Unified diabetes protocol for Dubai

BY PMA RASHEED
The Gulf Today, 2 Nov 2009

Bringing 100 years of experience in diabetic care to Dubai, the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) will implement a unified diabetes concept and protocol system for the emirate, in cooperation with one of the world's frontline diabetic treatment centres.
The Joslin Diabetes Centre in Boston (JDC) will expand its diabetic management services to Dubai through all the DHA primary healthcare clinics and hospitals to manage and treat diabetes in the emirate.
Reaching out
As per the initiative, diabetes treatment centres across Dubai will cover different areas and reach out to the community, according to a senior DHA official.
"A roadmap will be established in the emirate to tackle this condition, as the UAE has become the world's second largest diabetic prevalent country. The Boston centre will establish a stronger referral system, promote advanced diabetes education and ensure protocols that are followed across the board to treat diabetes," said a DHA spokesperson.
Talks held
A delegation from the DHA, headed by its director general Qadhi Saeed Al Murooshid, met with Dr Kenneth Quickel, President and CEO of the JDC in Boston, to discuss ways to widen the scope of work that the two organisations have jointly undertaken.
Al Murooshid said, "As the DHA is in the process of identifying methods to establish a strong unified system across primary healthcare centres to treat and manage diabetes, the initiative is vital to increase efficiency and detect diabetes in its early stages, before it causes several health complications."
Defining roadmap
According to him, the emirate's primary healthcare centres play a crucial role in achieving this level of competency. So now, the DHA is in the process of defining a roadmap to ensure that we establish common practices of treating diabetes across all DHA hospitals and clinics.
"This will ensure that standardised protocols are followed. We are also looking at building stronger referral systems, establishing a better diabetes database and promoting advanced education in diabetes care and management," he added.
Training
Al Murooshid pointed out, "Training our primary healthcare doctors in diabetes management is a crucial step for us and the DHA strongly emphasises more training initiatives. We also understand the need to reach out to our community and are working to set up clinics across different areas of Dubai that provide diabetes treatment."
"The JDC in Dubai will feature state-of-the-art treatment facilities for patients with diabetes and focuses on prevention, education, lifestyle management and podiatry, as well as early detection of complications for patients aged 18 and older," he explained.
Over 1000 benefit
"Presently, the affiliation with the Harvard affiliated Joslin Diabetes Centre has ensured that over the last five months, since the JDC has opened its doors in Dubai, over 1000 diabetes and pre-diabetics have received top-of-the-line multidisciplinary treatment to tackle their condition," he added.
According to the DHA chief, the JDC centre in Dubai has four US-board certified endocrinologists, seven diabetes educators, a podiatrist, a physiotherapist and a mental health counsellor.