‘Action on Diabetes’ campaign aims to screen employees

A nationwide diabetes screening campaign aimed at private and public organisations is being planned as part of Action on Diabetes (AoD) later this year. The campaign will offer employers the opportunity to allow their workforce to visit a screening bus which will stop outside their offices and provide convenient diabetes testing and healthcare advice.  The Action on Diabetes partnership was initiated by Maersk Oil Qatar as part of its social investment programme, ‘Action for Qatar,’ which focuses on making a long term contribution to health, the environment and education through quality partnership programmes. So far, AoD has launched Qatar’s first accredited training programme for educators working with patients who have diabetes. Meanwhile, AoD has sponsored a diabetes training workshop for more than 30 Qatar Petroleum (QP) doctors. The aim of the workshop, held at the Renaissance Hotel, was to enhance the capabilities of QP medical staff to engage with the employees that have diabetes and improve their skills in preventing diabetes through lifestyle changes.QP Medical Services assistant manager Dr Khalid al-Badr in comments about the event: “I would like to thank AoD for supporting this highly informative and important workshop for QP medical staff. Diabetes is a growing health concern in Qatar and QP is committed to working with the country’s authorities to provide the best care techniques to our employees with diabetes to help them improve their lifestyle.”The interactive workshop featured two speakers from Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), namely endocrinology consultant Dr Mohsen el-Edrisis and Dr Ibrahim Treki, who gave information on diabetes training.Dr El-Edrisis commented: “As a course director, I am very delighted to organise this course with QP medical staff. I hope it provides an opportunity for physicians to enhance their knowledge.”The initiative is part of AoD’s long term objective to inform and educate the relevant groups of society, including healthcare providers and all other stakeholders to reduce the incidents of diabetes in the country.