Diabetes knows no borders and has become a truly international problem. It affects millions on every continent and in every country, and its toll-lives lost, complications like blindness and cardiovascular disease, more than one million amputations annually, and the huge financial costs of kidney dialysis-is devastating to nations large and small.
Last year, the world spent more than US$465 billion to care for patients suffering from diabetes and its complications. In this country, according to the Diabetes Association of Trinidad and Tobago (DATT), 1,000 adults are newly diagnosed with the condition every year, adding to a population of more than 150,000 patients nationwide.
Today, T&T ranks as one of the countries with the highest prevalence of diabetes, and is home to one of the fastest-growing number of cases. It is the nation's second leading cause of death.
Although representation of diabetes patients and their families has been effectively championed by the Diabetes Association of Trinidad and Tobago (DATT), there has been no professional organisation in T&T committed to leading the way in prevention, diagnosis and care. And that's why, a little over a year ago, generalists and specialists, nurses and dieticians came together to create the Academy of Diabetes Clinicians.
To us, the founding members of the Academy, it is clear that, today, this nation's biggest challenges in diabetes care are the rising incidence of the disease as well as shortfalls in the delivery of high quality care to patients. To overcome these challenges we must act urgently to set and adhere to national, regional and international standards of patient care, and it is essential that we promote multidisciplinary diabetes-related education and training for all of our allied health care professionals.
Our work and collaborative projects with the Trinidad and Tobago Health Sciences Initiative, DATT and Trinidad and Tobago Medical Association are aimed at reaching an ultimate goal of creating a continuum of diabetes care in our country.
Some of the most significant results of this collaborative work include promoting the concepts of Certified Diabetes Educators and a team approach to diabetes care, and co-sponsoring diabetes-focused CME events and lectures. One was held recently at The Hyatt Regency featuring a world recognised expert in diabetes, Dr Goldstein.
These are all important first steps to fight to address the burden of diabetes, but much more remains to be done. It is clear that this epidemic can be defeated only through co-ordinated global efforts of governments, health care providers and patients.
Claude Khan, MD,
Vindra Maharaj, MD,
Geraldine Lewis, RN, Academy of
Diabetes Clinicians, Trinidad and Tobago