KUCHING: The Heart2Miss pilot study aimed at addressing the challenges of heart failure diagnosis and transforming care for Type-2 diabetic patients with heart failure is another creative and self-innovation from the ground, says Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Dr Sim Kui Hian.
Dr Sim, who is also the Minister for Public Health, Housing and Local Government, said that he is very grateful for the pilot study, a collaboration between AstraZeneca and Sarawak General Hospital (SGH).
“AstraZeneca is an international, multinational (company) and they chose to have a partnership with us. Surely, theres something to offer, not because of market access, (but) because our population is (around) only three million.”
He then said that ultrasounds for the heart are crucial because catching heart issues early is key, especially since heart failures and diseases are the top health concerns.
Picking them up early means you need to have all these diagnostic tools. So, in the old days, we had to take a long time to train people to do ultrasound of the heart and now, with artificial intelligence (AI) , they’re able to show that you can do it in four weeks.
And they’re able to go to the clinic to do it so, I don’t think anywhere else in Malaysia is doing that and the most important thing is, it’s not a government initiative, he told reporters after officiating the Heart2Miss programme at Sarawak General Hospital (SGH) Auditorium, on Friday (June 14).
He added that it is the people who started it, including the staff of the Clinical Research Centre (CRC) Sarawak General Hospital.
“These are people who I am very, very proud and honoured. Because these are the people who worked with me before and when I’m no longer in the service, they inherit the thinking, the enthusiasm and the vision to continue all this work.”
“It shows how important it is to train people. Not just because we are training them, but this is what you call leadership and this is also important for the rest of Malaysia.”
For the record, the pilot study aspires to improve the patient pathway for the early detection of heart failure by shifting the diagnosis to community settings to identify more patients in the early stages and help prevent irreversible heart damage.
Additionally, this pioneering, innovative approach will also foster the integration of advanced AI-powered point-of-care ultrasound (AI-POCUS) into echocardiogram screening for improved diagnosis of heart failure in high-risk diabetic individuals.
Also present at the event were Vinod Narayanan, country president, AstraZeneca Malaysia, Dr Ngian Hie Ung, hospital director of SGH, Dr Alan Fong, head of Clincial Research Centre SGH and Dr Diana Foo, principal investigator of Heart2Miss from the CRC SGH.
