HMI and DHCC team to offer education program on diabetes

Dr. Martin Abrahamson

HMI and DHCC will present “Specialty Practi-Med Dubai: Advances in Diabetes,” a medical education symposium aimed at developing practical solutions to address one of the Gulf Region’s most pressing health care challenges. A distinguished multidisciplinary faculty led by Dr. Martin Abrahamson, of the Harvard-affiliated Joslin Diabetes Center, will present updated knowledge regarding the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diabetes.

The two-day program, which will take place May 23-24th at the Knowledge Village Conference Centre in Dubai, has been organized by HMI and DHCC.

“Diabetes is an emerging health concern in the region, and this program has been designed to respond to the needs of health care professionals in the region who are working to prevent this disease from reaching epidemic proportions, as it has in other parts of the world,” said Saeed Al Montafiq, chairman of the board of DHCC.

A critical issue for the Gulf Region
Specialty Practi-Med Dubai builds on the success of the first Practi-Med event held in Dubai, which in December 2003 attracted more than 1,200 health care professionals to hear about advances in clinical practice. At that event, overflow crowds gathered to hear lectures on the prevention and management of diabetes and its complications, and with good reason: the World Health Organization estimates that the Middle East is home to more than 3.5 million type 2 diabetes sufferers, a number that could grow rapidly over the next two decades if current trends continue.

The program will address the full scope of diabetes-related issues, such as prevention and treatment, and provide information about specific complications, such as cardiovascular disease and lipid disorders, diabetic kidney disease, and diabetic retinopathy.

“This program represents a great opportunity to get out ahead of this disease, before it becomes a tremendous burden on the health care system, as has occurred elsewhere in the world,” said Abrahamson. “In the UAE, there is a concern that the advances in technology and convenience that have helped this country evolve so rapidly could negatively impact the health of its people. Globally, there is a direct correlation between decreased physical activity and increased overweight and obesity. And so while treatment of diabetes and its related conditions is a large emphasis of this program, it is also crucial to enrich prevention efforts and encourage physicians to make patient education an integral part of their practice.”

A multi-focused disease—and a program design to match
The reach of diabetes across populations—which affects adults mainly, with an increasing prevalence of diabetes among children—is analogous to its wide-ranging impact on the human body. It is the leading cause of both blindness or visual impairment and non-injury-related limb amputations in the developed world. The Specialty Practi-Med program has been designed not only for physicians who treat diabetes in primary care practice, and the endocrinologists and diabetologists who study the disease, but also for the vascular surgeons, ophthalmologists, and podiatrists who play a large role in helping to minimize the impact of diabetes.

Abrahamson developed the program in collaboration with Dr. Harvey Makadon, vice president of health systems at HMI, who designed the concept behind Practi-Med. To date, Practi-Med programs have been delivered in Brazil, Japan, the UAE, and most recently, in India. The goal of Practi-Med is to bring updated knowledge to primary care in order to support the efforts of those health care professionals who are on the frontlines of care.

“Dr. Abrahamson and Dr. Makadon have assembled an impressive roster of authorities in the field of diabetes, and worked with local leaders in medicine to design a program respondent to the specific concerns of physicians in the region,” said Al Montafiq. “In addition to this program in May, plans are already underway to offer Practi-Med Dubai 2004 in December.”

HMI and DHCC are collaborating on the design of an academic medical complex that will serve as a globally recognized location of choice for health care and a center of excellence for specialist medical services, medical education, life science research, and technology implementation in the Middle East.

For more information about this event, visit the Practi-Med website at www.practi-med.com.

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