With an aim to uplift the quality of healthcare for patients living with NCDs, the Medical Services Administration (MSA) - Ministry of Health (MOH) (represented by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Luong Ngoc Khue - Vice Chairman - National Medical Council, cum Director of the MSA Department) and AstraZeneca Vietnam (represented by Mr. Nitin Kapoor, Chairman and General Director, AstraZeneca Vietnam and Asia Area Frontier Markets) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to partner on the “CaReMe – Love Yourself” program, commencing from 2022 to 2025 in Vietnam. The signing ceremony was witnessed by Prof. Dr. Nguyen Truong Son - Vice Minister of Health, Mr. Iain Frew - British Ambassador to Vietnam, Ms. Ann Måwe - Swedish Ambassador to Vietnam, and attended by leaders of several departments, hospitals, and professional associations, such as the Vietnam Society of Cardiology, the Vietnamese Association of Diabetes and Endocrinology, and the Vietnam Urology – Nephrology Association.

CaReMe stands for Cardio - Renal - Metabolic conditions, a group of closely related diseases, and also stands for "Care for me", calling on people to take care of their health early. In three years, the program aims to reach at least 500,000 people in Vietnam through disease awareness and early screening activities.

At the signing ceremony, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Luong Ngoc Khue, Vice Chairman - National Medical Council, Director of the MSA – MOH, said: “Building a comprehensive disease management model will be critical, meaningful and sustainable to address CaReMe diseases, as they are closely interlinked. We strongly believe that by partnering with AstraZeneca, the CaReMe program will contribute to lessening the burden from Cardiovascular – Renal – Metabolism diseases in Vietnam."

Mr. Nitin Kapoor, Chairman and General Director, AstraZeneca Vietnam and Asia Area Frontier Markets, commented: "Healthcare has become more important than ever as we emerge from the pandemic. Besides communicable diseases, we hope more people will recognize that Cardiovascular– Renal- Metabolism diseases, such as heart failure, diabetes, and chronic kidney disease, have actually been among the leading causes of death in Vietnam. Under the leadership of MSA – MOH and the partnership of leading medical associations, our program will cover the whole patient journey, through which we’ll address better the needs of people living in different communities and economic situations across Vietnam.”

Following the signing ceremony, activities of the program will be discussed and guided by specialized associations: Vietnam Heart Association; Vietnam Association of Diabetes and Endocrinology; and The Vietnam Urology and Nephrology Association to align with three main objectives: (1) Raising public awareness of the CaReMe; (2) Providing standardized toolkits for the early detection of CaReMe disease risk factors at more than 20 local healthcare facilities; and (3) Enhancing quality of CaReMe diseases management through developing and standardizing clinical guidance, and piloting the CaReMe outpatient unit model.

Besides CaReMe program, AstraZeneca is working closely with the Government of Vietnam, the Ministry of Health and medical partners in several other initiatives such as Healthy Lung, Young Health Program or Partnership for Health System Sustainability and Resilience (PHSSR) that has been improving the lives of millions of patients and creating positive impact on the quality of healthcare in Vietnam.

PV