Bayer, in partnership with NUS Enterprise, launched the Healthy Hearts, Healthy Aging Asia Pacific Report to foster multi-stakeholder collaboration in embracing innovative therapies and technologies for long-term prevention of stroke, heart attacks and other serious cardiovascular events.
The Healthy Hearts, Healthy Aging Asia Pacific Report was launched at Innovfest Unbound 2019. The report examines the cardiovascular (CV) health imperatives aligned with population aging in the Asia Pacific and highlights the important shift in the region’s health systems from a traditional acute care model to one with an increased focus on preventive, value-based care. In embracing this transformation, the report calls for specific policy actions in the three broad areas of education, innovation and collaboration, and particularly for the collaboration of all stakeholders involved to accelerate the development and adoption of innovative medicines and technologies in the prevention, treatment and care of CVD. The launch of the report was officiated by Dr Amy Khor, Senior Minister of State, Singapore Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources & Ministry of Health.
According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, heart attacks, strokes, heart failure and other related conditions are the cause of 2.2 million hospitalisations in the United States in 2016, resulting in a cost of US$32.7 billion. Beyond direct healthcare costs, it was projected that CVD will be responsible for US$15.6 trillion worth of lost economic output globally between 2011 and 2030, as it can cause both those affected and their caregivers to miss work or drop out of the workforce altogether.
Across the Asia Pacific region, socio-economic, geographic, demographic, and ethnographic differences create unique challenges for each country when dealing with the growing impact of CVD and aging. Experts in CVD and health policy from across eight countries (i.e. Australia, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines) were consulted for the report to establish the current and predicted future burden of CVD on the region’s health systems, examine the role of health innovation in addressing the unmet needs in CVD prevention and care, and gather recommendations on how different stakeholders (i.e. healthcare experts, policy makers, innovators, academia, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and corporations) can collaborate to enhance the adoption of health innovation in the long-term preventive care of CVD patients.
Four key areas of need were identified for policy makers focus on, in order to address the challenges of population aging and rising CVD rates in the region. The first was to shift the healthcare system from an acute care model to focus on preventive, value-based care. Second, to improve education of the public, primary care physicians, patients and policy makers to achieve optimal control of CVD risks. The requirement for quicker adoption and greater access to innovative therapies and technologies to improve patient outcomes, particularly for the prevention of serious CV incidents such as strokes and heart attacks. Finally, the need for data in understanding current disease burden and planning. [APBN]