The overwhelming support and the big interest attached by the Government of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, and HRH Heir Apparent, may Allah protect them, to the health services and his ongoing directives positively mirrored onmaterializing the plans and programs of the Ministry of Health (MOH), aiming at improving on performance and patient's service, upgrading the performance of staff, controlling and cornering diseases, and early detecting them.
Within the framework of the MOH ongoing efforts in terms of building a better healthy community, enjoying health and safety; thanks to Allah's grace and this support, and through its health strategy and the National Project for the Integrated and Comprehensive Healthcare, it brought about quantum leap in terms of the level the patients' therapeutic services, and enhancing the preventive and educational procedures and activities in order to reduce the incidence rate of chronic diseases among the Kingdom's population. In this way, The Ministry of Health (MOH) is keen to apply the modern methodological, scientific ways with regard to disseminating the general health awareness, curbing disease spread and preventing them; with the aim of reaching the optimal results.
And as part of an integrated system of health services, the MOH achieved many plans, programs, and educational campaigns; in order to control diabetes, familiarize with it, and prevent it.
20 Specialized Centers:The Ministry of Health (MOH) adopted implementing an objective method in all the fields of health services providing: prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation, through a network of integrated facilities. This is with the aim of securing an inclusive health security for all. Thus, it established 20 specialized centers for treating diabetics, and eight new more centers are underway across the Saudi Arabia's regions and governorates. Further, the MOH represented by Diabetes Centers and Units Department of the Hospitals General Department is keen on delivering the optimum health services for diabetics, working on enhancing the health awareness of each diabetic or anyone vulnerable to develop the disease, and providing the best health and education services.
National Executive Plan of Diabetes Control (2010-2020):The Ministry of Health (MOH) approved a ten-year national executive plan for controlling diabetes (2010-2020), and for helping prevent the Saudi community from this disease. The plan is based upon the full participation of the government and all the private facilities in its objectives. It also aims at increasing and boosting up the health awareness among the Saudi community members on diabetes, and the factors heightening the risks of getting injured with it. All the more, it is to work on improving on obsolete detection program and lessening the likelihood of getting injured with this disease and its complications.
The National Executive Plan Includes Seven Objectives: - First Objective: the primary prevention from the second type of diabetes, and diminishing incidence rates ofthe disease through addressing the risk factors causing the disease.
- Second Objective: secondary prevention from the second type of diabetes through the early detection of the disease and its complications and keeping it at bay through good control of the blood glucose.
- Third Objective: advancing quality of the health services delivered to the patients suffering from diabetes and its complicationswithin their three levels; that's to say, through unified, fresh therapeutic evidence based upon findings that are reached in order to be applied by the medical team while directly tending to diabetics, to guarantee high quality in terms of work procedures; and adhering to the quality of these services, and preparing a unified guideline approved as a reference in order to identify the regulations governing the three healthcare levels.
- Fourth Objective: developing ways of detecting and following up, and assessing patients through Diabetics' Registration Program, extent of adherence to the work quality levels, annual follow-up registers, patients' interviews, and healthcare registers of patients.
- Fifth Objective: improving on the research tools and studies related to the disease.
- Sixth Objective: enabling diabetics and their families to contribute to controlling diabetes and its complications, taking part in the services provided, and assess the quality of these services.
- Seventh Objective: communal participation in controlling diabetes.
Anti-diabetes Education National Program:Going with the national executive plan for controlling diabetes, the Ministry of Health (MOH) launched the Saudi National Program for educating on diabetes. This program combines all the concerned parties: healthcare officials and professionals, diabetics, and Saudi public in general. It aims to have the healthcare officials participate in applying it, and enabling diabetics to use the therapeutic tools which include blood glucose meters, diabetes self-care education programs, internet-based training programs, and increasing the general awareness for all the Saudi community segments on diabetes through positive communal participation.
National Campaign for Diabetes Control: Under the auspices of his Excellency the Minister of Health, Dr. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Rabeeah, the MOH mounted the National Campaign for Diabetes Control covering the entire Saudi Arabia's regions and governorates. The campaign focuses on reinforcing and disseminating the general health awareness and limiting the disease spread. As such, the campaign, alongside the educational activities and events, included distributing more than 400 thousand blood glucose meters for the patients registered in the health centers, through a crystal-clear mechanism securing that patients get them in an easy, smooth manner; to help them control the disease.
World Diabetes Day:The Ministry of Health (MOH) is interested annually in marking the World Diabetes Day, falling on the fourteenth of November of each year. This is with the aim of achieving the general goals in terms of boosting up and carrying out the prevention policies and controlling diabetes and its complications, supporting the national initiatives for diabetes control and its complications, and highlighting the importance of evidence-based education with regard to treating diabetes and preventing from its complications. It is also meant for increasing awareness through the anti-diabetes warning signs, encouraging early detection, strongly working on curbing the risk factors of second type diabetes, and boosting up work on preventing or holding back diabetes complications.
National Reference of Educating Diabetics:The MOH Non-infectious Diseases General Department released the National Reference of Educating Diabetics; it is a guideline tackling the age-old disease known as diabetes, which was regarded among the killing diseases. It included an overview on diabetes, the role of education and training in treating this disease, and identifying it and its types. And it also touched upon relation between pregnancy and diabetes, types of treatment, and its severe complications. All the more, it provides tips for diabetics during traveling, instructions to be followed when fasting, and preparations to be made by a diabetic during the Hajj season. Further, it approached the school life of the diabetic children.
Nature of the Disease and its Impacts:
Diabetes is a chronic disease caused by failure of the pancreas in producing insulin in sufficient amounts, or the loss of the body's ability to use the insulin it releases
There are two types of diabetes; the second type of diabetes accounts for 90% of diabetic cases in the Saudi Arabia. For the most part, unhealthy nutritional habits, lack of exercise, and obesity spread are among reasons causing and aggravating this disease.
Sometimes, diabetes is called the silent killer as the symptoms of this disease, in all cases, do not dramatically develop, and they could remain unnoticed for a long while. Also, a sharp rise in the blood glucose, the common result of not controlling diabetes within the body over time, results in causing severe damage to many of the body organs, especially nerves and blood vessels.
Further, over time, diabetes could sustain harm to heart, blood vessels, eyes, kidneys, and nerves, and increases risks of getting injured with cardiac diseases and stroke.Also, Diabetic retinopathyis among the causes leading to blindness, and it occurs due to the long-term accumulation of the harm which the small blood vessels in the retina sustain. And living with diabetes for 15 years renders 2% of patients' blind, and 10% gets afflicted with severe cases ofsight weakness. All the more, 80% of death cases resulting from diabetes are caused in the low and medium income countries.
There is a case going by the "diabetic foot"; it includes weakness of sensation, unhealed ulcers, Osteomalacia, and gangrene, as well as other complications caused by nerve damage, lack of blood flow within foot, as a result of diabetes.
Size of the problem:The estimates of the World Health Organization (WHO) and its statistics of 2012, which the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) published, show that over 371 million persons are injured with this disease around the world. It is expected that such a number is to double by the advent of 2030 if the necessary measures are not taken to face it. It also confirms that more than a million extremity amputation cases are conducted every year all over the world. And it is thought that avoiding as close as 85% of these cases is feasible providing that the appropriate medical care is provided early on.
Across the Kingdom, it turned out that 28% of those injured with diabetes cone under the 30-and-over age group, while the rate of diabetic patients, for all ages, in the community as a whole was placed at 14%.
Further, the genetic factor plays a great role to the effect that it accounts for 60% to 80% of the injury rate. Also, the diabetes of the first type inflicting children as a result of a genetic disorder which occurs to children when being formed, and heredity has nothing to do with the injury. Dealing with the second type which inflicts children can be reversed through the healthy, sound methods such as losing weight and exercising.
Disease Prevention:Following simple measures can improve lifestyles, and Allah willing, prevent from diabetes or hold back its symptoms such as maintaining a healthy weight within natural limits, at least 30 minutes of daily exercise, following a healthy diet containing three to five meals of fruits and vegetables daily, reducing having sugar and saturated fats, as well as avoiding smoking, as it increases the risks of getting injured with the cardiovascular diseases. Thus, the Media Information and Health Awareness Center of the Ministry of Health (MOH) has assigned a toll-free telephone number: 8002494444, with the aim of answering callers' questions on diabetes and other diseases; or sending their questions to the MOH account at the Twitter social network @saudomoh.