Novo Nordisk Pharma (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd and Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) have joined forces in a collaboration to tackle obesity through a series of activities for the benefit of students and healthcare professionals.
Novo Nordisk vice president and general manager Richard Abela and UPM deputy vice-chancellor (Research & Innovation) Dr. Nazamid Saari signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Nov 3, 2022, which will remain in force for a period of five years from 2022 to 2027.
Richard Abela said the initiative is part of Novo Nordisk’s commitment to go beyond medicine and collaborate across sectors in driving change to defeat stigma and make obesity a healthcare priority.
“The collaboration between Novo Nordisk and UPM is hoped to raise awareness of obesity as a chronic disease, build capacities of current and future healthcare professionals (HCPs) in obesity care and develop multidisciplinary team approach in holistic management of obesity; Together with our partners, we are committed to driving changes in how the world sees, prevents and treats obesity”, he said.
As part of the MOU signed, Novo Nordisk and UPM will be conducting three main activities within the five years duration, which are:
- To raise awareness and health education on obesity as a chronic disease through online obesity teaching module platform.
- To equip the current and future healthcare professionals in obesity care and management, and
- To create medical education activities and teaching platforms on obesity modules in Malaysia on the university portal such as obesity master class to students and HCPs.
These activities will focus on knowledge sharing sessions to help students and participating HCPs develop the skills to diagnose, treat and/or refer patients with obesity towards a holistic obesity care and management.
“UPM welcomes this MoU collaboration with Novo Nordisk as it will provide our students and HCPs with knowledge and skills on obesity management. The knowledge sharing will help them gain the skills to effectively manage patients with this chronic disease in the future,” said Dr. Nazamid Saari.
Since 2018, Novo Nordisk has partnered with the Metabolic and Obesity team, UPM led by Associate Professor Dr Zubaidah Nor Hanipah. Various community and education activities were conducted such as patient support group and sharing sessions, patient educational videos, interprofessional education program for undergraduate students, research collaborations and scientific writings.
