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A delegation from the American Diabetes Association (ADA) led by its chief scientific and medical officer Dr Robert Ratner has visited HMC. |
The visit was part of HMC’s efforts to engage leading organisations in its efforts to tackle the rising cases of diabetes in Qatar.
The delegation also included Professional Education, Conventions and International Affairs vice president Linda Cann, and Paulina Diabetes Education and Clinical Programmes vice president Paulina Duker.
“The ADA is a leading organisation with a mandate to prevent diabetes complications and optimally treat diabetes, and has established standards of care that are internationally adopted by all specialties. For the ADA to engage with HMC and our Academic Health System will be of immense benefit in our efforts to tackle diabetes in Qatar,” HMC medicine department chairman Prof Abdul
BadinAbou-Samra said.
He said efforts are under way to have HMC’s diabetes education programme accredited by the ADA.
During the visit, the delegation met HMC senior executives including Prof Abou-Samra, Hamad General Hospital (HGH) chief executive officer Colene Daniel, and HMC endocrinology and diabetes division chief Dr
Mahmoud Zirie.
The ADA team also visited the National Diabetes Centre at HGH, and met the members of the Qatar National Diabetes Strategy Committee at the Supreme Council of Health.
“The ADA is very aware of the problem that diabetes causes in Qatar, and we’re very anxious to collaborate to improve the care of people with diabetes around the world to any extent that we are able to do. Much of that depends on having the infrastructure to provide diabetes care. It’s very apparent from our visit that Qatar has made a huge commitment to providing that infrastructure – the personnel and the facilities to improve care for people with diabetes,” Dr Ratner observed.
During their visit to the National Diabetes Centre, the delegation looked at the facilities and the diabetes education programme in order to engage in more detailed discussions on how the programme can be enhanced with the aim of getting accredited by
the ADA.
