MerckSerono Kicks off its Capacity Advancement Program- CAP in Diabetes Education in Collaboration with Maharashtra University for the First Time in India

• MerckSerono kicks off its Capacity Advancement Program in partnership with Directorate of Medical Education& Research and Maharashtra University of Health Sciences
• Maharashtra government to Undergraduates medical education policies and Syllabus to focus on Diabetes with the support of Merck Serono.
• In the month of World Heart Day,MaharastraGovt in collaboration with Merck took a big step to help everyone in society by planning Diabetes Community Outreach Program for the upcoming World Diabetes Day.

Mumbai, September 25, 2014 – Merck, a leading German company for top-quality high-tech products in the pharmaceutical, chemical and life-science sectors, in collaboration with Maharashtra University of Health Sciences and Directorate of Medical Education & Research is introducing Merck Capacity Advancement Program in Diabetes education for medical undergraduates of 18 medical colleges in Maharashtra.

The 5 year program will provide Clinical Diabetes Management course at all Governmental Medical Colleges in Maharashtra. The course is European accredited and will be incorporated in the MBBS curricula of 18 medical colleges. It is aimed to build up the future Diabetes health care capacity in Maharashtra.

Dr.Stefan Oschmann, Member of the Executive Board Merck and CEO Pharma said: “Merck is pleased to collaborate with Maharashtra University of Health Sciences and Directorate of Medical Education & Research as part of our commitment to building healthcare capacity and providing sustainable access to high-quality health solutions and safe medicines in India. Through you – the leadership, faculty leaders and students, this program will seek to improve the healthcare sector not only in Maharashtra state but also throughout India. -The CAP will provide critical education and empowerment to those affected and dealing with diabetes to show the way to manage and prevent it. “

RashaKelej, Vice President, Head of Global Business Responsibility and Market Development, Merck Serono, emphasized: “Merck is pleased to launch the Merck Capacity Advancement Program in India on the occasion of world heart day which on 29th of September. There is a clear-cut relationship between diabetes and cardiovascular disease and the best way to prevent or delay the development of cardiovascular disease is to prevent diabetes itself.”

“Therefore the program will address both diabetes and hypertension as part of our commitment to contributing to the social and economic development of India and the rest of the Asian continent. The socio- economic burden of the disease can be reduced by timely intervention from trained healthcare professional as many patients can be prevented from becoming diabetics if diagnosed at early stage,” she added.

The Merck Capacity Advancement Program aims at expanding the professional capacity in the areas of research and development, clinical research, supply chain integrity and efficiency, pharmacovigilance, medical education and awareness for medical and pharmacy undergraduates, physicians and pharmacists in rural areas.

The 5 year program was kicked off successfully in 7 sub- Saharan countries which are Kenya, Uganda, Namibia Angola, Ghana, Tanzania and Mozambique and will further expand to other Sub-Saharan and Asian countries in 2014.

Padamshree Prof. Shashank Joshi, The president of Association of Physicians of India- API welcomed the program “We are happy with our partnership with Merck to implement this program to support future diabetes health care in India. Diabetes mellitus is reaching potentially epidemic proportions in India. The level of morbidity and mortality due to diabetes and its potential complications are enormous, and pose significant healthcare burdens on both families and society”.

He added “Indians and Maharashtrians are uniquely predisposed to diabetes. There is an urgent need to develop teaching programs for health care providers so that diabetics don’t need to go specialists but basic management can be done by health care providers.”

Dr Manisha Mhaiskar, Medical education and Drug department secretary, Maharashtra Government, welcomed Merck by stating: “We are happy to partner with Merck, to implement Merck’s Capacity Advancement Program in Maharashtra. This program is powerful, effective and well suited to Indian audience with the purpose of improving medical research, health education and clinical practice and hence enhancing the quality of life of people live with diabetes in India.”

She emphasized that a change in medical Undergraduates Syllabus and medical education policies and implementation of Diabetes community out- reach programs are needed urgently to keep base with the changes of the emerging disease such as diabetes and non communicable diseases”

During the event, Prof. DrArunJamkar, Vice Chancellor of Maharashtra University of Health Sciences, MUHS- Nashik emphasized” It gives us immense pleasure to invite the stakeholders in the field of medicine and diabetes in Maharashtra In joint collaboration with DMER and Merck, this Diabetes education course aims to provide guidelines and clinical practice for prevention, diagnosis and management of diabetes and its complications for medical undergraduates of the 18 medical colleges in Maharashtra university.”

Based on its long experience in diabetes management, which began in 1957 with the development of metformin, Merck seeks to raise awareness of diabetes in India by educating the public and supporting the healthcare system to prevent, diagnose and manage the condition effectively. As part of the Merck Capacity Advancement Program, by end of 2015, more than 3,000 medical students from the Maharashtra University of Health sciences will benefit from European-accredited clinical diabetes and chronic diseases management training, which is seeking to equip them with skills to avert the diabetes epidemic. Merck is planning to target more than 12,000 students by the end of 2018 expanding to more African and Asian countries.

The Course will be run in partnership of Merck and EXCEMED – Excellence in Medical Education – a leading global medical education provider, which has, over the past four decades, established a solid reputation for delivering high quality continuing medical education to thousands of healthcare professionals and medical students around the world.

In addition to medical education and awareness, Merck shall continue to work with partners in India at large to expand the capacity of professionals in diabetes management through its Capacity Advancement Program. CCI Newswire