The Ministry of Health and Prevention, MoHAP, has launched the “Drive in” awareness-raising initiative which aims to improve the quality of life of diabetics and their coexistence with the disease. In the same vein, the ministry has launched the “Diabetes Prevention Program” to provide education and training on diabetes-related healthy habits.

The two initiatives come in conjunction with World Diabetes Day, observed on 14 November, under the theme “The role of nursing staff in supporting diabetes”, where the nursing staff represents more than half of the global health workforce and they make great efforts in supporting patients with diabetes.

Empowerment of patients

His Excellency Dr. Hussein Abdel Rahman Al-Rand, Undersecretary of the Ministry’s Health Assistant Sector, Health Centers and Clinics, said: “The two initiatives come as part of MoHAP’s efforts to provide innovative preventive and therapeutic services within the programs of developing the national strategy to combat non-communicable diseases and in line with the national agenda to reduce diabetes rate in the country and to highlight the effective role of the nursing staff in caring for patients and enabling them to control diabetes, reduce its complications and limit its spread.”

Innovative health services

“The Ministry of Health is committed to educating patients about the nature of diabetes and its treatment management, as well as how to do self-care to reduce the negative consequences of the disease on the individuals and society, at the health, social, and economic levels.”

Al-Rand added: “MoHAP, early last year, has launched the “Actiste” service, the world’s first service for monitoring and treating diabetes patients remotely, in line with the directives of the government to incorporate AI by 100% into health services.”

He went on to say: “In 2017, MoHAP has developed non-communicable disease clinics and have integrated them into the primary health care centers to deliver high-quality services for diabetic patients through multidisciplinary teams, in accordance with the updated national scientific evidence and international standards. This is in addition to launching a smart app to follow up on diabetics and prediabetes patients and to elevate their awareness about healthy lifestyles and maintenance of blood glucose levels.”

Two-phase program

Dr. Fadila Mohamed Sherif, Director of MoHAP’s Health Education & Promotion Department, said: “The program aims to enhance awareness of the importance of prevention by increasing participants' awareness of diabetes and helping them reduce at least 5% of their weight.”

“The two-phase program is centered on the visitors to the primary health care centers, where the lab test results have found that they are in the adult prediabetes stage. The first phase includes virtual awareness-raising workshops, while the second phase will be focusing on following up on the health status of the participants in the program to ensure quality,” she added.

Dr. Sumaya Al Balushi, Director of Nursing Department, said: “Through the e-clinic nurse education service, about 80 individual educational sessions were provided by specialized nurses for diabetes patients, who were referred by their attending physicians to create individual plans for each patient to improve the quality of life and enhance healthy practices.”

Community initiative

“We’re glad to collaborate with the Ministry of Health in launching the “Drive in” initiative to improve the quality of life of patients with diabetes and provide them with a full-fledged treatment journey, in cooperation with healthcare professionals and health authorities,” said Mads Larsen, Vice-President and General Manager, Novo Nordisk Pharma Gulf.