In an unprecedented step, Roche Diagnostics Egypt launched “Peptide for Life” initiative under the auspices of the Egyptian Society of Cardiology, for availing a better health care for patients with heart failure.
The initiative will focus on furnishing affordable certified laboratory testing of the gold standard biomarker in heart failure disease (Natriuretic peptide or NP) in the Egyptian medical laboratories, alongside raising the physicians’ awareness about the best use of it in various patient cases and its available testing sites.
To achieve this goal, Roche Diagnostics Egypt is tying up with the Egyptian Society of Cardiology, the largest local entity and main reference for Cardiology in Egypt, to form the Egyptian Heart Failure Working Group.
The Group will focus on boosting cardiologists’ understanding of the best practices for the optimal use of NP’s testing in the diagnosis, prognosis, and constant monitoring of patients for providing those with heart failure problems with a better care.
According to the US National Library of Medicine, NPs are substances produced by the heart, which can cause conditions known as heart failure when produced in high levels. Thus, the measurement of these vital indicators is considered vital for the diagnosis and follow-up of patients with heart failure.
Roche Diagnostics Egypt will supply the medical laboratories – participating in this initiative – with the latest devices and chemicals to empower them to provide the test in an international quality and affordable price to the patients.
Highlighting the initiative’s significance, Dr. Magdy Abdel Hamid, Head of Cardiology department at Cairo University and the President of the Egyptian Heart Failure Working Group, stated that the Acute Heart Failure (AHF) is a life-threatening condition that can result from different causes; a timely and accurate diagnosis is crucial in paving the way for an early initiation of key lifesaving therapies.
Abdel Hamid added that Natriuretic Peptide (NP) testing is highly indispensable for an accurate diagnosis of AHF, thus it is now embedded as a class 1/ level of evidence A, as per the recommendation of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and the clinical practice guidelines of the American Heart Association (AHA).
Showcasing the hurdles facing the application of such testing, Abdel Hamid declared: “NB testing in emergency departments is still negligible, especially in low and middle-income countries. We need to channel out the impediments standing against guidelines implementation, alongside identifying actions that guarantee availing NB testing in the emergency departments for patients with acute dyspnea.”
From her side, Liliane Kanaan, General Manager of Roche Diagnostics Egypt, pointed out: “The healthcare sector in Egypt is burgeoning robustly, thanks to the ongoing exerted efforts by the authorities and pertinent stakeholders in Egypt and other regional countries, in implementing the highest standard quality guidelines and the latest technology in the laboratory diagnosis.” Liliane added, “Roche is leveraging on various initiatives to boost the continuous efforts for advancing the guidelines of healthcare services and meeting the medical sector’s needs. This is surely achieved through Roche’s developed innovative solutions in cooperation with our partners for reinforcing healthcare quality in public and private sectors and meeting patient needs everywhere.”
Speaking at the press conference to clarify on the intrinsicality of this initiative, Dr. Khaled Atef, Marketing Manager of Roche Diagnostics Egypt said, “The role of clinical lab testing has been staggering over the past decades; over 66% of clinical decisions are impacted by lab testing results. Being aware of such role in valuing up patient’s journey, Roche Diagnostics Egypt is always keen to bring the latest technology and encourage best practices, which can heavily impact patients’ lives and push for better services for the healthcare sector in Egypt.”
From her side, Dr. Reem Jan, Professor of Clinical Pathology at Kasr Al-Ainy, added that we as clinical pathologists are always keen to meet the needs of the clinicians to provide the latest diagnostic tests that will help the clinicians reach the exact diagnosis as fast as possible.
It is noteworthy that Roche Diagnostics Egypt is committed to not saving any support it can furnish to enhance patient’s recovery journey.
