents), and provided by commercial insurance companies through a bidding process.

AllAfrica (06.11.2015) The World Health Organization defines universal health coverage (UHC) as a situation in which all people who need health services receive them, without incurring financial hardship. UHC is currently perceived as a crucial component of sustainable development and listed as one of the possible goals of the post-2015 development agenda.