Sheikh Mohamed Al Thani, Director of Qatar's Supreme Council of Health, led a delegation from the 'Action on Diabetes' partnership to Rome and Copenhagen last week. The group, which included Dr Abdullah Al-Hamaq of the Qatar Diabetes Association - part of Qatar Foundation, Dr Mahmoud Zirie of Hamad Medical Corporation, and representatives from Maersk Oil Qatar and world leader in diabetes care Novo Nordisk, visited leading diabetes experts and treatment/education facilities in both Italy and Denmark.
"This was an excellent opportunity for our partnership to learn more about some of the best-practice solutions that support diabetes prevention and patient care" said Sheikh Mohamed, speaking during the visit. "We had a very productive trip - and identified a number of initiatives that we believe can be replicated or adapted for use in Qatar".
Action on Diabetes is a programme initiated by Maersk Oil, designed to help deliver The Emir H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani's vision of a healthy Qatar. It is a partnership between the Supreme Council of Health, the Qatar Diabetes Association, the Hamad Medical Corporation, Maersk Oil in Qatar and Novo Nordisk. The project's aim is to support the Qatari authorities in raising awareness of diabetes, helping those at risk avoid it, and supporting people already living with diabetes manage their health better.
The visit began on Tuesday 6 March, when the 'Action on Diabetes' delegation met with Italian Senator Antonio Tomassini, Chairman of the Health Committee, Senate of the Italian Republic, and Member of the Parliamentary Association for the Protection and Promotion of the Rights to Prevention. The Senator and his team presented information on the Italian national diabetes strategy, 'the Changing Diabetes Barometer Project', as well as a number of registry, indicator and health and nutrition observation tools that are used to track diabetes prevalence and the quality of diabetes patient care in Italy.
The exchange of knowledge and information was followed by a personal tour of the Italian Senate by Senator Tomassini.
On Wednesday, the delegation travelled to the University of Rome Tor Vergata, where they met with the President of the Italian Barometer Diabetes Observatory and member of the Clinical Research Board of the Qatar Foundation, Professor Renato Lauro.
During the meeting, Dr Paola Pisanti from the Italian Ministry of Health provided an overview of the Italian National Diabetes Prevention Plan. Italy has a population of around 60 million people, spread throughout 21 regions, with some 700 centres for the treatment of diabetes. In 2009 close to 5% of the population received diabetes care, and that figure is expected to rise further in the future.
The Italian delegation shared information about a number of successful registry, awareness and education projects, and offered their support and guidance to adapt some of these initiatives for implementation in Qatar.
Next stop: Copenhagen
On Thursday 8 March the delegation visited Copenhagen, Denmark, where they met leading Danish experts in diabetes and visited the Steno Centre - considered one of the world's leading diabetes research and treatment facilities.
Denmark has a population of around 5.5 million, of which some 290,000 people are living with diabetes. In addition, an estimated 245,000 people are thought to have type-2 diabetes, but are unaware that they have the condition. The Danish Diabetes Association (DDA), a private organisation with around 80,000 members and 40 partners, estimates that diabetes will impact up to 600,000 Danes by the year 2025.
The DDA engages regularly with its members and provides social networking forums for people with diabetes - and their family members and friends - to connect with each other. The Association shared a number of good-practice ideas with the 'Action on Diabetes' delegation, some of which could be of value in Qatar.
This was followed by a visit to the world-renowned Steno Centre, where the 'Action on Diabetes' delegation learnt more about the diabetes related research, patient care, health promotion and education activities undertaken by the centre's specialist teams. Again, a number of exciting opportunities were identified for potential future collaboration.
The end of a busy, but productive, week
On Friday, the delegation met with the Vice-Chairman of the World Diabetes Association, Dr. Anil Kapur, who shared information about successful diabetes projects that his organisation has delivered in developing countries around the world. The World Diabetes Association has been active for 10 years, and focuses on prevention and health promotion, early diagnosis and Primary health care, care delivery, and information technology.
Denmark is the home of Maersk Oil, and the visit concluded with a lunch hosted by Maersk Oil's CEO, Mr Jakob Thomasen, and a senor delegation from the Maersk organsiation. Mr Thomasen reiterated Maersk Oil's support for the 'Action on Diabetes' partnership, noting that "Maersk Oil is a long-term partner with the State of Qatar - we are committed to safety and efficiently developing the Al Shaheen field in close partnership with QP, to employing and developing Qatari people, and to delivering value-adding social projects that benefit Qatar's people and support H.H The Emir's strategic vision for the State".
-Ends-
Learn more about the Action on Diabetes Partnership by visiting www.action-on-diabetes.qa
Contact the partnership if you'd like to get involved!
© Press Release 2012
