Annual Review 2008

The focus of this year’s Annual Review is primary prevention, because prevention projects comprise a key element to slowing the diabetes epidemic. The Annual Review 2008 includes examples of best practices from across the world, showing how simple projects can evolve into sustainable programmes and yield replicable models.

Public announcements through drums and loudspeakers are used to create awareness and raise the noise about diabetes in the Indian village of Inam Agaram.

Primary prevention is key

Health promotion and primary prevention are our most effective weapons in the fight against diabetes and other chronic non-communicable diseases. These efforts do not only have the potential to prevent or delay the onset of type 2 diabetes; they also have a salutary effect on the risk of the other common non-communicable diseases such as obesity, arterial hypertension, cancer, stroke and heart diseases. Therefore, raising awareness of diabetes in an attempt to reduce the burden of the disease and its complications will be an important part of future projects funded by the World Diabetes Foundation.

In an effort to combat and improve control of diabetes in South East-Asia, the World Diabetes Foundation has initiated a number of diverse projects aimed not only to provide access to professional care of diabetes but to also leverage the countries’ health care systems to proactively address the issues around primary prevention:

- A major mass media campaign across India and awareness and primary prevention interventions in Thailand, Bangladesh, Indonesia and China seek to inform about the symptoms of diabetes, build capacity and promote lifestyle changes to prevent the development of the disease.

- In Sub-Saharan Africa, few health care professionals are trained to diagnose or treat diabetes. A regional fellowship programme based in Kenya specialises in paediatric endocrinology and creates a pool of trained local doctors to improve the level of care.

- While not seeking to dilute the Millennium Development Goals, the World Diabetes Foundation strives to bring attention to the area of chronic non-communicable diseases and advocate for their inclusion in the Millennium Development Goals. The specific link between gestational diabetes, development and maternal health makes for a natural inclusion of diabetes in the fifth Millennium Development Goal regarding maternal health. 

- Examples of replicable projects funded by the World Diabetes Foundation in the area of preventable foot care are showcased with stories from rural India, Pakistan and Tonga.

Finally, the Chennai Call for Action formulated at the recent Diabetes Summit for South-East Asia in November 2008, provides yet another platform for the need for urgent action to enhance the efforts for prevention and control of diabetes and related chronic diseases worldwide but even more vigorously in resource constrained low and middle income economies.

We encourage you to download and read the Annual Review 2008.

This page was last updated 2-10-2009 by jrb.wdf