Our Activities

Asia Pacific 456

The demographic shift is a global phenomenon, but particularly critical in East Asia and Pacific which is aging faster than any other region. In December 2016, Bayer therefore initiated a stakeholder dialogue event in Singapore entitled “Transforming Aging with Health Innovation” with the focus on the Asia Pacific region. Chaired by Dr. Amy Khor, Senior Minister of State from the ministry of health in Singapore, this forum brought together high-level stakeholders from across the region to further shape the discussion about the challenges and opportunities of an aging society.

On this occasion Bayer in collaboration with the National University of Singapore launched the open innovation program Grants4Apps Singapore. This global crowdsourcing initiative helps to foster and support innovative digital health technology by challenging developers, startups and entrepreneurs. Its focus in Singapore is to find innovative solutions to improve medication adherence in elderly people with chronic medical conditions.

Perspectives

Health innovation such as new medicines and healthcare technologies has an important role to play in addressing the challenges in our aging societies. Besides helping people live longer, health innovation can also help people live healthier and more productive lives. The forum’s panel discussion on “Transforming Aging with Health Innovation” has exactly addressed this topic. It was broadcast on Channel News Asia as an episode of their series “Perspectives”, a dedicated TV format focusing on societal themes. 

Medication adherence in elderly people

One crucial component in the treatment of chronic diseases is medication adherence. It is defined as “the extent to which a person’s behavior agrees with the agreed medication regimen from a health care provider”. Non-adherence has always been a problem among patients – approximately 50 % of patients do not take their medications as prescribed. And this is not only causing treatment failure but also higher costs and thus consequences for health care systems. Health care providers are faced with a unique set of problems working with patients, various and countless and especially critical for people over a certain age.

Get an impression on how far-reaching the topic of medication adherence is for elderly people and learn more about a few important factors:

The demographic shift in Asia Pacific

The world’s population is facing a demographic shift. This phenomenon is varying from region to region, depending on respective fertility rates as well as life expectancies. Learn more about this fact in Asia Pacific: