Educational program to share knowledge and best practice on Covid-19 among HCPs globally

Covid-19 is a novel pathology with many unknowns. Healthcare professionals around the world are working to minimize its impact while gaining valuable insights into the epidemiology and clinical manifestation of the disease, as well as potential treatment protocols.

New insights emerge every day, which is precisely why we can say that in reality there are no "experts" on COViD-19. However, there are specialists who, having dealt with the pandemic for weeks now, have discovered something new every day about the epidemiology of the disease,  the clinical manifestations of the infection, the immunity that develops in those who recover, the psychological impacts, and which treatment protocols are more suitable and more useful to fight the virus.

“One of the biggest concerns for physicians is how to continue to treat and care for these patients, while protecting both patients and medical staff against SARS-CoV-2 infections,” said Rebecca Guntern, Head Region Europe at Sandoz. “Our initiative is designed to accelerate physicians’ exchange of their hands-on experience as promptly as possible, across specialty areas and country borders.”

The Sandoz commitment to pioneer access also includes enabling specialists to acquire latest information and access to knowledge. Such knowledge, information and skills are shared during a series of virtual webcasts organized by Sandoz for HCPs worldwide. Each of the webcasts focuses on a different aspect of the disease and hosts a specialist to share firsthand information, recommendations and experience.

The first four webcasts have already reached approximately 10,000 healthcare professionals globally, including general practitioners, specialists and pharmacists. Speakers included Prof. Galli on the COVID-19 situation in Italy, Ing. Di Guardo and Dr. Tobia on the COViD-19 impact on Italian pharmacies, and Dr. Petzold on the psychological burden for HCPs in the pandemic. Most recent experience has been shared from Dr Bernardino and Prof Rios (Medical Director) about how Hospital La Paz - one of the most prominent hospitals in Spain - became a fully dedicated hospital dealing with the dramatic pandemic, thanks to the creativity and solidarity amongst physicians. Other webinars have been released focusing on the fields of gastroenterology, rheumatology and oncology. Sandoz plans to do more webcasts.

All current and future webcasts are hosted on www.sandozlive.com.

"To effectively address this novel disease and global pandemic, healthcare professionals need to be able to acquire and share experience in real time. We have launched our webcast initiative to accelerate this crucial exchange in the fields of patient management, internal organization of the wards and hospital structures or pharmacies", said Dr. Tobias Vogt, Medical Head at Sandoz Europe.
 
Novartis and Sandoz are committed to global efforts to combat Covid-19 and is helping to support the stability of global health systems. The webcasts are another building block in the many actions that Sandoz and Novartis have taken to fight the pandemic.

Novartis has announced a wide range of measures, including the creation of a USD 40 million global fund to support communities around the world affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Novartis has also committed 130 million doses of hydroxychloroquine to help fight the pandemic, and has already issued donations to local health authorities in several countries for inpatient treatment of Covid-19 patients under controlled medical supervision within the scope of clinical trials.

To support global research, Novartis joined two major cross-industry initiatives, the COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator, which is coordinated by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Wellcome and Mastercard, and a Covid-19 directed partnership organized by the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) -Partnership. Novartis is also conducting Covid-19-related clinical trials of several of its own medicines. To support access to medicines, Sandoz, the Novartis generics and biosimilars division, is the first company to commit to maintaining stable prices for a number of essential medicines that may help treat Covid-19.

For details on our global initiatives, please visit our website (Novartis.com/coronavirus).