SHARE Program Launched to Address the Challenges of Achieving Blood Pressure Goal

Munich (ots/PRNewswire) -

- Investigating the Real Burden of Hypertension, Addressing the
Challenges of Getting to Blood Pressure Goal and SHARE(ing) the
Knowledge (http://www.SHARE-hypertension.com)

The SHARE steering committee announce the launch of Supporting
Hypertension Awareness & Research Europe-wide (SHARE) program on
World Hypertension Day 2009 (17th May). SHARE is a collaborative
program of top European physicians supported by Daiichi Sankyo Europe
to quantify and qualify the real burden of hypertension in Europe;
achieved through a pan-European interactive physician survey
(http://www.SHARE-hypertension.com) and a series of knowledge sharing
meetings across Europe. The goal is to utilise this information to
propose the right combination of simple and effective solutions to
overcome the challenges of getting to blood pressure goal.

To view the Multimedia News Release, please click:

http://www.prnewswire.com/mnr/hhealth/38360/

Why do we need SHARE (http://www.SHARE-hypertension.com) because
worldwide, hypertension is present in almost 1 in 3 of the adult
population, affecting as many as one billion people(1). The crippling
effects of high blood pressure account for the loss of 92 million
life years and 7.6 million premature deaths(1). The situation in
Europe is even more critical with 35% of deaths and almost 1 in 5 of
all disability adjusted life years (DALYs) being attributed to the
long-term effects of hypertension(2), with an annual cardiovascular
health bill of 192b Euros(3).

Prof Stéphane Laurent, European Hospital Georges Pompidou Paris,
program co-chair, states, "The SHARE program is an excellent example
of what can be done, as an interactive internet approach, to better
understand how physicians implement guidelines in clinical practice,
and how they manage their "challenging" patients according to several
variables, including age, specialty, and economic aspects in their
country. The results of this survey should help us to better focus
our training programs and recommendations on the most effective ways
to improve cardiovascular disease prevention."

SHARE will deliver the information needed to address the
challenges of getting to blood pressure goal, so that simple
effective solutions can be defined to help the majority of these
Challenging Patients reach recommended blood pressure goals and avoid
the devastating effects of hypertension driven cardiovascular
disease.

World Hypertension Day provides a perfect platform to release
details of SHARE because this day crystallizes the efforts in driving
awareness of hypertension and highlights the challenges of blood
pressure reduction and the harsh consequences of suboptimal control.

Background to SHARE

A White Paper published in the Journal of Hypertension(4)
identified a number of challenges that prohibit hypertensive patients
from achieving blood pressure goal; the net result being that
physicians struggle to control blood pressure in > two thirds of
hypertensive patients in Europe(5). Many physicians settle for close
to goal as an acceptable compromise with Challenging Patients, but
studies have demonstrated that close to goal is not enough as
patients are still exposed to increased risk of hypertension induced
disability and death(6).

The SHARE Program

To address the challenges of achieving blood pressure goal,
programs of activities throughout 2009 and 2010 have been developed
to encourage the SHARE(ing) of best practice in hypertension. These
activities will provide an arena for hypertension specialists from
across Europe to collectively develop solutions for their local
healthcare challenges, and to present the right combination for the
majority of Challenging Patients to successfully achieve blood
pressure goal.

The SHARE program will comprise two key elements:
- SHARE European Hypertension Survey, created by a European
steering committee of experts in the field of hypertension treatment,
to quantify and qualify the key challenges of getting hypertensive
patients to blood pressure goal, defining the real burden of
hypertension.
a) The survey consists of approximately 40 questions and will
take participants 10-15 minutes to complete (
http://www.SHARE-hypertension.com)
b) The survey will be open to all European healthcare
professionals involved in the treatment of patients diagnosed with
essential hypertension (http://www.SHARE-hypertension.com).
- SHARE meeting series to debate the challenges of getting to blood
pressure goal and to postulate simple and effective solutions, which
will be communicated to the healthcare community, creating the right
combination for blood pressure control.

These two elements are interlinked to facilitate SHARE(ing) of
best practice and simple, practical solutions. The outputs of the
SHARE program are robust peer reviewed publications providing: (1) an
overview of key European findings and solutions; (2) reviews of local
variations and country best practices; and (3) a set of simple and
effective recommendations for use by all European physicians so they
can use the right combination to overcome the hurdles which have
stopped their Challenging Patients getting to blood pressure goal.

To access the SHARE Survey, please visit:
http://www.SHARE-hypertension.com

For more information on SHARE and The Challenging Patient,
please visit:

http://www.sevikar.com and http://www.challengingpatient.com

References

1. WHO. The world health report 2002

2. Lawes CM, Vander Hoorn S, Rodgers A. Lancet
2008;371(9623):1513-8.

3. Allender et al. European Heart Network 2008

4. Redon etal. 2008 J Hypertens 26(12):S1-S14

5. ESH Scientific Newsletter 2007;8:No 3,
http://www.eshonline.org/education/newsletter/2007_03.pdf

6. Neal et al Lancet 2000;356:1955-64, Prospective Studies
Collaboration. Lancet 2002;360:1903-13

About DAIICHI SANKYO

DAIICHI SANKYO is a global pharmaceutical company that focuses on
researching and marketing innovative medications. The company was
created in 2005 through the merger of two traditional Japanese
enterprises, Daiichi and Sankyo. With net sales of more than 5.9
billion EUR in fiscal year 2008, DAIICHI SANKYO is one of the world's
20 leading pharmaceutical companies. The company's world headquarters
is in Tokyo, and its European base is located in Munich. DAIICHI
SANKYO has affiliates in 12 European countries and has been one of
the strongest Japanese pharmaceutical companies located in Europe
since it set up European production facilities and marketing offices
in 1990. The company's research activities focus on the areas of:
cardiovascular diseases, hematology, diabetes, anti-infectives and
cancer. Its aim is to develop medications that are "best" in their
class or to create new classes of pharmaceutical drugs. For more
information, please visit: http://www.daiichi-sankyo.eu

Forward-looking statements

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information about future developments in the sector, and the legal
and business conditions of DAIICHI SANKYO EUROPE GmbH. Such
forward-looking statements are uncertain and are subject at all times
to the risks of change, particularly to the usual risks faced by a
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hold true as of the date of publication. They do not represent any
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forward-looking statements about future developments of the sector,
legal and business conditions and the company.

ots Originaltext: DAIICHI SANKYO EUROPE GmbH and SHARE
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de

Contact:
MEDIA CONTACT: Medical: Joris Versteden, Vice Director Medical and
Scientific Affairs, Phone +49(0)89-78-08-497,
joris.versteden@daiichi-sankyo.eu; Communications: Dr. Michaela
Paudler-Debus, Head of Product PR Europe, Phone +49(0)89-78-08-685,
michaela.paudler-debus@daiichi-sankyo.eu