Novartis Vietnam Ltd. on July 21 collaborated with Khanh Hoa Province’s Department of Health (DoH) and Center for Disease Control (CDC) to organize a workshop to officially kick off a project to strengthen primary healthcare in the province.

The workshop was attended by representatives from Khanh Hoa DoH, CDC, district-level health centers, commune-level health stations, and other local stakeholders.

This workshop was considered a milestone given the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Khanh Hoa DoH and Novartis on Universal Health Coverage and Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations, of which Vietnam is a member state.

The project to strengthen primary healthcare is a public-private partnership (PPP) between Novartis Vietnam and Khanh Hoa DoH that will be implemented during the 13 months between November 1, 2020 and December 31, 2021.

It is expected to offer high-quality healthcare to more than 10,000 citizens, focusing on adults at/above 40 years old or under 40 with a family history of, or symptoms of, hypertension and hypertension uncontrolled leaving cardiovascular diseases.

Specifically, the project will organize activities to raise people’s awareness of primary healthcare and having positive lifestyles.

Moreover, it also focuses on promoting information exchange mechanisms between local medical stations and polyclinics in medical centers.

Besides, the project will implement particular programs strengthening local health capabilities and increasing the availability and accessibility of healthcare services at commune-level health stations, especially for the better prevention and management of non-communicable diseases.

Subsequent to a kick-off in Ha Tinh Province in July, Khanh Hoa is the second among eight provinces in the Ministry of Health’s project to partner with Novartis in strengthening the healthcare system in the local setting.

Within the scope of cooperation, Khanh Hoa CDC will coordinate with local medical units in Ninh Hoa Town in implementing models and activities of universal healthcare according to three effective different modules.

“Novartis looks forward to seeing a positive impact on the health status of the 10,000 or so eligible adults across the three blue-print commune health stations as well as Khanh Hoa health authorities planning to scale up successful interventions across the remaining 139 communes in the coming year, as aligned with the Ministry of Health’s strategy and programs,” said Amitabh Dube, country president of Novartis Vietnam.

Since 2018, Novartis has been working closely with Harvard Medical School to complement the Ministry of Health’s approach in strengthening healthcare and reached many medical cooperation agreements that help bring many practical benefits to public health programs.

Within this collaboration, Novartis aims to help leverage the advantage of technology and data to provide a convenient and efficient platform helping healthcare professionals access specialized information more easily.

This is also a milestone for Novartis on its journey to bring new technology to the medical field in Vietnam.

About Novartis in Vietnam

In early 2020, Novartis Vietnam Ltd. became one of the first multinational pharmaceutical companies to successfully transform into a foreign-invested enterprise and fully operationalize its import activities.

Through long-term commitments, Novartis is supporting the domestic healthcare system and contributing to the socio-economic development of the country.

Novartis is one of the leaders in innovative medicine across many therapeutic areas, namely oncology, cardiovascular diseases, respiratory ailments, ophthalmology, pain relief, neuroscience, dermatology and immunology, cell and gene therapy, and others.

Novartis is also a leader in high-quality generics through its Sandoz unit, and one of the largest investors in clinical trials in Vietnam.