Disadvantaged Communities and Vulnerable Groups
On 14 November 2006, World Diabetes Day focused on diabetes in disadvantaged communities and vulnerable groups.
The event was established by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), an EPHA member, and the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 1991 with the aim of co-ordinating diabetes advocacy worldwide. According to IDF, more than 230 million people worldwide have diabetes, and many of them do not receive adequate care. This year the message has been "Diabetes care for everyone".
According to IDF, diabetes is rising on a global scale and is a leading cause of blindness, kidney failure, amputation, heart attack and stroke. The disease can also cause death on a similar scale to HIV/AIDS.
Inequalities:
It is a common misunderstanding that diabetes is a disease suffered mainly by the rich, however studies show that the poor are at higher risk. According to IDF, within 20 years 80% of all people with diabetes will live in low- and middle-income countries, in many of which there is little or no access to life-saving and disability-preventing diabetes treatments. In rich countries, people who are relatively poor are at greater risk of type 2 diabetes.
PGEU
EPHA member PGEU (the Pharmaceutical Group of the European Union) supports IDF and WHO in advocating for better Diabetes care for everyone and in raising awareness about the condition across the world.
PGEU, who believe pharmacies represent a useful resource for the prevention and control of Diabetes, calls for a more patient-focused pharmacy service, better care and more education to those at risk. Promoting healthy living through providing more information about risks and available care, is highlighted as an important method of prevention.
PGEU calls on the European Union to help increase public and private levels of investment in diabetes education, prevention and care, as well as ensuring that all individuals with diabetes, or at risk of diabetes, are reached. They suggest that more research should be carried out into the socio-cultural causes of diabetes among disadvantaged and vulnerable groups, so that policy becomes more socially and culturally relevant.
For more information regarding the work done by Pharmacies on the prevention and control of Diabetes in EU Member States (Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Ireland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, The Netherlands, & The UK), read PGEU’s information on Community Pharmacists’ Initiatives in the PDF document below.
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