Manama: Qatar should find out the real number of diabetics and the incidence of diabetes in the country thanks to a survey that will be launched soon.
According to Qatar Diabetes Association (QDA), the survey will also help with forecasts about the disease and its percentage in the different segments of the society and will be used to implement treatment decisions and to zero in on the best methods to create awareness and help control its incidence.
The survey will be carried out in cooperation with different organisations including Weill Cornell Medical College, Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) and the Supreme Council of Health (SCH) among others, the association said. Discussions are under way on the work plan, protocol and implementation of the survey.
"Our patients expect to have the latest treatment methods as stem cell transplants for diabetes," Abdullah Al Hamaq, QDA executive director, said.
"We are not far because we have hosted many specialists who have conducted such jobs in other countries. QDA is following-up on the latest studies on stem cell, the people who have undergone the transplant procedure and are looking at treatment response.
"Stem cell studies are still in their infancy in all countries and have not been approved by global authorities as an approved treatment method. Once the treatment is recognised, we will also have it in Qatar," he said, quoted by Qatari daily The Peninsula.
Under a plan to enhance its outreach within Doha, the association will receive a specially developed vehicle in September that will allow it to take its services to all diabetics in the Qatari capital.
In a boost to its activities in Ramadan, the association launched a hotline to enable patients and relatives to contact officials to get more information on fasting, and promoted diabetes awareness programmes in mosques and instruction workshops for needy families on dealing with lifestyle and diabetes during Ramadan.
