IDF To Host Clinical And Educational Workshops On Diabetes For Health And Government Officials In Latin America

Main Category: Diabetes
Article Date: 14 Jun 2009 - 0:00 PDT

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The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) will host workshops in Buenos Aires, Argentina from June 11-14, focused on clinical diabetes guideline implementation and diabetes education for health ministries, diabetes associations and healthcare professionals throughout its South and Central American Region (SACA).

The Federation is the leading global advocate for diabetes and in 2006 led a successful campaign which resulted in a United Nations Resolution on diabetes. According to IDF, over 250 million people worldwide live with diabetes and seven million people develop type 2 diabetes each year. Diabetes has reached epidemic proportions and governments must act now to prevent type 2 diabetes and to improve care for the millions of people with the disease. The Resolution calls on all governments to develop national policies to address the prevention, care and treatment of diabetes.

"The IDF workshops in South and Central America are designed to assist governments and healthcare professionals implement the goals of the UN Resolution on diabetes," said Marg McGill, IDF Senior Vice-President and Chair of the IDF Consultative Section on Diabetes Education. "We want to work with health ministries and individuals to assist them in implementing the latest advancements and standards in diabetes clinical care and education at a level sustainable with their healthcare systems."

Through its publications, IDF provides resources and tools for healthcare professionals and governments to improve their efforts to manage diabetes. The two global resources these workshops draw on are the IDF Global Guideline for Type 2 Diabetes (2005) which will be updated and released at IDF's 20th World Diabetes Congress in Montreal in October and the IDF International Curriculum for Diabetes Health Professionals (2008). The workshops are a joint effort by IDF's Task Force on Clinical Practice Guidelines and its Consultative Section on Diabetes Education.

The IDF Clinical Guideline Implementation workshop will be held on June 11, 2009 and the IDF Multidisciplinary Health Professionals Education Programme will be held June 12-14, 2009 at the Four Seasons Hotel Buenos Aires. The Clinical Guideline Implementation Workshop aims to bring together local and regional key opinion leaders who are crucial in driving the development and implementation of diabetes clinical guidelines into clinical practice. The Education Workshop is designed for nurses, dieticians, doctors and other associated health professionals currently working in a diabetes clinical setting who have a keen interest in furthering their knowledge and skills in this area thus to impact on the quality of care provided with people living with diabetes. Attendance at the Education Workshop is open to IDF Member Associations in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay. The workshops will be conducted in English and Spanish by experienced international and local experts.

Professor Stephen Colagiuri, Chair of the IDF Task Force on Clinical Practice Guidelines said the IDF goals were to assess the progress within countries in achieving the IDF Global Guidelines targets and objectives; identify areas of diabetes prevention and care which could be improved through implementation of the guidelines recommendations and to assist in developing in-country plans to implement the guideline recommendations in the areas of need.

"We want to assist Latin America to have the best practices and the help it needs to implement global diabetes care standards locally," said Colagiuri.

Susana Feria de Campanella, Chair of the IDF SACA Region added, "it is important that IDF is leading the charge to raise the profile of and to improve diabetes care in the South and Central America Region."

Source
The International Diabetes Federation (IDF)