Creating a supportive environment , Promoting family’s role in diabetes management and prevention
Diabetes currently affects about 3.5 million Malaysians – the highest rate of incidence in Asia, and with a 17.5% prevalence in adults above age of 18 years, it is also one of the highest in the world according to the Ministry of Health, Malaysia2. This figure is also set to increase as the ministry estimates about 7 million Malaysians are likely to have diabetes in 2025.
The International Diabetes Federation (IDF), through its World Diabetes Day 2019 campaign themed — The Family and Diabetes — is urging a call to action to raise awareness of the impact that diabetes has on the family, and promote the role of the family in the management, care, prevention and education of the condition.
In line with IDF and in conjunction with World Diabetes Day 2019, both Novo Nordisk and the Ministry of Health are collaborating in the ‘Sama-Sama’ project which aims to empower and build the capacity of family caregivers in diabetes management and disease prevention.
This pilot project will kick-off this year, involving patients and their family members who are residing in Putrajaya. The participants will be recruited through the four klinik kesihatan (public health clinics) located within the Putrajaya vicinity.
Datuk Seri Dr. Chen Chaw Min, Secretary General of the Ministry of Health explained that“With the rising number of Malaysians being diagnosed with diabetes, it is crucial that we double our efforts to prevent it from escalating. While we have continued to raise awareness of diabetes among patients and the community, we believe that the family institution also play an important role, not only by helping patients manage their condition, but also educating family members on diabetes.
“Hence, we are proud to collaborate Novo Nordisk in the ‘Sama-Sama’ project which focuses on empowering family members of people living with diabetes to create a better supportive environment for both the patient and the family as a whole”, he added.
Joining him at the ‘Sama-Sama’ project launch ceremony today were Danish ambassador to Malaysia, Jesper Vahr, Novo Nordisk executive vice president of international operations, Maziar Mike Doustdar and Phil Southerland, the CEO and co-founder of Team Novo Nordisk, the world’s first all-diabetes pro cycling team.
Commenting on the day’s events, Vahr stated, “We would like to extend our heartiest congratulations to the Ministry of Health and Novo Nordisk for the successful launch of the ‘Sama-Sama’ project.
“Diabetes is indeed creating a heavy burden to the country and to its people and it is with collaborations such as this that enables us to tackle the problem together. Our embassy is honoured to support Novo Nordisk and our Malaysian colleagues in this effort to raise awareness of diabetes.”
Maziar Mike Doustdar echoed the sentiment by saying that, “We at Novo Nordisk, are consistently driving change in order to tackle diabetes and its related comorbidities.
Through our past World Diabetes Day campaigns, we understood the growing burden of diabetes and its impact not only on the patient, but their family members as well.
“Hence, through the ‘Sama-Sama’ project, we hope to empower family caregivers with the knowledge, skills, and support to help improve diabetes management of the patient, increase awareness of diabetes among the family members, as well as enhancing their overall quality of life,” he ended.
About Novo Nordisk
Novo Nordisk is a global healthcare company with more than 90 years of innovation and leadership in diabetes care. This heritage has given us experience and capabilities that also enable us to help people defeat obesity, haemophilia, growth disorders and other serious chronic diseases. Headquartered in Denmark, Novo Nordisk employs approximately 41,700 people in 77 countries and markets its products in more than 165 countries. For more information, visit novonordisk.com, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube.
