Speakers on the last day of the regional diabetes conference in Doha.
DOHA: The regional diabetes conference has closed with the participation of 500 delegates from 24 countries. The International Diabetes Federation IDF/Mena convention allowed participants to access the latest data and opinion from the scientific community, discuss key issues in diabetes care, and exchange information on how available resources can best be used to tackle the diabetes problem.
Dr Abdulla Al Hamaq, the Executive Director of Qatar Diabetes Association, said: “I hope all the participants from Qatar and the region left the conference armed with the experience and ready to take key learning back to their health centres, care settings and organisation and implement them for the benefit of the people living with diabetes and those at risk.”
Diabetes is one of the most common chronic diseases in the Middle East, where almost 20 percent of the adult population is suffering from it. Professor Adel Elsayed, the Chair Elect of Mena Region, said “the International Diabetes Federation has achieved significant political actions which affect the progress made in diabetes care and prevention.”
“These actions are the UN Resolution on 2006, the UN High-Level Meeting on Non communicable Disease Prevention and Control and the WHO summit on November 2012 and our role as diabetes associations is to monitor, prevent and care,” he added.
Prof Elsayed also highlighted the need for increased media action to spread diabetes awareness, while Dr Al Hamaq confirmed that the second IDF MENA Diabetes Conference will be held in Morocco on May 2013.
The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) is an umbrella organisation of over 200 member associations in more than 160 countries, representing the 285 million people with diabetes, their families, and their healthcare providers.
The mission of IDF is to promote diabetes care, prevention and cure worldwide. It’s a non-governmental organisation associated with the United Nations’ Department of Public Information.
The IDF Middle East and North Africa (Mena) Region covers a wide area in North Africa and West-Asia, from Pakistan in the east to Morocco in the west. The majority of countries in this area fall under the umbrella of IDF. The Mena Region currently consists of 20 member associations.
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