Pharmacist impact on diabetes disease
By: Antria Pavlidou (Ph.D. Candidate, UCL, MSc Clinical Pharmacy, International Practice and Policy, UCL)
Over the past 20 years, the number of adults living with diabetes has more than tripled. According to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), in 2021, approximately 537 million people, or 10.5% of the world’s population (20–79 years old), will have diabetes, while that number is expected to rise to 783 million (12.2%) by 2045. Hence, diabetes is one of the fastest-growing global health challenges. For the first time ever, WHO Member States have supported the creation of global targets for diabetes, as part of recommendations to strengthen and monitor diabetes responses within national noncommunicable disease programs. Each year, the IDF raises awareness for diabetes on World Diabetes Day, which is on November 14 and has been characterized as a global occasion to raise awareness of diabetes. The theme for World Diabetes Day 2021–23 is access to diabetes care. Today, there is an urge to improve access to the best possible diabetes education for health professionals and people living with diabetes.
Therefore, it is more important than ever, that pharmacists be key members of the healthcare team. The huge burden of diabetes, the low rate of adherence to long-term therapy for chronic conditions (averages 50% in developed countries, with even lower rates in developing countries), and more than half of people failing to properly use medicines required pharmacists to be more actively involved. Pharmacists are an important part of the healthcare team. They give patients high-quality information to help them understand and value their medications. In the 2019 FIP Statement of Policy on the role of pharmacists in noncommunicable diseases, it says that pharmacists are in the best position to help ease the growing burden of diabetes on health systems because of their accessibility, knowledge, education, ability to provide direct patient care, and level of competency.
Pharmacists can help to support and collaborate with other members of the healthcare team to ensure that all diabetes patients receive high-quality care. Pharmacists are trained to find chronic diseases early, recognize unhealthy lifestyles, and help patients reduce risk factors by giving them advice on things like diet, exercise, and smoking. Pharmacists can empower patients by providing useful information and counselling and engaging them in dialogue, which will enable them to manage their own health and treatment.
Pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists across the world, can advocates for information dissemination, policy change, and widening access to diabetes education to support the proper management of diabetes disease and prevent the increase in diabetes cases worldwide. Here are some resources to help pharmacists improve their knowledge and help diabetic patients. FIP has developed a series of webinars and a handbook for diabetes called “Diabetes Prevention, Screening, and Management." IDF is constantly updating its free online diabetes management courses and information. In addition, through the IDF website, you can find a number of ways to support the call and raise awareness of the need for more diabetes education for both patients and healthcare professionals.
REFERENCES:
1. FIP webinars: https://events.fip.org/programme/fip-non-communicable-diseases/focus-on-diabetes/
2. A handbook for diabetes “Diabetes prevention, screening and management”: https://www.fip.org/file/5071
3. International Diabetes Federation (IDF): https://worlddiabetesday.org/
