Stakeholders seek to improve cardiovascular-renal-metabolic care in Vietnam

Cardiovascular-renal-metabolic care in Vietnam - A decade of clinical research and applications in review

The event hosted by the Vietnam Medical Association and AstraZeneca Vietnam is part of the Cardio-Renal-Metabolism (CaReMe) programme, an initiative to transform the CVRM ecosystem and improve patient outcomes with early detection and innovative management solutions.

Nitin Kapoor, chairman and general director of Vietnam and Asia Area Frontier Markets said, "Together with our partners, AstraZeneca is proud to look back on the journey of our contribution to a comprehensive and robust development of the Vietnamese healthcare sector through clinical trials. Our commitment remains to be the leading investor in pharmaceutical research and development in the nation and to have a positive impact on the lives of local patients and the healthcare sector.”

At the conference, experts shared valuable lessons as they reflected on the entire journey, from clinical research progress and its application into practice, to the benefits it brings to policymakers. The discussions also explored how best to broaden patients’ access to medicines and how an innovative pharmaceutical sector could play a role.

The event was held in Ho Chi Minh City

Dr. Nguyen Ngo Quang, Deputy Director of the Department of Science and Training at the Ministry of Health (MoH) said, “Clinical trials are a specialised area in medical science that ultimately determine the success of a medicine or medical intervention."

"Conducting international clinical trials in Vietnam is an opportunity for us to connect with the global medical community and exchange technical knowledge and experience with experts around the world. In turn, these programmes will help to accelerate patients’ access to new medicines and set a foundation for local pharmaceutical research and development following international standards,” he added.

From the viewpoint of a policymaker, Dr. Dang Viet Hung, Director of the Health Insurance Department at the MoH stated, “Data from clinical studies is an important source of evidence proving the effectiveness of new medicines. When coupled with the health and economic evidence supporting medicines’ cost-effectiveness, it serves as an essential foundation for health insurance policymaking.”

As part of this commitment, AstraZeneca Vietnam and its partners have built the CaReMe programme with the goal of raising public awareness, providing solutions for early disease detection, and improving disease management capacity for health workers – ultimately reducing the medical burden from this group of diseases.

According to Assoc. Prof. Dr Nguyen Thi Xuyen, president of the Vietnam Medical Association, clinical trials play an increasingly important role in forming treatment recommendations and medical practice. The participation of Vietnamese patients in major clinical trials will provide evidence of the medicine’s efficacy and safety among the local population, helping experts and clinicians to update treatment guidelines and medical practice.

Through many years of working closely with the government, the MoH, its medical partners, and AstraZeneca's programmes such as CaReMe, Healthy Lung, Young Health Programme, and the Partnership for Health System Sustainability and Resilience have had a positive impact on the quality of healthcare in the country and improved the lives of millions of patients.