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Hope for patients as ‘greats’ in the field of combating NCDs gather in Colombo
View(s):- Knowledge-sharing and dealing with region-specific challenges will be highlights at 4th South Asia Forum for Clinical Development
With the dangers of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) hovering across the globe including South Asia, giants in this field, both local and international, will gather in Colombo next Thursday and Friday (November 6 and 7).
Prof. Asita de Silva
Robust discussions, knowledge-sharing and addressing of region-specific challenges in combating NCDs – the bringer of illness and death – will take centre-stage at the 4th South Asia Forum (SAF) for Clinical Development.
It is co-hosted by the research organisation RemediumOne and The George Institute for Global Health headquartered in Australia, in collaboration with the University of Kelaniya.
“This year the forum will focus on cardiovascular, metabolic and renal diseases. It will serve as a platform to address the issues being faced by the region, while strengthening research networks and aligning South Asian NCD initiatives with global advances,” said Conference Co-Chair Prof. Asita de Silva.
Prof. de Silva is Senior Professor of Pharmacology and Director of the Clinical Trials Unit of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya. The other Co-Chair is Prof. Anushka Patel, Chief Executive Officer of The George Institute for Global Health and Conjoint Scientia Professor, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Australia.
With the SAF’s theme for this year being ‘Advances in cardiovascular, metabolic and renal diseases’, Prof. de Silva reiterates that NCDs such as diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke and cancer driven by urbanisation, lifestyle changes and risk factors like tobacco use and unhealthy diets, are a major public health problem in South Asia, home to nearly a quarter of the world’s population.
“In the region, 55% of all deaths are due to NCDs,” he says, expressing “serious” concern that around half of NCD deaths occur prematurely, before 70 years of age. Health systems are struggling to adapt, lacking the necessary infrastructure, data and skilled personnel to effectively prevent and manage these chronic conditions.
Prof. Anushka Patel
The “key” challenges include under-funded health systems designed for communicable diseases, a lack of national surveillance and the emerging concentration of NCDs among poorer segments of the population, it is learnt.
The forum will feature eminent clinicians, experts in clinical research, regulators, industry leaders, global advocates and other stakeholders. They will discuss how to implement effective, evidence-based strategies. They will also focus on how to speed-up the availability of promising solutions to help patients through high-quality clinical research.
Through keynote sessions and panel discussions, they will present the latest evidence, share lessons from South Asia and beyond and explore strategies to advance clinical development through stronger cross-border collaboration.
The plenaries are:
n ‘Addressing the global burden of cardio-metabolic and renal diseases’ by cardiologist and global health researcher, Prof. Mark Huffman of the Global Health Center, Washington University, St. Louis, United States of America (USA);
n ‘Global warming and CVD (Cardiovascular Disease)’ by cardiologist and epidemiologist, Prof. Dorairaj Prabhakaran of the Centre for Chronic Disease Control, India, who is President-elect of the World Heart Federation; and
n ‘WHO global clinical trials initiative – moving from resolution to action’ by Infectious Diseases Physician, Dr. Vasee Moorthy, Senior Advisor for Research and Development at the World Health Organization (WHO).
The eminent line-up will also include:
n Australian obstetrician and researcher Prof. Amanda Henry who will deliver a guest lecture on ‘Risk is not destiny: re-shaping postpartum care to prevent chronic disease’. She leads Women’s Health at The George Institute for Global Health.
n Prof. Bruce Neal, Executive Director at The George Institute for Global Health (Australia) who will bring under the spotlight the ‘Population level intervention: evidence from SALT’. He had led the Salt Substitute and Stroke Study (SSaSS).
n Prof. Faiez Zannad, Professor of Therapeutics – Cardiology at the University of Lorraine, France, who will deliver a guest lecture on ‘Trials and tribulations. The journey of a Heart Failure Trialist’.
n Australia-based global health researcher, Prof. Anthony Rodgers, who will speak on the ‘Single pill combination drug therapy to improve blood pressure control’.
n Prof. Nikhil Tandon, Professor & Head, Department of Endocrinology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India, who will focus on ‘Adolescent obesity and mid-life cardio-metabolic risk’.
n Prof. Nitish Naik, Professor of Cardiology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, India, who will talk on ‘Repurposing and novel drug therapies in heart failure’.
An interesting panel discussion will revolve around ‘Ethics and regulation of clinical trials – Challenges for regional/global studies’. It will be moderated by Prof. Shamini Prathapan, Professor of Community Medicine, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Sri Jayewardenepura.
The panellists will be: Prof. Asita de Silva; Dr. Vasee Moorthy; Dr. Carren Teh Sui Lin, Director, Institute for Clinical Research, National Institutes of Health, Malaysia; Prof. Naazima Kamardeen, Professor of Commercial Law, Faculty of Law, University of Colombo; and Consultant Immunologist Dr. Rajiva de Silva, who is a member of the Clinical Trials Evaluation Committee of the National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA), Sri Lanka.
Taking the minds of delegates away from all that is medicine and health, will be conservationist Asha de Vos of Oceanswell, Sri Lanka, who will focus on ‘Just conservations for a healthier ocean and social equity’.
Prof. de Silva says that hosting the SAF underscores Sri Lanka’s growing recognition as a hub for clinical research.
This biennial scientific congress had been founded by the University of Kelaniya and RemediumOne. (KH)
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