SHANGHAI, Oct. 14, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- On October 11, 2024, the second annual Novartis China Patient Day was successfully concluded in Shanghai. With the theme of "Joining Hands to Transcend for the Benefit of Patients", this year's Patient Day brought together representatives from patient organizations, industry experts, technology companies and other parties to share industry best practices and future development directions, closely follow the three key topics of health literacy, patient advocacy and patient empowerment, promote the "patient-centered" industry practice to move towards high-quality development, optimize the patient journey, and improve treatment standards and patient sense of gain.
Yao Li, President and Managing Director of Novartis China, said: "As a pharmaceutical company focused on innovative medicines, Novartis has always adhered to the mission of 'imagining the future of medicine, improving people's quality of life, and extending human lifespan'. Fulfilling this mission is inseparable from sincere cooperation with industry partners. With a patient-centric approach, we hope to make Novartis China Patient Day an important platform to connect all stakeholders, and through this annual flagship program, it will resonate with the latest industry trends and urgent needs of patients, inspire all parties to continue to explore, practice and share innovative solutions, and promote the continuous transcendence of medical practice, so that more patients can enjoy the benefits brought by scientific and technological progress and share the health outcomes. "
Li Yao, President and Managing Director of Novartis China, delivered a speech
Improve health literacy and meet the needs of patients in all aspects, from treatment to social supportWith the development of modern medical technology, tumors, cardiovascular, autoimmune diseases and other diseases that have a serious impact on human health have ushered in more innovative solutions, and the quality of life of patients has been improved and their lives can be extended. At the same time, improving health literacy to promote the development of health behaviors and enhance disease management capabilities not only has a positive impact on the health of individual patients, but also helps to improve doctor-patient communication, indirectly improve the efficiency of medical services, and thus promote the health performance of the whole society.
Li Zhizhong (pen name Pineapple), a well-known cancer science writer and secretary-general of Shiyu Children's Charity Foundation, shared at the meeting: "My mother was a breast cancer patient, and when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004, I was very shocked and confused. Even though I was a senior biology student at Tsinghua University, I still didn't know anything about the disease, treatments, and medical terminology, which prevented me from making valuable contributions to medical decision-making and family care. In order to help more people understand this disease, I later embarked on the road of science popularization. It is expected that through comprehensive and systematic science education, each patient will become the 'first responsible person' for their own health, and have the ability to participate in discussions with doctors and take active and effective treatment based on their own conditions, which will help patients achieve better treatment outcomes and better quality of life, and return to their original lives faster." "
Li Zhizhong (pen name Pineapple), a well-known cancer science writer and secretary-general of Shiyu Children's Public Welfare Foundation, delivered a speech
"For the majority of skin disease patients represented by psoriasis, in addition to the physical pain caused by the disease, helplessness and helplessness come more from the public's prejudice and stigma of the disease. We are glad that the first public welfare film focusing on psoriasis patients in mainland China, "Hello, My Silver Lover", was launched this year with the support of Novartis. The film allows the public to understand psoriasis, shows the real life conditions of patients, encourages patients to adopt standardized treatment methods, and allows more patients to regain their health and return to society. Li Yi, communication director of Beijing Kangmeng Charity Foundation and Chronic Skin Disease Care Fund, said.
Li Yi, communication director of Beijing Kangmeng Charity Foundation and Chronic Skin Disease Care Fund, delivered a speech
Roundtable Dialogue: How to Harness the Power of Media to Amplify Patients' Voices
Deepen patient advocacy to make innovative drugs not only available but also affordableWith the continuous introduction of a series of measures such as speeding up drug review and approval, pilot trials in specific regions, and access to medical insurance, more patients can use high-value drugs and enjoy the clinical benefits brought by innovative therapies. Under the practice of the "patient-centered" concept, the collection and inclusion of patients' voices is of great significance to promote drug review and approval and medical insurance access, and relevant evidence based on patient participation plays an increasingly important role in the review system.
In order to improve the benefits of patients in a more timely and effective manner, the adjustment of the national medical insurance catalogue has become normalized in recent years. It is worth noting that in addition to the price reduction, the innovation and clinical value of the drug itself, such as whether it fills the treatment gap, whether it is first-in-class or best-in-class (FIC/BIC), are also considered. This is from the top-level design, for the encouragement and support of innovative therapies, enhance the affordability of patients, and help promote the virtuous cycle and high-quality development of the industry. Under the practice of the "patient-centered" concept, the collection and inclusion of patients' voices is of great significance to promote drug review and approval and medical insurance access, and relevant evidence based on patient participation plays an increasingly important role in the review system.
At this patient day event, Novartis discussed with many parties and made in-depth exchanges on how to promote the accessibility of innovative drugs and the construction of the medical security system through patient participation, and jointly explored the effective path and forward-looking samples of patient participation in medical decision-making and policy advocacy.
Liu Zhengchen, Chairman of the Beijing New Sunshine Charity Foundation, said: "In addition to the national basic medical insurance catalogue, charitable medical assistance, as a supplementary medical security mechanism, is another powerful measure to help patients reduce their financial burden and improve the accessibility of high-value drugs. To this end, New Sunshine is the first in China to introduce the application of the Health Technology Assessment (HTA) tool to assist charity decision-making. A comprehensive evaluation is carried out from the dimensions of drug effectiveness, safety, innovation, economy, and fairness, so as to provide valuable reference for charitable medical assistance decision-making, provide financial assistance to patients in need, and ensure the accurate and efficient use of charitable funds. In the future, we hope to deepen cooperation with more patient organizations, explore the evaluation and assistance of more diseases and drugs, promote the effective connection between charitable medical assistance and national medical assistance, and improve the well-being of patients. "
Liu Zhengchen, chairman of Beijing New Sunshine Charity Foundation, delivered a speech
Promote digital empowerment and expand the impact of patient organizationsIn recent years, with the popularization and improvement of health awareness, patients have paid more and more attention to the prevention, treatment and rehabilitation of diseases. The rise of patient communities and patient organizations responds to this need to build a platform for patients to exchange information and help each other. By connecting real patient needs, patient communities and patient organizations are playing an increasingly important role in driving the continuous improvement of healthcare systems. The rapid development of digital technology can not only help empower patient organizations and provide better scientific information and personalized services for their members, but also help form a broad social support network, promote external collaboration with research institutions and social organizations, and accelerate the realization of patient benefits. To this end, the "Patient Opinion Leader Short Video Production Workshop" and the "Patient Community Management" special session were set up at the Patient Day event to provide experience reference for patient organizations and other industry partners, and use digital technologies and tools such as the Internet to provide more convenient services for patients.
Liu Yiting, Head of Patient Operations of Mijian, said: "Through the in-depth integration of online and offline integration, the patient community platform has ushered in a period of vigorous development. Online can break the limitations of time and space, cover a wider range of patients, and obtain patient insights more efficiently. Offline activities can enhance patient stickiness and help key members of the community to further exert greater influence and appeal online. The two complement each other to form a virtuous circle that drives the long-term development of the patient community and brings warmth and hope to patients throughout their treatment. "
"The combination of AI and different industries and scenarios has profoundly affected our work and life, and artificial intelligence (AI) has also triggered revolutionary changes in the medical industry, including but not limited to drug development, diagnostic support, personalized treatment, and clinical decision support," said Yang Liu, Head of Digital Business & Healthcare Solutions Greater China at IQVIA. For example, in terms of doctor-patient communication and patient information literacy improvement, AI can efficiently convey disease science knowledge to patients through doctors' virtual avatars, effectively making up for doctors' shortcomings in patient education, efficiency, depth, and frequency of doctor-patient communication. Artificial intelligence and big data are continuously improving the quality and efficiency of the medical industry, comprehensively mining patient insights, and achieving refined and differentiated patient experiences, all of which are brought to us by technology. Of course, before AI can be fully applied, we also need to pay attention to and solve challenges such as data privacy, security, algorithmic bias, and legal and ethical responsibility for outcomes. "
Since the beginning of 2024, Novartis' cardiovascular disease education platform "Caring for the Heart" and skin immune disease education platform "Smart Skin Rebirth" will help users quickly retrieve and present popular science content on hypertension, hyperlipidemia, psoriasis and other related diseases on the platform through AI technology, improving the interaction efficiency and experience between the two platforms and users. In addition, Novartis also cooperated with the Bethune Foundation to use AI technology to carry out patient education and disease science popularization, and greatly improve the efficiency of science video shooting by making digital avatars of doctors. The improvement of video production efficiency has significantly increased the breadth and quantity of disease science content, thereby benefiting more patients.