The Endocrine Institute of Putrajaya Hospital, Malaysian Endocrine & Metabolic Society (MEMS), and Novo Nordisk Pharma Malaysia raised diabetes awareness on World Diabetes Day (WDD) 2022 at Putrajaya.
This year’s World Diabetes Day theme is Education to Protect Tomorrow – the topic of the second year of the World Diabetes Day 2021-23 campaign that argues for the need for increased access to quality diabetes education for healthcare professionals and people living with diabetes.
Kicking off the series of educational activities was the Diabetes Fun Walk around the Putrajaya Hospital neighbourhood for the public. To advance, runners had to complete diabetes education station games.
The Diabetes Fair, which included educational booths and hospital department speakers, accompanied the marathon. In addition to public awareness, the Endocrine Institute held diabetes education and capacity training workshops for healthcare personnel.
Dato’ Dr Asmayani Khalib, Deputy Director-General (Medical), Ministry of Health Malaysia, officiated the event together with Datuk Dr Zanariah Hussein, Head of the Endocrinology Subspecialty Service of the Ministry of Health, Dr Nurain Mohd Noor, President of MEMS, Dr Mohammad Khairol Anwar Yusop Deputy Director (Endocrine) of Hospital Putrajaya and Richard Abela, Vice President and General Manager of Novo Nordisk Pharma Malaysia.
Diabetes now affects one in five adult Malaysians, according to the National Health and Morbidity Survey. Dr Asmayani stressed the need for a holistic disease prevention and treatment approach.
Diabetics are increasing, straining healthcare systems. “Healthcare professionals need quality diabetes education on how to detect and diagnose the condition early and provide the best possible care, while people living with diabetes need ongoing education to understand their condition and carry out the daily self-care essential to staying healthy and avoiding complications,” said Dr Asmayani.
The sentiment was echoed by Datuk Dr Zanariah Hussein, who added that “with the rising number of Malaysians being diagnosed with diabetes, we must double our efforts to prevent it from escalating.
World Diabetes Day is an annual global awareness campaign initiated in 1991 by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) in response to growing concerns about the escalating health threat posed by diabetes. The campaign aims to promote advocacy efforts and spread awareness of the importance of treating and managing the disease as a critical global health issue. – The Health
