Representatives of K Hospital and Roche Pharma Vietnam signed an MoU on improving cancer diagnosis and treatment on August 2. — Photo courtesy of Roche Pharma Vietnam

HÀ NỘI — K (Cancer) Hospital and Roche Pharma Vietnam will work together to improve cancer diagnosis and treatment as part of a Memorandum of Understanding signed on August 2.

Under the framework, Roche Pharma Vietnam will support K Hospital in improving the professional capacity of the hospital’s medical staff and strengthening collaboration between domestic and foreign oncology organisations and experts. The two sides will jointly implement key projects on breast and liver cancer and build a database to support treatment and patient care.

“As a leading hospital in the field of oncology, we understand the enormous difficulties facing patients and society from the increasing number of cancer cases. K Hospital is pleased to continue our long-term partnership with Roche Pharma Vietnam to fulfil our shared goal of bringing the best to patients and the community through comprehensive capacity building in management, diagnosis and treatment of oncology,” said Prof. Lê Văn Quảng, Director of K Hospital.

Lennor Carrillo, General Director of Roche Pharma Vietnam, said: “As one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies with more than 125 years of history, Roche has always strived to fulfil its commitment to assist patients in accessing advanced therapies while easing the financial burden on society. With a shared vision that puts the patient’s health and interests first, I believe that the tie-up will bring real and long-term value to patients and the community.”

According to a survey in 2020, there will be 182,563 new cancer cases and 122,690 cancer deaths every year in Việt Nam. Both cancer incidence and mortality rates have been increasing over the years. Cancer not only causes unbearable pain for the patient but also drains their and their family’s mental health and finances.

In 2021, Roche Vietnam and K Hospital jointly implemented a project to enhance access to advanced therapies for high-risk breast cancer patients in 2020-2025.

The project has provided free cancer screening for 1,050 women over 40 years of age and at high risk of breast cancer in Hà Nội. About 17 online counselling programmes were conducted to raise the community’s awareness about breast cancer, receiving over 340,000 views.

In addition, many professional training programmes for breast cancer multimodality treatment have been implemented, along with programmes to strengthen clinical research capacity at the hospital.