Dr. Sheikha Al Anoud bint Mohamed Al Thani (left), Director, Health Protection and Non-Communicable Diseases Department, Ministry of Public Health, with other experts during a plenary session of International Diabetes Leadership Forum at the Ritz-Carlton
DOHA: Ministry of Public Health is preparing to implement a set of guidelines for diabetic patient care in Qatar, said a senior official yesterday.
The National Guidelines for Diabetic Patient Care will specify different stages and methods of treatment which would help to manage the disease and avoid complications in an effective way, said Dr Sheikha Al Anoud bint Mohamed Al Thani, Director, Health Protection and Non-Communicable Diseases Department, Ministry of Public Health. Guidelines will be implemented prior to the launch of national screening and early detection of diabetes for all adults as part of implementing Qatar National Diabetes Strategy 2016-2022.
The screening programme is supposed to be launched by 2018.
“National Guidelines for Diabetic Patient Care will categorise what types of treatment and medicines can be provided by health centres and secondary care hospitals for diabetes and its complications. It will also mention how patients can take care of themselves, ” said Dr Al Thani speaking on the sidelines of the International Diabetes Leadership Forum. “Guidelines will help in managing diabetics in the country and control the cost of treatment,” she added.
During the two- day International Diabetes Leadership Forum held at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, experts discussed and shared experiences of managing and preventing diabetes.
Experts highlighted practices which could help Qatar implement its National Diabetes Strategy 2016-2022.
Plenary sessions under the theme ‘Qatar National Diabetes Strategy 2016-2022; discussed awareness and prevention; capacity and capability-building; screening and research.
“During the forum we looked at ways to benefit from regional and international experiences and find the best methods to implement prevention, awareness, screening, patient empowerment, capacity-building and research, the main pillars of Qatar National Diabetes Strategy,” said Dr Al Thani.
She said Qatar is looking at the best practices and will adopt the more beneficial and cost-effective method. “For example, to develop a screening programme, we heard about the UAE experience on national screening programme. So we will see how they did, what challenges they faced and how they succeeded. We will avoid their mistakes and take the lessons,” said Dr Al Thani.
“It is important to create awareness to prevent and delay disease progression. We will design tailor-made awareness programmes for different categories of people. We will study the community and how we can deliver the message. Healthcare workers will undergo continuous training before the launch of the national screening project,” said Dr Al Thani.
