Spain, through the Ministry of Health and Social Policy, is now one in the group of countries that are part of International Health Terminology Standards Development Organisation (IHTSDO). Spain joins the global effort to develop, maintain and spread the use of a clinical terminology called SNOMED CT (Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine-Clinical Terms).

A research project focusing on quality and patient safety in hospitals has been offered €3 million from the European Commission's 7th Framework Programme - Health. The Jönköping Academy for Improvement of Health and Welfare is one of six collaborating project partners.

The Commission issued on 30th June 2009 an explanatory document that includes details of the extensive consultation process which led to the 'Communication on telemedicine for the benefit of patients, healthcare systems and society' adopted on 4th November 2008. The telemedicine communication proposed a set of actions aimed at enabling wider deployment of telemedicine services, focusing on three main priorities:

"We can free up millions of hospital beds and avoid millions of incorrect prescriptions. There is an enormous potential in eHealth," said Minister for Health and Social Affairs Göran Hägglund at a press conference on the second day of the informal ministerial meeting in Jönköping on 7 July.

Advances made in diagnosis and treatment over the past 30 years have reduced the risk of patients dying from aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage (the bursting of a blood vessel on the surface of the brain), shows new research from the Netherlands published in the journal Lancet Neurology.

The Lead Market Initiative (LMI) for Europe was launched by the European Commission following the EU's 2006 Broad based innovation strategy. The Lead Market Initiative for Europe will foster the emergence of lead markets of high economic and societal value.

At present, dental technicians can only make dentures using a bite impression. The silicone template for this plaster model is made by the dentist, in a procedure which is unpleasant for the patient. In future a 3-D digitizer will provide the teeth contours - without plaster model.