23rd November, 2019 - Early Saturday morning in Hanoi, AstraZeneca Vietnam and Vietnam Young Physicians Association hosted the "Community Day 2019" in partnership with Vietnam Lung Association, the Ministry of Health and other institutes. The event gathered about 3,000 participants including 1,000 people at the risk of diabetes, AstraZeneca employees and volunteers from all the partners.

“Community Day 2019” was organized with the theme "Early action for a healthy community" and activities geared towards raising awareness and prevention for Diabetes, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and cancer. Not often seen, the event provided a free package to the community with blood sugar and blood pressure test, lung function check and early breast cancer screening. Besides, free diet consultations and roadshow to promote disease education had attracted many young people.

Mr. Nitin Kapoor, Company President, AstraZeneca Vietnam & Asia Area Frontier Markets shared: “With a 25-year heritage in Vietnam, AstraZeneca is proud to contribute to improving the quality of lives for patients with non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as diabetes, COPD and cancer. Through the partnership with the Ministry of Health, Vietnam Young Physician Association, AstraZeneca and our volunteers are eager to take part in Community Day 2019 to help raise awareness amongst our community for family health protection and early detection of NCDs.” It is noted that the company has been collaborating with number of local healthcare partners to reduce the prevalence and improve the management of NCDs. Part of the commitment includes the implementation of the Young Health Programme (YHP) to empower young people and their communities to make healthy choices in diet, exercise and lifestyle. Healthy Lung Vietnam is another example that addresses national asthma and COPD management.

Speaking at the event, Prof. Dr. Tran Van Thuan, President of Vietnam Young Physician Association (VYPA) highlighted the importance of raising awareness and early prevention of diabetes and COPD, which are 2 out of 5 NCDs - the leading cause of death in the world. He shared: “Following the success of Community Day 2018 with the theme of Early action in Diabetes for families and communities, VYPA continues to set two main goals for this year's event. Firstly, raising awareness about the risks of diabetes, COPD and other non-communicable diseases. Secondly, highlighting the importance of families and communities in supporting the care, prevention, and management of non-communicable diseases especially the importance of early detection as it helps to reduce the risks of complications, mortality, and treatment costs for patients”.

There are up to 5 million people living with diabetes in Vietnam, patients are getting younger and the complications are getting worse. Regarding COPD, there are about 3 million patients with COPD and 90% of cases are caused by smoking, while 1% of COPD patients have developed in lung cancer.

Sharing the same vision to help address NCDs at an early stage, the second consecutive year of Community Day was held successfully by the robust partnership of AstraZeneca, Young Physicians Association and the healthcare partners. As the burden of these diseases continues to grow in Vietnam, such a partnership plays an important role in sending a strong message to the community, hence help them prevent and diagnose the “silent killers” at an early stage.