Merck said recently it is partnering with Dubai Medical University to launch the Merck Capacity Advancement Program (CAP) in diabetes education to allow medical undergraduates and health care providers act as diabetes ambassadors in the UAE.
The five-year program will offer extensive knowledge about diabetes and will empower students to become representatives of that information.
“We are happy to partner with Merck to implement their Capacity Advancement Program in UAE,” Dr. Dima Abd Elmannan, clinical dean of Dubai Medical Colleges, said. “This diabetes education program will contribute toward providing guidelines and clinical practice for prevention, diagnosis and management of diabetes and its complications. It is estimated that there are almost 804,000 people over the age of 20 years with diabetes in the UAE; another 500,000 people are at the stage of pre-diabetes. The objective of this initiative is to increase the level of knowledge around diabetes for medical students who will work in the near future with patients to help them prevent, understand and control their disease.”
Merck collaborated with Dubai Medical University to encourage all medical students to apply for Merck Diabetes Award 2016 under the subject “Every Day is a Diabetes Day.”
“In recent years, we have seen a rapid rise in type 2 diabetes across all age groups,” Elmannan said. “The UAE is ranked 16th worldwide, with 19.2 percent of the UAE population living with diabetes. These statistics indicate that the region has high risk factors for diabetes, mostly related to rising obesity rates and physical inactivity. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop accredited teaching programs and encourage people and relevant stakeholders to think and act on diabetes every day. I am sure the Merck Diabetes Award will encourage our medical students to be creative in developing new strategies, policies and programs to encourage community members to think about diabetes every day.”
CAP is accredited by the European Accreditation Council of Continuous Medical Education (EACCME) and courses will be taught by leading local and internationally recognized diabetes experts.
“This global diabetes award initiative marks another step in our commitment to working with governments, academia and relevant stakeholders in building health care capacity with a focus on noncommunicable diseases in various countries in Asia-Pacific, Middle East, Africa and Latin America,” Merck Healthcare Chief Social Officer Rasha Kelej said.
To apply for the award, students were instructed to submit a paper with the objective being to improve the community’s knowledge about diabetes early detection and prevention in UAE. In addition, the work should encourage members of society, specifically addressing the scientific community, local officials and the media, to become proactive about Diabetes Every Day.
“Merck will offer a Postgraduate Diabetes Diploma at University of South Wales to the winner of Merck Diabetes Award,” Kelej said. “The award will be rolled out in 30 African and Asian universities every year as part of our commitment to building diabetes capacity with the aim to create a Diabetes Experts Platform in the two continents. Merck plays an important role in building health care capacity and improving access of quality and sustainable healthcare solutions across the globe.”
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