61% of diabetics in the UAE's suffer from kidney disorders

The First International Diabetes Course focused on the first lines of defense against diabetes by providing health care physicians with information, expertise and skills necessary to reduce the burden of diabetes, DHA official.

BY PMA RASHEED

The Gulf Today, 5 March 2010

THE Dubai Health Authority (DHA) focuses on strategies to tackle the highest prevalence of diabetes in the UAE, using a multidisciplinary approach by training the physicians at the primary healthcare centres.

DHA is focusing on a two-fold strategy of conducting a massive house-hold screening survey, in addition to training the doctors at primary health care centres.

About 24 per cent of the UAE nationals are suffering from diabetes, making it the second most affected country in the world after Nauru. And about 61 per cent of the UAE's diabetes patients are suffering from kidney disorders, said health officials on Thursday.

This was revealed on the occasion of announcing the accreditation of about 200 Dubai doctors trained with an international diabetes care and management course from the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE).

The First International Diabetes Course in the emirates that has been delivered outside the USA was supported by the UAE Ministry of Health (MoH) as part of the efforts of the DHA to promote the best guidance and treatment for diabetes patients.

As the highest level of diabetes prevalence becomes one of the biggest health challenges faced by the UAE, the emirate of Dubai targets to exceed the international standards in diabetic care through its primary heath centres, according to a senior DHA official.

Dr Ahmad Ibrahim Saif Kalban, CEO of the Primary Health Sector (PHC) at DHA, said that the education programme has been organised to support the knowledge and understanding of the participating, well-trained physicians who will run the diabetic mini clinic in primary health care.

"The training programme, in collaboration with AACE and GSK, aimed at achieving DHA's objectives to spread awareness of the importance of early detection and management of treatment in the UAE," he added.

Dr Abdulrazzak Ali Almadani, CEO of Dubai Hospital, said that DHA aims to provide continuous medical education for physicians in all disciplines in order to improve the development of doctors and the medical profession, in both public and private sectors.

"The course will strengthen DHA's strategic partnerships with various medical institutions at the global level, spreading best therapeutic practices for patients with diabetes and their application in various clinics and centres of the health authority," he explained.

Dr Mohammed Fargali, head of Diabetic Scientific Group in PHC, said the auditing performance indicator for the processes and outcomes of diabetic patients care will improve the results in PHC's diabetic mini clinic patient care.

"It will also reflect the great improvement and updated knowledge and skills of the health care provider," he added.

"They also focus on the training of doctors and specialists involved in caring for patients with diabetes, in light of the increasing prevalence of this disease at the national level, which ranks second globally, in terms of incidence of the disease," he said.

"The door-to-door study will gauge the average percentage of people in Dubai with diabetes as well as a targeted awareness programme that will reach out to school children to educate them about the importance of healthy eating and exercise," said Heba Al Shaar, director of Institutional Marketing and Communications and committee-member of the DHA's diabetes screening and awareness programme.

Dr Kalban said the negative impacts of behaviour, poor dietary habits and lack of exercise of the UAE residents have been attributed to highest diabetes prevalence in the country. The DHA's responsibility to address the causes and identify the latest methods and practices will only prevent the development of diabetes in future.

"The course focused on the first lines of defense against diabetes through the training of primary health care physicians, providing them with information, expertise and skills necessary to reduce the burden of diabetes," he pointed out.

According to Dr Nahed Monsef, director of health affairs department at DHA, updating the knowledge and skills of doctors will reflect positively on quality of care on key performance indicators related to diabetes management in primary health care.

"Patient care in the diabetic mini clinic exceeds international standards in some of our health centres," she added. "The provision of international standards of care to diabetic patients and the extension of the training programmes to all the PHC physicians is a key strategic move for the DHA."

Dr Osama Hamdy, the course director and assistant professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, said that the training programme has been divided into five core modules and delivered over six months.

"The programme addressed a broad spectrum of diabetes-related issues such as obesity, the prevention of type-2 diabetes, management of cardiovascular risk and hypertension in patients with diabetes as well as numerous diabetic diseases," he added.