Nestle seals joint venture to improve nutrition among Chinese stroke patients
The two groups will work on exploring ways on improve screening, diagnosis and management of dysphagia (swallowing difficulties) amongst stroke patients.
In China, there are about 2.5million new stroke patients every year, of which about 30-65% suffer from dysphagia.
As part of the collaboration, Nestle Health Science will launch its Thicken Up product in 25 hospitals in provinces and municipalities in China.
Nestle said Thicken Up is a thickening agent that enables tailored texture modification of food and liquids to help patients overcome swallowing difficulty.
The company has also launched an ‘Easy Eating’ hotline for non-hospitalised patients to help them cope at home.
"We are actively developing innovative nutritional therapies for conditions like dysphagia with the goal of improving patients’ quality of life,” said Greg Behar, CEO of Nestlé Health Science.
“China is a very important part of this intention and we are delighted to serve the market in China, its healthcare system and its people.”
Zhang Zhuo, secretary-general of the Chinese Stroke Association, added: “While strengthening the development of easy access channels for stroke to actively rescue patients, we should pay more attention to addressing the management of stroke complications, amongst which dysphagia is an important one.”