The first World Thrombosis Day takes place today with supporters including several pharma companies.
The day is intended to raise awareness of thrombosis, a condition defined by the formation of a blood clot in the artery or vein. The annual event is set to take place every October 13 to mark the birthday of the German doctor Rudolf Virchow, a pioneer in early thrombosis research.
Despite the serious nature of thrombosis, which can lead to heart attack, stroke and venous thromboembolism, the organisers of World Thrombosis Day say the disease is often overlooked and misunderstood, and that greater awareness is needed.
This lack of awareness was seen in a global survey published in Thrombosis and Haemostasis that showed only one in 10 people considered blood clots as life threatening as AIDS, breast cancer, prostate cancer or road traffic accidents. This is despite blood clots being the cause of death for more than twice as many people each year in Europe than all of those causes combined.
Led by International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ISTH) specific aims of the partners of World Thrombosis Day include increasing awareness about the prevalence and risks from thrombosis; reducing the number of undiagnosed cases; and encouraging healthcare systems to implement new strategies to improve practice in thrombosis care.
The campaign has gathered support from companies and organisations working in thrombosis from across the world, including founding global partner Bayer Healthcare, whose interests in the area include the anticoagulant Xarelto (rivaroxaban).
Dr Joerg Moeller, head of global development at Bayer Healthcare, explained the company’s involvement in World Thrombosis Day.
“We believe that a united global effort can drive real change to effectively reduce the number of undiagnosed cases and increase the use of evidence-based advances to help prevent the risk of blood clots worldwide and improve the health of patients, who do suffer from thrombosis.”
Other pharma companies to lend their support to World Thrombosis Day include Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Pfizer and Daiichi-Sankyo, all of which market an anticoagulant. The medical technology firm Covidien is also a global partner.
Bayer is also a partner of Quality in Care Anticoagulation, an awards programme developed by PMLiVE publishers PMGroup to recognise good practice in anticoagulation care.