To enhance the ability of healthcare workers to prevent and treat non-communicable diseases, Upjohn, a division of Pfizer announced the launch of the NCD Academy, a user-friendly, interactive web-based platform.
The NCD Academy is designed to equip health-care professionals—such as general practitioners, internists, nurses and community health workers—with educational resources and skills.
“At Upjohn, patients and their evolving health needs are at the heart of everything we do. We are proud to partner with the NCD Academy, which will provide invaluable resources that can be used to advance the quality of health-care delivery in the Philippines by ensuring primary care physicians and community health workers are armed with tools to improve the prevention and treatment of NCDs,” said Melissa Comia, Upjohn Philippines General Manager.
The NCD Academy is sponsored by Upjohn and was launched in partnership with the American College of Cardiology (ACC), the NCD Alliance and the World Heart Federation.
Through the NCD Academy, health-care providers will receive free access to a suite of online certificate programs designed to enhance clinical skills and improve knowledge of techniques and therapies for NCD prevention, such as screening, health promotion, risk reduction, and basic management and treatment.
The program will enable physicians and global health authorities to develop data-driven NCD mitigation strategies that can ultimately help improve health outcomes.
NCDs like cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic respiratory disease and diabetes account for more than 70 percent of deaths in the world and place an immense financial and social burden on countries worldwide.
The burden of NCDs is seen across high-, middle- and low-income countries but is most prominent where screening and prevention methods are less prevalent and where health care is not fully integrated. In the Philippines, cardiovascular disease alone accounts for 201,483 deaths each year and NCDs account for six of the 10 leading causes of death in the country.
While the global health community is currently consumed by the Covid-19 outbreak, NCDs represent one of the most significant threats to economic prosperity and societal well-being long term.
“Despite the availability of many effective treatments, NCDs such as cardiovascular disease continue to be a leading cause of death worldwide,” said Amrit Ray, MD, MBA, Global President of Research, Development and Medical at Pfizer Upjohn.
Dr. Ray added at Upjohn, they believe it is critical to take an integrated approach to improving the health-care ecosystem by developing partnerships that extend beyond medicines, and which can ultimately improve care and save lives from diseases that are largely preventable.
The NCD Academy builds on the Global Prevention Program, which was launched by Pfizer Upjohn and the ACC in 2016.
Since its launch, the program has hosted 44 webinars, equipping more than 70,000 clinicians across nine countries with the latest science, technology, resources and tools needed to stem the rising tide of cardiovascular disease and reinforce best practices in treating patients along the cardiovascular disease continuum.
The program reached an anticipated 230 million patients across China, Russia, Argentina, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam.
The NCD Academy will be available as a mobile application to enable rapid access to point-of-care tools, which have been shown to support better clinical decision-making and improve patient outcomes.
The first course will focus on cardiovascular disease and stroke, and additional courses in cancer, chronic respiratory diseases, diabetes and mental disorders will be launched in the future. The NCD Academy will also share guidance on integrated approaches to health care, including the role of healthcare workers in combating NCDs.
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