From China to the World, Fosun's Fight against COVID-19 Continues

SHANGHAI, April 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- At 7:00 pm Beijing time on April 6, Fosun hosted a global virtual conference on fighting against COVID-19 on the 39th floor of Fosun's headquarters - the Bund Finance Center in Shanghai.

On the screen, experts with a myriad of fighting COVID-19 experience from China's Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou and the head of Fosun Pharma's medical team in support of Hubei Province joined a group of healthcare experts and physicians from the US, Portugal and the UK, discussing the way forward in the worldwide battle against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Based on China's specific the policy guidance and clinical experience in responding to the epidemic situation, professor Zhu Chouwen, who is leader of the Zhongshan Hospital's medical team for aid to Hubei, first shared his experience of managing COVID-19 designated hospitals. Zhu said, "The National Health and Safety Commission issued seven editions of diagnosis and treatment guidance to all China's medical practitioners. Many countries have their own mechanisms and systems. It is very important to plan and diagnose, and execute the treatment plan according to the specific epidemic situation. Only by joining hands, can we win the battle against the epidemic. "

Since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, Fosun has actively participated in the fight against the epidemic in China and around the world, and has joined hands to provide assistance to the world. Chen Qiyu, Co-CEO of Fosun International and Chairman of Fosun Pharma, expressed his gratitude to the experts from all over the world. Chen said: "Since January 23, Fosun's Wuhan Jihe Hospital is listed as a COVID-19 designated treatment hospital. We have invested in the fight against the epidemic in all aspects. From the global procurement and donation of anti-epidemic materials to the development of diagnostic reagents and vaccines, we have been fighting for nearly three months. The infection rate of our medical staff is zero. With the joint efforts of everyone, the current epidemic in China has been effectively controlled, but the epidemic is still spreading around the world, and Fosun's global anti-epidemic actions are continuing. We look forward to such experience sharing activities for everyone, so we can provide practical help and support to each other!"

Conference highlights

Since the COVID-19 pandemic erupted, Fosun has been participating in the domestic and global anti-pandemic efforts, joining hands with other forces to provide assistance worldwide. This conference features China's top health experts from Shanghai, Beijing and Guangdong, including Prof. Zhu Chouwen, Deputy Director of Zhongshan Hospital affiliated to Fudan University and the leader of China's anti-COVID-19 medical team for Hubei Province; Prof. Liu Zhengyin, the Infectious Disease Section of the Department of Internal Medicine, Peking Union Medical College Hospital; Prof. Hu Bijie, Director of Department of Infectious Diseases and Director of Department of Hospital Infection Management at Zhongshan Hospital of Fudan University, a member of China's expert team for COVID-19 treatment, and a member of the Shanghai medical rescue expert group; Prof. Gao Xinglin, Director of Respiratory Medicine Department of the Eastern Ward, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital and Prof. Jia Xiaomin, Chief Physician of Respiratory Medicine at The Second Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University and the leader of Fosun Pharma's anti-COVID-19 medical team supporting Hubei Province; whilst overseas attendees included frontline hospital representatives and healthcare experts from countries and regions, such as the US, the UK, Portugal, India and African countries, who carried out in-depth experience sharing and idea exchanges with team China.

The treatment of severe patients tops as the first common concern to all the overseas hospitals. As the member of first batch among Peking Union Medical College Hospital's national team to help out Wuhan, Prof. Liu Zhengyin is the chief physician of the Department of Infectious Diseases. He, has extensive experience in the treatment of severe diseases. Based on his experience with a 63-year old patient, early clinical diagnosis is key to determine when severe illness has transformed into critical illness. Quick identification plays an important judgmental role in treatment decisions. Prof. Hu Bijie, member of the National and Shanghai COVID-19 Medical Treatment Expert Group and Director of the Infectious Diseases Department of Zhongshan Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University, also touched the same topic when sharing the "Shanghai Experience". He said, we should pay more attention to make sure that minor syndrome and medium-level patients don't develop towards severely ill patients, while critically ill patients should not become fatal ones. Individualized treatments and rigorous follow-ups are the main elements of successful treatment for critically illness. Shanghai has adopted a strategy of centralized treatment yet management of individual patients with customized specifications. The success rate of treatment is very high, with a mortality rate of about 1.2%. He pointed out although there is no special medicine for COVID-19 yet, it is very important to use antiviral drugs correctly to avoid the abuse of hormones and broad-spectrum antibiotics drugs. In the view of the experts at the meeting, the strategy of global prevention and control is inseparable from coordination. The joint efforts should come from several basic elements: discovery of the infection source, cutting off the transmission route, and protection of vulnerable groups.

Sharing experiences: Fosun's global anti-epidemic entered into a new stage

This conference is one of Fosun Pharma's many efforts against the pandemic. At one end, there were Chinese experts well experienced in battling against COVID-19; at the other end was overseas hospitals fighting the pandemic at the front line right now. Zhu Chouwen from Zhongshan Hospital affiliated to Fudan University and the Hubei-supported medical team shared the highlights of his management experience with designated COVID-19 hospitals and opined that social distancing is the most effective measure: the only way to minimise the morbidity rate and maximise the recovery one is insisting on scientific prevention, control and treatment and continuously enhancing treatment plans and methods. Meanwhile, countries around the world should work together to combat the COVID-19 epidemics. This was followed by Dr Laura Robbins, Senior Vice President of Hospital for Special Surgery, New York, who explained the situation of designated COVID-19 hospitals in New York, as well as Prof. Steve Field, former Deputy Medical Director for NHS England; Prof. Prof José Paiva, Director, National Inf Dis Control & Viral Resistance Project, Portugal Ms Isabel Vaz , Chief Executive Officer, Luz Saúde , Portugal, who illustrated the pandemic situations and related prevention and control progress in the UK and Portugal respectively. At present, the global pandemic situation is not positive, with the number of confirmed cases exceeding 330,000 in the US, nearing 50,000 in the UK and topping 10,000 in Portugal; therefore, the conference organised by Fosun Pharma this time offered the world "the right help at the right time".

The treatment of severe cases is one of the issues concerning attendees from overseas hospitals. As the leader of the first national anti-COVID-19 medical team and a professor at the Infectious Disease Section of the Department of Internal Medicine at the Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Liu Zhengyin shared on a specific topic from his experience in treating severely ill patients in the intensive care unit. From the viewpoint of the expert attendees (including Liu Zhengyin), hospitals are the front line of the battle, but as medical workers are fighting the war, we should bear in mind protection of medical staff is, another equally important battle. Since COVID-19 is highly infectious, it is not easy to keep cases infected in hospitals at zero. Prof. Hu Bijie, who once fought the SARS epidemic in 2003, had a particularly deep understanding. Having worked in the anti-infectious field for more than 30 years and rescued numerous patients at the front line, Hu shared the experience of metropolis Shanghai in the fight against COVID-19 and repeatedly stressed the importance of maintaining a sense of defence for medical workers. A veteran with similar experience, Prof. Jia Xiaomin combined his personal experience in treating patients at the Hubei General Hospital Medical and Wuhan Jihe Hospital in common ways to prevent and control COVID-19 infections at hospitals and protect healthcare workers. Speaking of the day when the hospital was removed from the list of designated COVID-19 hospitals, he slightly lamented: "Since the hospital was designated on January 23, we had been fighting for 51 straight days, treating and discharging 515 patients and achieving 0% in the fatality rate and the infection rate for healthcare workers".

Fosun's global assistance never stops

Since the outbreak of novel coronavirus, the global staffs of Fosun has been participating in this battle. On March 1, Fosun officially kick-started the second phase of its battle against COVID-19, where it jointly initiated a global aid action with other caring companies under the guidance of the national foreign aid work framework, and exported medical supplies overseas by urgently allocating global resources. As of March 31, Fosun had allocated resources to multiple hard-hit overseas countries such as Italy, the US, France, Germany, the UK, Portugal, Japan, Korea and India, having various types of health protective materials including a total of 2.523 million face masks, protective gowns and nucleic acid detection reagents delivered.

Currently, Fosun Pharma has been accelerating in its businesses of research and development of diagnostic reagents and vaccines related to COVID-19, which have obtained urgent approval from the National Medical Products Administration and the CE certification respectively, and have been exported as donations or products sold to overseas countries, including South Korea, Portugal, Hungary, Germany and Indonesia. With regards to the vaccine, Fosun Pharma has partnered with BioNTech, the world's leading mRNA therapy company, in COVID-19 vaccine development. In view of the international spread of COVID-19, Fosun's initiated global aid action still continues.

"As a multinational corporation, we hope to contribute our due efforts to helping the world win this battle against COVID-19. We very much care about the health and safety of our overseas staff and customers and will firmly stand with the people of this world against the pandemic. I believe so long as we unit together for collective wisdom and mutual help, we must be able to overcome this obstacle and beat this coronavirus," commented Guo Guangchang, chairman and co-founder of Fosun International.

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