In conjunction with Roche’s 125th anniversary, Roche Malaysia organized its second session of the Life Talk series titled ‘Personalized Healthcare – Because every patient is unique and different’ on Jan 25, 2022.
The panellists in the virtual session were senior consultant pathologist and laboratory director Professor Dr. Pathmanathan Rajadurai; clinical oncologist Dr. Cheah Soon Keat; consultant endocrinologist Dr. Saiful B. Kassim; Roche Malaysia healthcare access and corporate affairs director Wong Sit Yin, and the session was moderated by Satu Creative Services Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Ahmad Azuar.
In Malaysia, the growing healthcare demand increases costs and puts a strain on resources as a result of a growing nation with high prevalence of chronic conditions. Profound transformations are needed to meet healthcare demands and improve patient outcomes thus, a Personalized Healthcare (PHC) approach may be the way forward for the nation.
This is in line when Roche launched the Personalized Healthcare Index for Asia Pacific early last year and it was revealed that all health systems are on a trajectory towards delivering PHC, with some at the earliest stages while others are building the foundations or already making the transition.
The Personalized Health Index is a unique, data-driven, online policy tool developed by the Futureproofing Healthcare Initiative, in collaboration with a group of independent healthcare experts, to help countries prioritize efforts, resources, and action to realize the potential of PHC in their respective countries.
Prof. Pathmanathan said diagnostic testing is a part of the Personalized Healthcare (PHC) journey that holds a lot of potential for chronic disease management.
“Precision medicine is an approach for effective disease management that takes into account individual variability in genes, environment and lifestyles for each person and this is essential for many cancers, for example, biomarkers as detected by validated companion diagnostic solutions ensure effective and safe application of therapeutics,” he said.
Malaysia, currently developing the foundations for PHC, is in the process of formulating and implementing plans that aim to enable PHC.
Advancing the national strategy or policy for personalized health or personalized medicine is a key imperative, and there is an opportunity to streamline the regulatory processes in the country. Malaysia also has a digital infrastructure and data collection capabilities to support limited aspects of personalized care.
“Personalized cancer care is moving rapidly hand in hand with the evolving and rapid technological advancements. Clinicians have to work closely with one another in a multidisciplinary team harnessing each other’s abilities and experience to achieve the best possible outcome,” said Dr. Cheah.
Dr. Saiful said remote real-time data sharing between patients with their healthcare professionals from multi-disciplinary has encouraged a holistic ecosystem approach to better care.
“Having all data in one place at one glance will help us to have quicker and more informed therapeutic decisions with our patients. Even with all these technologies at hand, we need to play our part by leading healthy lives as changing how you live your life will change how long you live,” he said.
Wong said every person is unique in many ways and similarly diseases affect the body in different ways.
“And now with the digital revolution in healthcare, we will be able to see what distinguishes each of us as individuals, and translate that into personalized and thus improved care for each and every person,” she said.
“As we celebrate our 125-year anniversary, it is not only a chance for us to honour Roche’s legacy, but it’s also the perfect moment to build even more integrated relationships with each other, as we believe a multi-stakeholder or ecosystem approach is essential to shape health systems.
“Our Life Talks series provide Roche with a vital chance to connect with external stakeholders to address local and global concerns and strategically move the needle forward to generate meaningful change for the next 125 years and beyond,” added Wong.
Roche Malaysia held its first Life Talk on Women’s Health on October 2021 which will be followed by Diversity & Inclusion later next month. These interactive panel sessions are designed to inspire and share knowledge on various health-related topics with external audiences.
