Sanofi launches community health project in China

Sanofi has launched a strategic health initiative in China that aims to improve community-level management of chronic diseases.

The French pharma company said it created the Healthy Community Project as a response to the Chinese government's call to strengthen community healthcare - one of the country's healthcare reform goals.

The venture will see Sanofi partner with four local organisations - the Chinese Medical Doctor Association, Community Health Association of China, China International Exchange, and Promotive Association for Medical and Health Care.

In doing so the company hopes to improve the multi-tiered healthcare approach to chronic disease management in 42 cities across China.

Jean-Christophe Pointeau, Sanofi China's general manager of pharma, described the project as “one of the most strategically important” in China.

He added: “The Healthy Community Project gathers the best of our resources and is committed to providing community healthcare professionals with the most comprehensive solutions and platform for know-how knowledge.”

Sanofi will work with community healthcare centres, HCPs and patients alike, sharing best practises of chronic disease management to help improve managerial expertise, clinical skills and self-management capabilities.

There is an urgent need for early diagnosis and treatment of chronic diseases in China, with 290 million people suffering from cardiovascular diseases and 114 million from diabetes – the country's two most prevalent chronic diseases.

The first phase of the project, focusing on cardiovascular and diabetes patients, has already been put into operation, and Sanofi hopes that its Healthy Community Project will reach 30,000 community physicians and 23 million patients by 2020.

The venture may also go some way to rebuilding pharma's strained relations with Chinese authorities, following the 2013 GSK corruption scandal that subsequently drew in Roche, Sanofi and a number of other pharma firms.