United Arab Emirates, Dubai, February 14, 2012: The Dubai Health Authority has achieved better rates in controlling sugar levels in patients with diabetes as compared to the global average, said a top DHA official.
Dr Ahmed Kalban, CEO of Primary Healthcare at the DHA said, “The 2011 statistics show that the DHA has achieved positive results in its fight against diabetes, as the percentage of patients who were able to control their blood sugar is 44 per cent as compared to the global average of 37 per cent and the percentage of DHA patients who are unable to control their blood sugar levels is11 per cent as compared to the global average of 18 per cent.
Dr Kalban highlighted this during a recent scientific gathering of experts to discuss the prevalence and treatment methods for diabetes in the region.
Dr Kalban highlighted that since 2005, the DHA has been training primary healthcare physicians in diabetes care and management and the training programs are in line with international benchmarks. “ Primary healthcare physicians are the first point of contact for patients and therefore enhancing our PHC’s in terms of diabetes care and management has helped us achieve this success.
“While we are pleased with these results, there is a need for continuing the same momentum in terms of our efforts to tackle diabetes. This year, the DHA will carry out a campaign to reach out to 70,000 government employees in Dubai. We will visit these institutions and provide counselling for both diabetics and pre-diabetics.
“Early intervention is key to controlling several deliberating diabetes-related complications such as cardiovascular disease, renal disease, blindness, stroke, foot disease which can lead to amputations.”
Dr Mohamed Farghaly, Head of Acute and Chronic care, Primary Health Care Sector at the DHA, seconded this opinion. "While it is important to identify those with diabetes early on, it is equally important to identify pre-diabetics because it is possible to delay or even prevent the onset of diabetes in such patients. Major global studies have indicated that if a pre-diabetic person exercises for 150 minutes a week and looses 7 to 10% of his body weight, he or she increases his changes of not developing diabetes by 58%. Therefore, we emphasise that timely and early intervention is the key to tackle this disease.”
Dr Fargali said that medical teams will begin visiting the headquarters of all Government authorities and will conduct blood tests to reveal whether the person has diabetes, high cholesterol and obesity. “Over the years, our screening programs have revealed that there are several people who are unaware that they have diabetes and are not doing anything to control their sugar levels. This is a dangerous situation and therefore screening programs are vital to tackle diabetes.”
Dr Kalban added that while the UAE has recently moved from being the 2nd to the 10th highest country in the world in terms of diabetes prevalence, there is still need for continued efforts to combat diabetes.