Drug major Merck has joined hands with Maharashtra University and University of Indonesia to offer clinical diabetes management programme in India and the South East Asian nation.
Under the programme, more than 5,000 medical and pharmacy students of both universities will participate in the company's capacity advancement programme (CAP) in Asia.
Merck Vice Chairman and Deputy CEO Stefan Oschmann said: "We're excited about this partnership as it allows us to launch our Capacity Advancement Program in India and Indonesia and help provide sustainable access to quality health solutions and medicines in the countries."
It marks another step in the company's commitment to working with governments and other stakeholders in building healthcare capacity with a focus on non-communicable diseases in various countries in Asia-Pacific, Middle East Africa and Latin America, he added.
The 5 year-programme has been developed by Excellence in Medical Education and is accredited by the European Accreditation Council of Continuous Medical Education (EACCME). The course will be taught by European and local diabetes and thyroid experts.
Maharashtra University of Health Science Vice Chancellor Arun Jamkar said the diabetes education course aimed to provide guidelines and clinical practice for prevention, diagnosis and management of diabetes and its complications for medical undergraduates of the 18 medical colleges under Maharashtra University.
Merck said it is planning to target more than 15,000 students by the end of 2018 expanding to more universities in the developing countries.
