Medtronic commits $6 million to address cardiovascular disease, diabetes care in India

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Washington: One year after the historic United Nations High Level Meeting on Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), Medtronic on Friday announced a five-year, $6 million (Rs 32 crore) philanthropic commitment in India to accelerate programmes specifically designed to expand access to quality care and management of diabetes and heart disease, two of the world?s leading killers.

?Coming out of the UN High Level Meeting, it?s been our pledge to help drive action at the country level, and then share those results globally,? said Dr Jacob Gayle, executive director of the Medtronic Foundation and vice president, Medtronic Community Affairs. ?By focusing on diabetes and cardiovascular disease, we hope to strengthen overall health systems in order to expand access in underserved communities. Given both the need and opportunity in India, it was clear that we needed to ramp up our support to help those already working to improve care.?

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is currently the leading cause of death in urban and rural India, killing three million people each year. India is also home to more than 60 million diabetics ? more than any other country.

?Chronic diseases have reached epidemic proportions in India,? said Dr K Srinath Reddy of the Public Health Foundation of India, who spoke with Gayle at a September 21 press briefing. ?Less than half of the people living with these diseases are diagnosed and receiving treatment. A concerted effort toward addressing this burden of NCDs requires strengthening the health system through an innovative, multi-sectoral approach.?

On September 20, the Medtronic Foundation convened a group of community health experts, non-profits, academia and the private sector in New Delhi.

Among those attending were several Medtronic Foundation grantees in India including Dr D Prabhakaran from the Centre for Chronic Disease Control in New Delhi and Dr Nikhil Tandon from All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), who recently launched a pilot programme funded by the Medtronic Foundation in Himachal Pradesh using high-tech healthcare tools and community health worker training to better screen, diagnose and treat diabetes and CVD patients.

Using a ?continuum of care? framework to guide the conversation, participants identified barriers and gaps within the current health system in order to collectively explore solutions to strengthen health systems.

Since 2010, the Medtronic Foundation has committed more than $7.5 million in NCD-related grants, including $1.2 million to NCD-related efforts in India. Moving forward, the Foundation will continue to increase global funding to expand access to NCD care for underserved communities, specifically focusing on efforts to recruit, train and equip frontline health workers, and to help reinforce patient-centred approaches to health promotion.

With NCDs accounting for more than 60 per cent of all deaths worldwide, UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon called upon the world?s businesses to help address NCDs, which are expected to increase by 50 per cent in developing countries by 2030. NCDs account for roughly 75 per cent of healthcare costs in both advanced and developing economies, according to the World Economic Forum.

Categories:?NEWS

Tags: Dr D Prabhakaran, Dr Jacob Gayle, Dr K Srinath Reddy, Dr Nikhil Tandon, Grant, Medtronic, Medtronic Foundation, NCDs

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