Integrated diabetes care at health centers in 10 Punjab districts, Pakistan

Objectives

To strengthen 75 rural health centres for diagnosis, treatment and reporting of T2DM care
To create referral mechanisms between 75 rural health centres and district level hospitals and the community
To evaluate the project model

Approach

The project is implemented through a collaboration between Association for Social Development and the Directorate General Health Services to introduce a decentralised, integrated diabetes care model at rural health centres. The project brings basic diabetes prevention, care and management capacities to the primary care level to complement a province-wide NCD programme at secondary and tertiary level.

Through the project, training materials, monitoring protocols and treatment guidelines will be refined to apply to the rural health centre context. The staff at the rural health centres will be trained to deliver quality care for diabetes patients at the primary care level. A strong referral mechanism will be established between the rural centres and specialised care at district level hospitals, and also a link will be created at the community level by introducing health promotion sessions as part of community vaccination events.

The project will strengthen and expand the provincial NCD electronic medical record to include comprehensive data on diabetes and referrals to specialist care.

The project model will be evaluated to provide recommendations for provincial scale-up in collaboration with health authorities.

Results at completion

84 rural health centres strengthened to provide diabetes screening and care
361 doctors and 479 other HCPs trained within integrated diabetes care
21,314 people with diabetes diagnosed registered and received care
4,512 health promotion sessions delivered during community vaccination events
54,299 people reached with healthy lifestyle messages during vaccination events