Clínica Especializada de Diabetes Iztapalapa

Objectives

Health care provider working in a WDF-funded diistrict level diabetes programme in Itzapalapa district, Mexico City
Over the last fifteen years, the mortality rate due to diabetes in Mexico has doubled and continues to rise. A staggering 60% of the population is overweight or obese.

With a population of 9 million people, Mexico City is one of the three largest cities in the world, and 12 % of its residents are diagnosed with diabetes.

In the Mexico City district of Itzapalapa, home to 1,8 million,180,000 new diabetes cases are diagnosed each year and diabetes is the main cause of death, followed by heart disease as a close second.

Diabetes has been promptly confronted by the Health Services of Mexico City. Nevertheless, not all efforts put forth have been able to reverse the negative trend, and the diabetes incidence rate continues to rise.

Objectives

The goal is to implement a city district level diabetes programme in Itzapalapa district, Mexico City through establishing a specialised clinic and training facility, and through capacity building at primary level.

Approach

The project targets the most vulnerable part of the population, those without health insurance, typically low resource families, single mothers, people working informally, micro-merchants and the elderly. This project’s activities essentially represent their only hope for detecting and/or treating diabetes and its complications.

To achieve the intended goals, the project will establish a specialised diabetes clinic and training facility within already prepared buildings, and provide various basic and advanced medical/laboratory equipment, and office/teaching facility equipment. A referral/back-referral system between the specialised clinic and the 26 involved primary level centres is also established.

Health care professionals at the specialised clinic and at 26 primary level centres are trained through roll out and institutionalisation of very comprehensive, differentiated diabetes courses, including a course designed for community health workers and for patients and families.

As the project aims to generate a new health culture among the population, it will roll awareness and screening campaigns out in the 26 targeted primary level centres across the district. Engagement at school level and household visits are among the activities, and a mobile diabetes care unit is deployed to provide diagnosis and care in the patients’ own homes.

A comprehensive monitoring and evaluation framework will be implemented to evaluate and control the activities.

Expected results

Approximately 500 HCPs of different categories trained
Approximately 1,000 HCPs from neighbouring districts trained
Improved, differentiated diabetes care established at one specialised centre and at 26 primary level centres
8,000 known respectively 56,000 newly detected cases to be provided care
9,000 newly detected cases referred to the new specialised clinic
1100 home visits made by mobile unit