Roche focuses its strategy on improving access to innovative treatments

The CEO of Roche Brasil and the next president of the pharmaceutical business in Latin America, Rolf Hönger, informed today that the challenge for the company is to act now to bridging the gap of access to treatments that improve the lives of patients

"Increasing access to health is Roche's main goal in the region," said atl. Audience 75 journalists from 11 countries at the opening day of Roche Press Day (RPD), an annual educational forum aimed at communicators from Latin America.

Cali, a city located in the west of Colombia, is the venue chosen for the seventh edition of the DPR, meeting where every year advances in the most innovative treatments of the company, which billed in 2017 more than 53 billion dollars.

Hönger explained that if access is not talked about now, "governments are not going to pay attention."

He also urged journalists "to be the critical voice". to attract attention "on the most relevant health issues."

The representative of the pharmaceutical company, which has 30 drugs on the list of the World Health Organization (WHO) serving approximately 137 million people globally, it has stressed that patients generally expect better treatments.

"Advances in medicine make sense when they reach those who need them," he said

. the world's top five companies investing in research and development (R & D), with about $ 10.464 million last year alone

About the world's largest biotech company Oncology and in vitro diagnostics worldwide, revealed that between 2016 and 2017 more than 100 awareness campaigns were conducted in Latin America.

In the same period, they also obtained the diagnosis of 69,000 patients and treatment of about 21 5,000 people in the region with oncological and immunological drugs.

Hönger explained that the strategy to improve access in Latin America includes working on four pillars: the low levels of awareness that exist in the population, inequalities in infrastructure, diagnosis

The world's largest biotech company has revealed that between 2016 and 2017 it has conducted 769 clinical studies in the region.

"Our goal is that if we can not cure a disease, we can turn it into a chronic disease," said Hönger in his presentation.

The RPD will end tomorrow, Thursday, in Cali, the city chosen by the pharmaceutical company so that journalists can see in situ the progress of the first city of Latin America more than one the challenge of cities against cancer

This project, promoted by the U The International Center for Cancer Control (UICC), the World Bank and 20 pharmaceutical companies, including Roche, bet that cities are jointly organized with the cooperation of local governments, private initiative and patients, to make significant progress in the fight against the disease.