Three leading multinational companies Becton Dickinson, Eli Lilly and Bayer have teamed up with Project Hope, an international health education organization for a four-year, multi-million dollar collaborative programme to train healthcare professionals in India.

Success in treating diabetes will not come from pharmaceutical interventions alone," said Dr Lorenzo Tallarigo, president, international operations, Eli Lilly. "Project Hope and The India Diabetes Educator Project will have a positive impact in helping health care professionals meet the current and future patient needs in India".

The training known India Diabetes Educator Project is designed to reduce morbidity and mortality of diabetes affecting 40.9 million people. However, details of project cost have not been disclosed.

The project will help over 5,000 healthcare workers including nurses, dieticians and nutritionists in India. The project covers mentoring support for newly trained Diabetes Educators and also addresses the role of the educator in empowering the patient to take responsibility for daily self-care and to help prevent the onset of diabetes among those at risk.

The training will be based on the International Curriculum for Diabetes Health Professional Education developed by the International Federation Consultative Section on Diabetes Education (IDF-DECS), adapted for use in India. Implementation of this curriculum will help establish a consistent and standardized protocol for diabetes treatment throughout the country, with the goal of improving patient quality of life and increasing positive self-care behaviors and control of diabetes.

"India is at the forefront of a global diabetes epidemic and is in urgent need of trained Diabetes Educators," said John P Howe III, M D, president and CEO of Project HOPE.

"The country is one of the largest populations with the highest prevalence of diabetes worldwide, and can benefit significantly from higher levels of diabetes self-management education, care, and treatment services," said William Marshall, president, BD Medical-Diabetes