Diabetes is a rapidly growing health concern in Sudan, with a significant impact on the population, affecting individuals across various socio-economic classes. Sudan, the largest country in Africa, with over 35 million inhabitants, has the highest incidence of diabetes among non-communicable diseases. In the age group of 20-79, it's estimated that 607,000 people have diabetes, a number that's projected to exceed 1.1 million by 2025. Diabetes is the leading cause of mortality among non-communicable diseases, accounting for 10% of hospital deaths.This project aims to prevent complications associated with diabetes, ultimately reducing the cost of diabetes care in the Northern State of Sudan.
Key partners in this project include the Ministry of Health in the Northern State, Sudan Telecommunication Corporation, and Mulazmin Diabetes Centre.The project aims to enhance diabetes healthcare in the Northern State, where diabetes is highly prevalent, and healthcare facilities and personnel are limited. Building upon the infrastructure and clinics established through WDF03-061, this project will collaborate with these existing structures and the Diabetes Care Promotion project (Sudan WDF06-181).The existing Diabetes Unit (DU) in the Northern State, located in Dongla City, will be upgraded to a tertiary referral diabetes centre. This centre will cooperate with three satellite diabetes units (SDUs) established in this project.The SDUs will be specialized referral clinics in primary healthcare centres where Diabetes Mini Clinics were previously established under WDF03-061. These SDUs will be connected to the Dongla DU through regular visits from a mobile clinic staffed by a specialized medical team, including internists and ophthalmologists.The mobile clinic, functioning as secondary healthcare, will focus on foot and eye care and will be equipped with clinical examination kits, an ECG machine, retinal screening facilities, foot care tools, and laboratory equipment for biochemical analyses. A laboratory technician will be responsible for these biochemical analyses.Access to essential diabetes treatment drugs will be facilitated through a revolving fund managed by the Northern State Ministry of Health.Through four training programs, diabetes practitioners and educators will be trained to manage the SDUs. This training includes diabetes management, clinical attachments at a diabetes centre, and on-the-job training, where each practitioner and educator will work with the diabetes team of the mobile clinic during its regular visits to the SDUs.Ultimately, diabetes units, independent of the mobile clinics, will replace the SDUs after the project. The mobile clinic will then be relocated to the River Nile State to initiate similar activities.
- Created access to diabetes care through establishment of a diabetes center in Dongla city and three satellite diabetes units (SDUs) to function as specialised referral clinics ithat are connected to the diabetes center by a mobile clinic in which a specialized medical team composed of internists and ophthalmologists commute in regular intervals. - 34 health care professionals were trained in diabetes education and management. -15 000 people with diabetes have access to better diabetes care.