Health Ministry launches project on diabetes care

The Ministry of Health has launched a project to offer specialist training to selected healthcare professionals on diabetes care as part of efforts to control the disease burden  in the country.

The project is being implemented in partnership with a French pharmaceutical multinational, Sanofi, under a flagship programme known as “Access to diabetes care programme for Ghana patients”.

As part of the project which was launched and started in Accra yesterday, there would be a continuous medical education for 80 doctors and 170 nurses, dieticians and educators primarily serving people with diabetes.

The programme under which the project is being implemented is focused on diabetes prevention, diagnostics and care delivery to remote patients, training, affordable access to high quality insulin and health promotion.

In a memorandum of understanding (MoU) which was signed in April this year, the country will also be able to purchase affordable high-quality Sanofi analogue insulin products for people living with diabetes.

The partnership also provides for the deployment of diabetes management solutions at diabetes centres in Accra, Sunyani and Tamale where 500 healthcare professionals would benefit from a targeted medical training programme.

In addition, Sanofi will co-develop a digital solution to help physicians, nurses, pharmacists and community healthcare workers to better support more than 5,000 people living with diabetes.

The training project is taking place in four facilities in the Greater Accra, Bono and Northern regions.

Scope of training

The physicians will follow a three-month medical course related to insulin therapy, as well as a digital solution -discase, that will support follow-ups for at least 5,000 patients living with diabetes.

The 170 nurses, dieticians and educators primarily serving people with diabetes will also follow training sessions of the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) school of diabetes to enhance core skills and competencies to effectively educate people with diabetes, promote healthy lifestyles and effective self-management for optimal diabetes control.

The Director of Technical Coordination at the MoH, Dr Baffour Awuah, who launched the report, said the initiative was aimed at strengthening delivery of the country’s non-communicable diseases policy.

“Sanofi is strengthening its long-standing commitment to improving access to diabetes care in low-and middle-income countries and underserved communities worldwide through a series of innovative partnerships with healthcare authorities in countries where comprehensive care has not previously been widely available,” he said.

Human resource

The Director of the National Diabetes Management and Research Centre (NDMRC) and a senior lecturer at the University of Ghana Medical School, Dr Yacoba Atiase, said although the country had six per cent diabetes prevalence rate, it did not have enough human resource to make treatment accessible.

She said there were only 30 doctors with specialist training in diabetes care in the country.

The director added that capacity-building was very critical because care and logistics were evolving by the day and, therefore, health professionals needed to be up to speed with the evolution for better healthcare outcomes.

doreen.andoh@graphic.com.gh