Pharmaceutical and technology company Merck, today unveiled the Diabetes Online Risk Assessment (DORA) programme, a management programme that supports diabetes patients through screening, diagnosis and treatment.
The DORA programme was introduced in response to the growing number of patients diagnosed in the late stages of the disease, said Sandra Lambert, Merck's regional director CMC & GenMed, South East Africa as she addressed the media at the unveiling which took place at the Kopanong Hotel and Conference Centre in Benoni, Johannesburg.
"The reality is that in many parts of Africa there is no national intervention [as a single initiative] that tackles diabetes from risk assessment to living with the disease.
"The DORA programme will identify high risk diabetic patients and get them tested while guiding and partnering with the patient through the entire journey from identifying high risk patients, testing, connecting them with a healthcare practitioner, diagnosis, treatment and management," she explained.
She said the longer people are living with untreated or unmanaged diabetes, the larger the long-term financial impact to the patient and on the overall healthcare system.
According to Merck, the DORA programme consists of a free Online Risk Assessment service where individuals answer a Web-based questionnaire to determine the patient's risk of developing diabetes. Anyone with access to the Internet or a smart device can take the questionnaire.
Based on their answers, the platform gives each individual a rating from low risk to high risk. Moderate and high-risk patients are provided with a voucher for a free blood-glucose test, redeemable at pharmacies nationwide registered with the programme.
Where the patient's blood test indicates diabetes, the pharmacy will provide the patient with a 'diabetes starter pack' to help manage the disease at home. The pack includes ACCUCHEK glucometers, DIABION diabetic multi-vitamins, diabetes patient information, including a GI food guide, as well as the free diabetes management app, MyDiabetes.
The Society for Endocrinology Metabolism and Diabetes of South Africa (SEMDA), conducted a study on diabetes which found there were 22 million cases of diabetes in Africa in 2013, a figure expected to climb 110% by 2035.
"This is a challenge to all African economies, as governments foot the bill for diabetes and its related costs.
"Late diagnosis can result in hospitalisation, require multiple treatments for consequential health problems, such as blindness or kidney failure, not to mention the economic cost of being unable to work," noted Lambert.
Dr Darshni Naicker, Merck Biopharma's medical director for South East Africa, said: "A conservative estimate is that 7% or 4 million South African adults have diabetes, however, this figure is expected to increase with urbanisation, unhealthy lifestyles and rising levels of obesity.
She explained many South Africans are living undiagnosed and unaware of their diabetes status as symptoms of diabetes may not be noticed by the patient in the early stage of their disease, emphasising the importance of screening and education.
"Africa's mortality rate as a result of diabetes and related complications ranks highest in the world and with 62% of diabetes patients remaining undiagnosed, sufferers are more susceptible to permanent tissue damage as well as deterioration in quality of life," revealed Naicker.
She said the diabetes programme will cover 12 African countries. It has already been introduced in Kenya, Ethiopia and Ghana and will be launched this year in Mauritius, Namibia, Nigeria, Botswana, Tanzania, Uganda, Angola and Mozambique.
The DORA programme is currently available at 32 pharmacies in SA.
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