Al Ain Hospital Launches its Diabetes Awareness Program

Al Ain Hospital is organizing a Diabetes Awareness campaign during the month of November in support of World Diabetes Day the theme of which is Diabetes: Education and Prevention.

Based on the latest World Health Organization (WHO) information, the United Arab Emirates comes second place in the world with the highest prevalence of Diabetes Mellitus – about 24%, which means that for every 5 adults (age 20 – 79) there is one with diabetes. The only other country with a higher rate is the tiny island nation of Nauru in the Western Pacific.

Commenting on the Diabetes Awareness campaign, Mr. George Jepson, Chief Executive Officer of Al Ain Hospital has stated that “Al Ain Hospital together with other SEHA facilities throughout Abu Dhabi, supports ongoing health promotion campaigns that raise awareness about diseases such as diabetes and plays an active role in the community through promoting health education to the public”.

The main objective of the Diabetes Awareness campaign is to identify diabetic risk factors at an early stage, which is essential in preventing the onset of the disease. Complications of diabetes can include conditions affecting:

The heart
The eyes
The feet
The kidneys.

The Al Ain Hospital Diabetes Awareness campaign is also focusing on raising awareness of the increasing prevalence of all types of diabetes (type 1 and type 2) within the community. This includes highlighting the risk factors associated with it such as:

Patients with higher blood glucose levels than normal may have pre-diabetes and are at risk of developing the disease within 5 to 10 years.

Diabetes is also one of the most common chronic diseases of childhood. It can affect children at any age, including pre-school children and even toddlers.

Yet diabetes in children is often diagnosed late and only picked up when the child has diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) and present at the hospital emergency room, or it is misdiagnosed completely.

Al Ain Hospital’s have organized several activities to address these concerns during November:

Activities

Al-Ain hospital installed stands in different locations to help educate the public about diabetes, how to manage it and how to prevent it.

Free screening during GCC youth rugby champion-ship that was held in Al-Ain rugby club, Free screening in Higher college of technology Al Ain.

These stands are manned by nurses who take blood samples from the patient and give them test results on the spot. If a person has a high blood glucose level, the nurses will refer the patient to Al Ain Hospital Diabetes Centre.

“Our objective is to raise awareness of diabetes and its complications throughout the community and encourage early diagnosis. Al Ain Hospital Diabetes Center’s multidisciplinary program treats patients with all forms of diabetes and its related complications” stated Dr. Talaat Al Deyab, Specialist Outpatients Services Clinical Manager, Al Ain Hospital.

Dr. Shwab, the Medical Director at Al Ain Hospital added “Our main objective is to educate the patients and their families about diabetes and its related complications, while encouraging patients to take an active role in their own diabetes management.

Al Ain Hospital Center for Diabetes and Endocrinology is a Center of Excellence offering unique and innovative services. The Center provides a balanced focus on patient care, education, research, and community service. We attribute our success in diabetes management to teamwork, dedication and commitment of the centers members.”

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