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The ideas and innovators shaping health care | | | | |  | | By Evan Peng, Carmen Paun, Erin Schumaker and Daniel Payne | | | | | 
Dr. Mandy Cohen has embraced a visible role promoting public health at the CDC. | Cliff Owen/AP Photo | Dr. Mandy Cohen is on a national tour promoting vaccination and, at the same time, is working to shore up relationships on Capitol Hill, where the agency she directs, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, needs allies. In an interview with POLITICO’s Chelsea Cirruzzo this week, she outlined other key initiatives she’s focused on since taking the CDC job in July. What are they? — Real-time data on drug overdoses “We just gave out large grants to make sure we were getting good local data collection on overdoses. Real-time information on overdoses helps us track with law enforcement substances that are out on the street, so if they see more overdoses happening in a particular neighborhood or area, they can deploy teams.” — Suicide prevention “There are best practices in suicide prevention, and so how do we get that word out? We’re particularly focused on youth mental health. We have a whole school-based program.” — Maternal health “We have too many moms who still die in childbirth, and so we do a lot of collaborative work with health systems on best practices and in identifying moms who are having excessive bleeding and other kinds of issues to make sure that they are safe and protected.” — Global health “For the first time in 20 years, we had 10 cases of malaria in Florida this summer. We have to keep malaria down in other countries, so it doesn't come here. But when it does, we have the expertise, the labs, the treatment, the know-how to jump on it, and you haven't heard about it again, right? That’s public health. When it works, no one covers it.”
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Shenandoah National Park, Va. | Shawn Zeller | This is where we explore the ideas and innovators shaping health care. The Department of Transportation won’t be enforcing mask mandates in fiscal 2024 — there’s been no indication it was planning to — if an amendment to a funding bill that senators adopted Wednesday becomes law. The Democratic caucus split on the vote, with 11 of its members joining Republicans in favor of the amendment. Share any thoughts, news, tips and feedback with Carmen Paun at cpaun@politico.com, Daniel Payne at dpayne@politico.com, Evan Peng at epeng@politico.com or Erin Schumaker at eschumaker@politico.com. Send tips securely through SecureDrop, Signal, Telegram or WhatsApp. Today on our Pulse Check podcast, host Alice Miranda Ollstein talks with Erin, who explains why Sen. Bernie Sanders hasn't been able to rally Democrats this year for another push to lower drug prices.
| | | | | | |  Investors have pulled back from virtual health care technology since the darkest days of the pandemic. | Getty Images | Global and U.S. investment in digital health companies fell in this year’s third quarter to the lowest levels since 2016, according to a new report from CB Insights, a business analytics company. That drop in digital health funding comes despite broader global trends in venture funding showing an increase. Why it matters: The onset of the Covid-19 pandemic saw a surge of investment into digital health companies that helped bolster remote care, with total funding peaking at $15.2 billion globally in the second quarter of 2021. With the waning of the pandemic, patients are finding a new balance between remote and in-person care that suggests overinvestment in virtual care technology. Other key report takeaways: — Telehealth services and medical applications of artificial intelligence dominated the list of the biggest deals between July 1 and Sept. 30. — U.S. firms remained the dominant investors in digital health globally. — The size of the average deal declined in 2023. — No new digital health “unicorns” — startups valued at more than $1 billion — emerged for the second consecutive quarter.
| | | | DOWNLOAD THE POLITICO APP: Stay in the know with the POLITICO mobile app, featuring timely political news, insights and analysis from the best journalists in the business. The sleek and navigable design offers a convenient way to access POLITICO's scoops and groundbreaking reporting. Don’t miss out on the app you can rely on for the news you need. DOWNLOAD FOR iOS – DOWNLOAD FOR ANDROID. | | | | | | | | |  There are two approved vaccines for dengue. | AFP via Getty Images | France could see more than 3,000 cases of dengue a year by 2030 if temperatures continue to rise at the current rate, according to new modeling. That’s a nearly 50-fold increase from some 65 dengue cases a year, data analytics company Airfinity said. “A hotter and wetter climate will aid the spread of disease in both rich and poor countries, with the El Nino ocean warming adding to concerns,” the company said. The tiger mosquito that transmits the disease is usually found in tropical climates but has been detected across much of France in recent years, POLITICO’s Ashleigh Furlong reports. Dengue typically causes mild or no symptoms. But it can sometimes lead to high fever, severe headache and vomiting. Severe dengue can cause bleeding from the gums, abdominal pain and, in some cases, death. The disease is endemic in more than 100 countries in the Americas, Africa, the Middle East and Asia, with the latter having the most cases worldwide. More than 1,000 people died this year in Bangladesh’s worst-ever dengue outbreak, CNN reported. Nepal, Jamaica, Chad and Peru have also recently reported outbreaks. Big picture: At POLITICO’s Health Summit in Brussels this week, Jeremy Farrar, the World Health Organization’s chief scientist, warned that climate change will result in dengue becoming endemic in Europe and the United States. The CDC reports 62 cases of dengue in Florida this year and one in Texas. Why it matters: As the disease spreads in richer countries, competition for the two approved dengue vaccines is expected to increase, potentially leaving poorer countries that need them more at the back of the line. | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |  |
