Jakarta. Lippo Healthcare and pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca Hong Kong have signed a memorandum of understanding about collaboration in medical care and hospital management seeking to serve a growing number of healthcare customers in the Greater Bay Area. 

The Greater Bay Area (GBA), which includes Hong Kong, Guangdong, and Macau, has a potential market of around 70 million residents.

According to news released by local media, The Standard on Wednesday, this collaboration will focus on chronic disease management utilizing top technology innovations based on big data and the internet of things (IoT).

Gwenael Meneux, the general manager of AstraZeneca Hong Kong and Macau, said that 17 percent of GBA residents are now 65 years or older, driving up a huge demand for chronic disease care and other services related to geriatrics — physiological conditions and diseases associated with old age.

“We hope to combine our pharmaceutical company’s advantages in medicine and in treatment planning, with Lippo Healthcare’s experience in clinical management and medical education, to provide high-quality medical services to people in the GBA. Our collaboration will focus on chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, and on oncology,” Meneux said as quoted by The Standard.

Meneux said AstraZeneca and Lippo saw a potential to establish Metabolic Management Centers in more than 30 hospitals in China to cater to the elderly who were susceptible to diseases ranging from respiratory diseases to diabetes and other metabolic diseases.

He said these treatment centers would implement big data-based analysis to identify high-risk patients early and offer them preventive measures in advance. These would save the patients time and also, allowing the treatment facilities to function optimally.  

Meneux said Hong Kong's reputation for high-quality medical services and pioneer in the application of medical innovation should help foster public confidence in the new treatment methods in the GBA area, he said. Also, prospective clients for the medical center should have some degree of familiarity with tech-based healthcare services as many private institutions in Hong Kong already have telemedicine services. 

It is hoped that convergence in law and regulations or unification of the system between Hong Kong and Mainland China should expand the scope of medical services in the GBA area.

Lippo Healthcare owns and manages many hospitals, medical facilities, and nursing homes in the Asian region. In China, Lippo is currently building two hospitals in Shenzhen and Changshu.

John Lee, the chief executive officer and managing director of Lippo Healthcare, said that Lippo's experience in managing clinics and medical facilities as well as in the field of medical education makes it a balanced partner for AstraZeneca's excellence in research and innovation.

Lee expressed his confidence that this collaboration could result in reliable and affordable healthcare for residents in GBA.