TOKYO - Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (TOKYO: 4519) announced that it held a workshop for medical professionals in Cambodia to promote multidisciplinary team care from February 22 to 23, 2020.

The workshop was a collaboration with a non-profit organization International Medical Volunteers Japan Heart (hereinafter, Japan Heart), and held at Japan Heart Children's Medical Center, a medical facility operated by Japan Heart in Cambodia.

The Cambodian economy has been growing fast in recent years particularly in urban areas. However, turning to the subject of health and hygiene, equal access to quality medical care still remains a challenge for reasons including the lack of healthcare professionals, knowledge on healthcare and hygiene, and organized insurance systems. One of the issues that should be addressed is how to enhance cooperation between physicians, nurses and other various healthcare professionals to deliver high quality medical care given limited human resource and facilities available in medical settings.

In order to promote multidisciplinary team care in Cambodia, Chugai held a workshop for local healthcare professionals as an approach to address this issue. Twenty-one healthcare professionals including Japanese have participated in the two-day workshop held at the medical center operated by Japan Heart. People working at the medical center felt that they were too busy with daily routines and unable to communicate with each other enough, resulting in loss of a sense of being a team. The objective of the program was to improve medical care quality through learning of problem-solving skills related to communication. Khmer members were trained on the first day and Japanese members followed on the second day. As the training on the first day was conducted in Khmer with the help of interpreters, participants were able to speak out their everyday feelings and thoughts in their native language.

In Japan, multidisciplinary team care developed particularly in oncology where more sophisticated and complicated treatments are increasingly applied. In multidisciplinary team care, those who are involved in a patient's care share goals and information so that a range of medical professionals such as physicians, nurses, and pharmacists as well as clerical staff may work collaboratively and complementarily based on each expertise. As a leading company in oncology, Chugai has long engaged in supporting patient-centric multidisciplinary team care.

'In Chugai's global health activities, we aim to utilize our capabilities and contribute to sustainable improvement of healthcare, particularly in low and middle-income countries. The workshop leverages our accumulated know-how in promoting multidisciplinary team care for better medical treatment in Cambodia. In other words, it embodies the philosophy of our global health activities,' said Keiji Kono, Chugai's Senior Vice President, in charge of External Affairs Department and Global Health Policy. 'Participants said that the workshop was very helpful because it provided specific know-hows to deepen communication among various professionals at the busy medical site including physicians, nurses and midwives. Countries and regions face different challenges in medical front. We will continue working on sustainable improvement of healthcare by leveraging our own strength prioritizing the local needs.'

'In Cambodia, many children with cancer experience delay in diagnosis, and in most cases there are no treatment options left when they visit our hospital. Under the difficult situations, Japan Heart colleagues are required to function as a team, while facing themselves how they can do better as individuals. They are always aware that they need communication to develop a feeling of unity as a team. I believe that the workshop gave us an opportunity to strengthen a trusting relationship among us as colleagues to support each other, regardless of whether we are medical professionals or non-medical professionals. As a result, we were able to share our innermost thoughts, including our belief; All medical care is for patients. I hope that the workshop serves as a springboard for us to form a mature team in which strong interpersonal support can be fostered,' commented Dr. Haruna Yoshioka, Chairperson of International Medical Volunteers Japan Heart and a pediatrician.

Chugai places 'strengthen sustainable platform' as one of the key strategies in its mid-term business plan IBI 21. Healthcare access is one of the six areas that we focus to achieve the goal. Chugai we will continue our initiatives to contribute to global health.

Contact:

Tomoko Shimizu

Tel: +81-3-3273-0881

Email: pr@chugai-pharm.co.jp

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