CNA-Q marks World Diabetes Day with symposium, exhibition

The College of the North Atlantic – Qatar (CNA-Q) under the patronage of the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), on Sunday organised several activities to mark the World Diabetes Day.A symposium titled, 'Access to Diabetes Care, 100 Years of Insulin: Celebrating a Legacy' discussed the scenario of diabetes in Qatar, the region and beyond.Dr Hamad Eid al-Romaihi, manager of Health Protection and Communicable Disease Control, MoPH; Prof Andrew Boulton, president of International Diabetes Federation; Dr Salem Al-Naemi, president, CNA-Q; Prof Abdul Badi Abou Samra, co–chair of Qatar National Diabetes Committee, MoPH, chief quality officer and director of Qatar Metabolic Institute, Hamad Medical Corporation ( HMC); Prof Shahrad Taheri, director of the National Obesity Centre, HMC and chair of the Research Sub-Committee of the National Diabetes Strategy; Dr Akin Aksekili, vice president and general manager of Novo Nordisk, were among the officials who attended.Speaking at the ceremony, Dr Al-Naemi said: “One of the fundamental components of diabetes care is access to education and psychological support. People living with diabetes need ongoing education to manage their condition. To that end, CNA-Q has been working relentlessly with many partners, and particularly HMC through 'The fundamentals of diabetes education' programme, to raise awareness about diabetes and equip healthcare professionals with skills to empower patients to self-manage their condition on the long term.” "Diabetes is a growing health problem of our times. It creates a significant burden on individuals, the entire healthcare systems and the national governments. In the Gulf, we are facing high prevalence of the disease and Qatar’s prevalence of the disease is estimated to be about 17%. Obesity and life style changes are the major issues of the disease leading to severe complications and other diseases,” said al-Romaihi.Prof Abou-Samra, highlighted that one of the challenges was the insufficiency of educators in the system to support physicians and educate patients, as well the lack of diabetes-specific education programmes.“Pillar 4 “Human Capability and Capacity Building” of the National Diabetes Strategy strives to accentuate the need to identify -local- national level approaches to address the shortages in this culturally sensitive profession.The partnership of HMC with CNA-Q for the development of 'The fundamentals of diabetes education programme' has been a response to this need.Qatar Metabolic Institute sponsors, yearly, about 20 healthcare professionals from different backgrounds and stakeholder organisations to the programme.Going forward, the National Diabetes Committee aims to further enrich training education opportunities related to diabetes for healthcare professionals and people with diabetes, he said.Dr Aksekili said: “The number of people living with diabetes is increasing rapidly, although today we have more knowledge than ever about how to prevent and treat diabetes. More than 537mn people suffer from diabetes, the number of people living with diabetes has quadrupled since 1980, and this number is expected to rise to 784mn by 2045.”An exhibition held on the occasion, included educational institutions and health organisations to highlight the necessity to improve access to diabetes care and the important role diabetes healthcare professionals play in patient education.