Fighting diabetes in Mongolia

The substantial amount of fundraising through Novo Nordisk Japan and The Japan Association of Diabetes Education and Care (JADEC) has made it possible to create access to health, and capacity building to treat many patients with diabetes in the outskirts of Mongolia. Its early morning in late January 2005 and the cold winds are blowing harshly in the city of Ulaanbataar. Inside patients are waiting patiently for there turn. In the crowd we find 56 year old Mrs. Lhamgarav Tundev. She is the proud mother of seven children. Six years ago, she was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes at a screening camp in 1990 and started her first treatment at a hospital in the capital of Mongolia, Ulaanbataar which is located 400km from the city of Erdenet where she lives. She feels discomfort, tired and is breathing heavily. Since she was diagnosed with diabetes her ability to work has reduced gradually. Mrs Tundey has visited the clinic on a regularly basis in Ulaanbataar for her treatment, however the transportation fee between Erdenet and Ulaanbataar city cost her family around (14 USD) every time. Her youngest daughter also has type 2 diabetes and with a family income around (60-80 USD) per month, this has placed a heavy economic and social burden on her family. After establishment of the diabetes management centre in Erdenet city, Mrs Tundey and her family has been able to visit the hospital to get their diabetes treatment and education. The awareness and education component which is included in the project helps the family to realize and learn about the risk factors and the chronic complications of the disease. Since the inauguration of the centre in May 2005, Mrs Tundey has started to use insulin under the control of Erdenet diabetes centre. Japanese employees open diabetes clinic in Mongolia The Novo Nordisk employees in Japan have all the reason to be proud. Together with WDF and WHO they are responsible for the opening of a diabetes clinic and an educational program in Mongolia. You may wonder why Japanese employees feel a special need to support people with diabetes in a country as far away as Mongolia. "Japan is part of Asia, and we all know that Asia has more people with diabetes than any other place" says Ms Keiko Ito and Ms. Takako Hoshino, two employees of Novo Nordisk Pharma Ltd. in Japan. Together they decided to collect donations to start up a diabetes clinic in Mongolia. The fundraising activity started in 2003 at a two day seminar held by the company's sales division. Here 600.000 yen were raised, soon followed by more fundraising. As for now the fundraising has been completed and the total amount of 58.500 USD has been raised to establish the new diabetes centre in Erdenet city. Diabetes care in Mongolia Mongolia is undergoing rapid health transition associated with urbanization and changes in nutrition, physical activity and lifestyles. A national survey in 1999 found nearly half of those over 35 had hypertension, and about 3% had diabetes. Mortality from cardiovascular disease has doubled in the last 10 years. The established diabetes centre in Erdenet city has been working with a team of highly skilled specialists and endocrinologist. “We hope the implementation of this community based diabetes education and traning programme becomes a sustainable role model for diabetes care and traning. We need to increase the knowledge of diabetes for both patients and health care professionals in order to improve diabetes care in Mongolia on the individual and community level. In November 2005 the Ministry of Health approved the Prevention Programme for Non communicable  diseases (NCD) including diabetes, hypertension, and cancer. We strongly believe this has affected the approval of this project and it would be a chance to enhance the project further to a national NCD centre ”, says Dr Altaisaikhan who is the Dean of School of Medicine at the Health Sciences University of Mongolia and is the project -coordinator on a volunteer basis. Ensuring sustanibility and visible results The project has developed guidelines for patients and health professionals and Curriculum of diabetes education. In the first six months after the establisment of the clinic, a diabetes screening was conducted for a total of 2388 visitors. 104 out of the 2388 people has been identified and diagnosed with diabetes. Apoximately 90 of them were Type 2 patients. “During the implementation of this project we have built exellent partnerships amoung International and local organizations such as WHO, IDF, WDF, Ministry of Health in Mogolia and JADEC. We sincerely hope these partnerships will ensure guidance and sustanibility to move the NCD programme forward ”, explains Dr Altaisaikhan. “With the support from the WDF, the WHO (World Health Organization) has made the prevention and control of non-communicable disease a priority in Mongolia. Together as partners we will put together a plan for educating 200 doctors, who will pass on the knowledge to nurses and patients in Mongolia. We believe this outstanding fundraising activity from Novo Nordisk employees in Japan shows the importance of corporate social responsibility, which aims to help others do more. With the catalyst role of the WDF we will ensure the principle of sustanibility and expertise for the benefit of the population of Mongolia”, elaborates Leif Fenger Jensen, Vice Chairman of the WDF. According to IDF the diabetes prevelence rate in Mongolia is expected to double from 20.000 to 46.000 people in the next 20 years to come.