There are currently no diabetologist in the Central African Republic and health services offering diabetes care are virtually non-existent.The prevalence of diabetes in the Central African Republic is estimated to be around 6%. Yet, a much larger proportion of the population is somehow affected by the disease. However, in general, very little is known about the diabetes situation in the country as studies are lacking, but those who have diabetes face enormous difficulties in getting care if they are diagnosed at all.Nevertheless, the Ministry of Health has now expressed concern about the situation and has decided to put the need for diabetes care on the health agenda together with the Central African Diabetes Association and the Health of Populations in Transition Research Group from neighbouring Cameroon.The objective of the project is to improve diabetes care and raise awareness about diabetes in the Central African Republic.
As mentioned above, the three main partners on this project are the Ministry of Health in the Central African Republic, the Central African Diabetes Association that currently has 1,200 members and the Health of Populations in Transition Research Group which has extensive experience from similar projects in Cameroon including the completed WDF funded projects "Cameroon Diabetes Burden I & II" (WDF02-016 & WDF05-117) and the ongoing "Diabetes & HIV/AIDS" (WDF08-346).The project seeks to improve diabetes care and raise awareness through the following three components:1. Diabetes control through the establishment of a diabetes clinic2. Health promotion, awareness and prevention3. Diabetes surveyThe project will be commenced with the training of three nurses and two general practitioners who together will constitute a diabetes care team. Their training will take place in Yaoundé, Cameroon and will last for 3 months. During these three months they will be trained in diabetes care including health promotion, diabetes education and diabetes management.Meanwhile, the first diabetes clinic in the Central African Republic will be established in the capital Bangui. The trained diabetes care team will run the clinic, which will be open on a daily basis and offer diabetes management, diabetes prevention especially targeting high risk groups and diabetes awareness and advocacy activities. It is anticipated that approximately 1,000 - 2,000 diabetes patients will attend the clinic for treatment regularly. The clinic will also conduct screening activities and it is expected that around 5,000 people will be screened for diabetes during the project.The diabetes clinic will also serve as the base for training other health care workers in screening and management of diabetes. The plan is to conduct one week of training of health care workers every quarter, resulting in the training of 350 health care workers. The trained health care workers will thereby further increase the access to diabetes care as they return to their home health facility and put the things they have learned into practice.The estimated prevalence of diabetes in the Central African Republic referred to above is extrapolated from studies in Cameroon. In order to determine the real prevalence in the Central African Republic and delineate its risk factors, a survey based on the Stepwise-approach will be conducted among 2,000 randomly selected persons in the Bangui area. The results of the survey will provide useful information for future health policy planning, prioritisation and resource mobilisation. Moreover, the results will also be used to better tailor the training of health care workers.In addition to the already mentioned health education, awareness raising and advocacy carried out by the diabetes care team and the trained health care workers at the health facilities, health promotion and awareness raising activities will also be conducted in the communities via the mass media. It is estimated that through these channels diabetes related health messages will reach around 1 million people.
• 2 nurses and 2 doctors were trained • 1 diabetes clinic was established in Bangui• Over 150 heath care workers trained • 858 people with diabetes received treatment • Over 4200 people have been screened for diabetes • More than 2 million people reached through awareness activities