KARACHI: Director Health Department Sindh, Akram Sultan has said that Sindh government is determined to make the province amputation free and Azra Pecheou, the provincial minister for health is doing every bid in this direction. Nadep is doing great job by working on diabetes education and on government level our department would appoint more diabetes educators to create awareness. This was stated by him while inaugurating a two-day International Foot Conference, being organized by the National Association of Diabetes Educators of Pakistan (NADEP) in collaboration with Baqai Institute of Diabetology and Endocrinology (BIDE) and other partners at a local hotel here.
The conference is being organised after a gap of two years owing to pandemic. A large number of leading experts, diabetologists and endocrinologists will share their experiences in managing and treatment of diabetic foot ulcers and prevention of lower-limb amputation through research papers and workshop exercises.
Akram Sultan emphasized that even school children should be given awareness session on importance of healthy life style and nutrient diet along with highlighting the hazards of developing diabetes. “Ophthalmologists should be taken on board along with the foot ulcers, since retinal damage is also one of the risk owing to complication of diabetes”, asserted Director
Addressing at the inauguration ceremony, Dr Abdul Basit, Director BIDE says, “There are around 20 million people living with diabetes in Pakistan as per last data given by International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and this number would surly escalate in new data figure which would be released this mid of November, 2021. Today our ratio of diabetic patient is 1:4, that is in every 4 persons, one is diabetic, whereas in other region like Africa and Central Asia its 1:6 and in other developed world it is 1:10. If we will not give this disease a serious consideration as we do to Cancer now, it would be 1:2 in next 5 years. One to two million develop diabetic foot ulcers, which is a serious complication of the type 2 diabetes. Of them, 10 percent face amputations of lower limbs annually in Pakistan”.
Dr Abdul Basit has also served as the President of International Diabetes Federation (IDF) for Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region highlighted that each year thousands of people lose their legs, feet or parts of their lower limbs due to diabetic foot ulcers in Pakistan but with better care, timely intervention and treatment as well as education and awareness, thousands of amputations can be prevented. For last several years, Nadep has trained hundreds of doctors, general practitioners and nurses to help people in preventing diabetic foot ulcers. However, there was great need to develop basic public health initiatives, where steps have to be taken to provide primary diabetic health care in remote areas. That is the reason, this year NADEP theme was “ACCESS TO CARE”.
President of National Association of Diabetes Educators of Pakistan (NADEP) Dr. Saif-ul-Haq in his welcome speech said that from 7th to 14th November is being celebrated as Diabetes Foot Awareness week. “Our aim through this conference is to devise a strategy to decrease number of amputation where it is easily avoidable and to at least bring a patient to primary care centres, there is an urgent need to spread awareness among healthcare professionals and mass people so that diabetic foot ulcers and other complications of the diabetes could be prevented in Pakistan”.
Dr Zahid Miyan, organizing secretary of the NADEP Diabetes Foot Con 2020 said that due to COVID-19 restrictions, we were not able to assemble together and we could not work on our collective goal in a desired manner. A diabetes educator (DE) can complete a one-year course and become a qualified DE. However, they did not get the place and respect, which they deserve. In this conference we would highlight the issues of diabetic patients.
National Association of Diabetes Educator Pakistan is an Association of diabetes educators, Dietitians, other health care professionals and those who have keen interest towards diabetes care. The aim of NADEP is to provide, facilitate and promote education for the prevention and management of diabetes and related disorders. Diabetes education has only recently been acknowledged as a key component of diabetes management, although diabetes education predates the discovery of insulin in 1921.
After years of experience and evidence-based research, there is growing acknowledgment that diabetes education is more than simply teaching patients with diabetes what to and what not to do in daily life. Diabetes educators in developed countries like Pakistan began to undertake key aspects of insulin dose adjustment, dietary modification and screening for complications, setting the scene for the roles of the advanced practice nurse and nurse practitioner.