Roche goes beyond diagnostics innovation and builds partnerships for proactive healthcare

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As the global healthcare landscape evolves, coupled with the strains an ageing population exerts on healthcare systems, shifting to proactive health systems is essential. This shift is rooted in embedding diagnostics in healthcare systems across Asia and other regions.

Although diagnostics inform over 70 percent of clinical decisions, it’s rarely at the forefront when addressing healthcare gaps. There is a need to explore mechanisms that incentivise this behavioural shift and adopt innovative strategies to prioritise prevention and holistic care.

The key drivers for this shift include the consistent and sustainable upskilling of medical professionals, increased availability of cutting-edge innovations and technologies that enable healthcare professionals to leverage data, and a change in attitudes towards preventive care.

Lance Little, Head of Region for Roche Diagnostics Asia Pacific, highlights the increasing focus on proactive care from government bodies, noting it’s more efficient and affordable to address potential health issues early than to manage diseases at later stages. “Proactive testing enables individuals to stay healthy longer. By detecting symptoms earlier, patients can receive the treatment they need much earlier,” he says. Roche is a global leader in diagnostics and pharmaceuticals.

The phenomenal growth in healthcare knowledge, which now doubles every 73 days compared to every 50 years in the 1950s, significantly empowers diagnostics to go further ‘upstream.’ Simply put, before costly interventions such as therapeutics and surgery, diagnostics can accurately pinpoint problems at an earlier stage and their likely precursors. “Diagnostics provide critical insights to clinicians and have a tremendous impact on patient outcomes,” Little adds.
 
Patients at the heart of healthcare

Responding to the healthcare needs around the world, Roche has since ventured into new areas, such as neurology. According to Alzheimer’s Disease International, a non-profit organisation, dementia care costs in the region currently stand at US$185 billion, with 70 percent of this amount occurring in advanced economies. By the middle of this century, more than half of the global dementia population will reside in the Asia-Pacific region. Early detection of Alzheimer’s disease can help doctors diagnose patients sooner, ensuring they receive the best care available. More accurate and effective diagnostic innovations will greatly improve the care and management of this disease.
 
Building on its cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) assay, Roche has been developing a more accessible blood-based biomarker for Alzheimer’s disease. “Health innovation is only remarkable if it reaches those who need it. Developments that provide greater ease in testing and detecting diseases are critical to advancing care,” Little notes.

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