Roche goes beyond diagnostics innovation and builds partnerships for proactive healthcare
- Mounting healthcare costs and increased awareness of the root causes of diseases have led to a global shift from a reactive to a proactive healthcare approach.
- Diagnostics form the foundation of this transformation, as early screenings are key to preventive care.
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As the global healthcare landscape evolves, coupled with the strains an ageing population exerts on healthcare systems, shifting to proactive health systems is essential. This shift is rooted in embedding diagnostics in healthcare systems across Asia and other regions.
Although diagnostics inform over 70 percent of clinical decisions, it’s rarely at the forefront when addressing healthcare gaps. There is a need to explore mechanisms that incentivise this behavioural shift and adopt innovative strategies to prioritise prevention and holistic care.
The key drivers for this shift include the consistent and sustainable upskilling of medical professionals, increased availability of cutting-edge innovations and technologies that enable healthcare professionals to leverage data, and a change in attitudes towards preventive care.
Lance Little, Head of Region for Roche Diagnostics Asia Pacific, highlights the increasing focus on proactive care from government bodies, noting it’s more efficient and affordable to address potential health issues early than to manage diseases at later stages. “Proactive testing enables individuals to stay healthy longer. By detecting symptoms earlier, patients can receive the treatment they need much earlier,” he says. Roche is a global leader in diagnostics and pharmaceuticals.
The phenomenal growth in healthcare knowledge, which now doubles every 73 days compared to every 50 years in the 1950s, significantly empowers diagnostics to go further ‘upstream.’ Simply put, before costly interventions such as therapeutics and surgery, diagnostics can accurately pinpoint problems at an earlier stage and their likely precursors. “Diagnostics provide critical insights to clinicians and have a tremendous impact on patient outcomes,” Little adds.
Patients at the heart of healthcare
Building on its cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) assay, Roche has been developing a more accessible blood-based biomarker for Alzheimer’s disease. “Health innovation is only remarkable if it reaches those who need it. Developments that provide greater ease in testing and detecting diseases are critical to advancing care,” Little notes.
Given the mounting healthcare costs, it has become more urgent for stakeholders to collaborate on developing solutions for personalised healthcare. As advancements in genomics, diagnostics, and digital technologies continue to accelerate, the potential to tailor treatments to individual patients is becoming a reality. However, achieving the full promise of personalised healthcare requires the combined efforts of diverse stakeholders, including clinicians, researchers, pharmaceutical companies, healthcare providers, technology innovators, and policymakers.
Roche is committed to forging these partnerships based on its in-depth understanding of local cultures. “Through our partnerships with local stakeholders, we tailor approaches to the local cultural context and attitudes toward healthcare,” says Agnes Ho, APAC Sub-Region Three Head, Roche Diagnostics Asia Pacific. “We ensure that our projects resonate with potential users and solve critical health problems on both a personal and societal level.”
For instance, the topic of women’s health is highly sensitive in some cultures. “We are mindful in our proactive approach and create an equal system of collaboration with local governments, communities, and institutions to understand the nuances,” she says. “In the National Women’s Check-up Week in Singapore, the ‘gifts to mothers’ message resonates with many families because mothers always prioritise their families over themselves. Thankfully, this project is well-supported by government partners.”
Self-testing kits also help women overcome barriers such as privacy. In Malaysia and Thailand, Roche not only assures women of the accuracy of the tests but also promotes the message that they can conduct the tests in the comfort of their own homes. In Hong Kong and Taiwan, the company emphasises the accessibility of these kits in collaboration with local clinics and other partners, Ho notes.
Roche Diagnostics Hong Kong excels in realising the company’s various campaigns locally. It has succeeded in deeply penetrating local communities. For instance, Roche has tagged the “Hong Kong Women’s Check-up Week” on Mother’s Day and collaborates with NGOs, insurance companies, and retailers. “We provide the QR code [for HPV screenings at points-of-sale] to remind people that it’s time to offer a gift to their mothers,” says Ronald Lo, General Manager, Roche Diagnostics Hong Kong.
For the successful transformation to a proactive healthcare approach, people need to normalise their relationship with the healthcare system, says Little. “Hong Kong has adopted a leading role in normalising preventive care and is setting a great example of what a proactive system could look like in Asia Pacific.”
While nations prioritise this shift, they understand that it’s a marathon rather than a sprint. Roche believes that continued partnerships and commitment among the healthcare community worldwide will help accelerate this transformation.