- In INDIA, the prevalence of CAD (Coronary Artery Disease) is on rise i.e. 14% in urban populations and 7.4% in rural populations.1
- Angina is often the initial manifestation of CAD (Coronary Artery Disease)2
- ‘Angina Awareness Initiative’ Campaign’s aim is to educate people about angina and to improve the management of angina patients
SERDIA Pharmaceuticals (INDIA) Pvt. Ltd, a leader in cardiology and its treatment conducted a nation-wide campaign to raise awareness about angina, amongst masses, urging them not to ignore symptoms of angina like clutching pain, heaviness or tightness in chest, pain in neck / shoulder, fatigue, backache and breathlessness and to consult a doctor at an early stage. As a part of the campaign, the field force also reached out to thousands of Doctors through their in-clinics awareness drive.
Angina is often the initial manifestation of coronary artery disease (CAD), the most frequent cause of death worldwide today3, and has been shown to double the risk of major cardiovascular events4. Approximately one-third of the outpatients with chronic CAD suffer from angina5, while 30% of patients continue to experience angina symptoms as early as one month after revascularization6.
A recent study revealed that angina was under recognized in 43.3% patients with CAD who had reported angina in the previous month7. Among patients with frequent angina, 44% were on suboptimal anti-anginal pharmacological therapy5. These findings suggest that sustained efforts are needed to improve the management of angina patients.
The Working Group on Cardiovascular Pharmacotherapy of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) has launched the Angina Awareness Initiative. This initiative is supported by SERVIER in the form of an educational grant, whose contribution will be to reach out to health care professionals to improve the management of this life threatening yet preventable condition.
As a part of this global initiative, SERDIA Pharmaceuticals has launched the comprehensive program in INDIA: ‘Angina Awareness INDIA’.
To help spread the word, SERDIA Pharmaceuticals has also launched an online Facebook community page – AnginaAwarenessIndia, which has already crossed over 20,000 followers. The team also conducted video awareness campaign, Poster campaign, Community contact programs, in-clinic promotions and worked closely with leading Doctors to help spread the word. Through all channels, this awareness drive could reach to more than 6 Lac patients across India.
The free mobile app – Angina Under Control that has been developed by SERVIER, is also very useful tool that helps every patient to record the incidence of chest pain or discomfort and allows patients to follow the symptoms evolution in an objective way between the visits.
From a health economics perspective, angina represents a major burden on society. It also has a negative impact on quality of life and leads to a 3-fold higher risk of disability8, 1.5-fold higher risk of job loss4, and 4-fold higher risk of depression9.
Speaking on this occasion Dr. Georges JABRE, CEO of SERDIA Pharmaceuticals, said, “We have been a leader in the angina category in India. As a category leader, we thought it is our responsibility to create awareness for the population through Angina Awareness INDIA. That’s why we are also celebrating April Angina Awareness month starting 1st April 2019.”
Dr. Georges JABRE also added “Currently on Google there are over 30 lac searches every month about the heart diseases/ angina category, which clearly indicates that people are looking out for more information. So, we co-created this 1st of its kind digital campaign along with Doctors called Angina Awareness INDIA to promote angina awareness.”
Angina awareness being the need of the hour, SERDIA Pharmaceuticals plans to continue its efforts around the year.
