Novo Nordisk has introduced ‘Improve Control’ an ambitious project which aims to change the pattern of diabetes treatment management through a multi-pronged approach involving healthcare professional training, awareness campaign, patient education and training of other medical personnel involved in the management of diabetes.

At the Global Premix Summit held at Mumbai on March 5, 2011 which focused on premix insulin initiation and intensification for optimal patient care, brought top global and national experts to discuss the latest insights about the treatment of Type 2 diabetes and use of premix insulin. More than 350 physicians from India and other countries including China, Denmark, Turkey and Iran participated.

As part of the Improve Control programme, Novo Nordisk will take up a nation-wide drive to bring awareness among patients and physicians. The programme is designed in a phased manner involving all stakeholders to facilitate a programme that is aimed at bringing diabetes under control within six months of diagnosis.

The program intends to quantify the extent of the problem in India by evaluating control, management, complications, and psychosocial aspects of people with diabetes in India, through the DiabCare India 2011 survey. It will reach out to 10,000 doctors across India through educational programmes consisting of clinical workshops, and Continuing Medical Education (CME) programmes. Through this initiative, the programme intends to improve the lives of more than half a million people living with diabetes in India.

“A systematic approach to improve awareness about diabetes and its control both among patients and the medical fraternity is urgent and a topical need of the hour in India today,” said Dr Shashank R Joshi, Endocrinologist, Joshi Clinic, Lilavati & Bhatia Hospital Mumbai.

Over the next few months a team of experts will evaluate control, management, complications and psycho-social aspects of people with diabetes in India. This will also include propagating the message of benefits of “early glycaemic control”, aim for a well defined glycaemic target and reduce the period of clinical inertia in physicians and patients with diabetes.

“It is a comprehensive programme that will educate both specialists and patients on diabetes management and to establish the fact that Diabetes could be brought under control in six months,” stated Prof. Ashok Kumar Das, Senior Professor of Medicine and Medical Superintendent of the Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER).

The event will also see a discussion on the Indian Insulin Guidelines generated by different authorities globally published in 2009 with the support of over 250 physicians across India. The aim was to provide a simple and practical algorithm for starting and titrating premix insulin therapy, which is the most frequently prescribed insulin regimen for patients with type 2 diabetes in India.