HMC explores collaborations with American diabetes association

A delegation from the American Diabetes Association (ADA) led by ADA Chief Scientific and Medical Officer Dr. Robert Ratner visited Hamad Medical Corporation ( HMC ) this week as part of HMC 's efforts to engage internationally leading organizations in its efforts to tackle the rising incidence of diabetes in Qatar. "The ADA is a leading organization with a mandate to prevent diabetes complications and optimally treat diabetes, and has established standards of care that are internationally adopted by all specialties. For the ADA to engage with HMC and our Academic Health System will be of immense benefit in our efforts to tackle diabetes in Qatar. We are planning to have our diabetes education program accredited by the ADA, and further collaborations including a joint clinical conference," said Professor Abdul Badi Abou-Samra, Chairman of Medicine at HMC , and a renowned endocrinologist and diabetes specialist. The delegation met with senior executives at HMC including Professor Abou-Samra; Ms. Colene Daniel, CEO of Hamad General Hospital (HGH); and Dr. Mahmoud Zirie, Chief of the Endocrinology and Diabetes Division at HMC . The ADA team also visited the National Diabetes Center at HGH, and later had a meeting with members of the Qatar National Diabetes Strategy Committee at the Supreme Council of Health. "The ADA is very aware of the problem that diabetes causes in Qatar, and we're very anxious to collaborate to improve the care of people with diabetes around the world to any extent that we are able to do. Much of that depends on having the infrastructure to provide diabetes care. It's very apparent from our visit that Qatar has made a huge commitment to providing that infrastructure - the personnel and the facilities to improve care for people with diabetes," said Dr. Ratner. Dr. Ratner added, "We hope that we will be able to bring types of programs and a level of programs to ensure high quality care for all of the patients, and even more importantly, to advance diabetes research in such a way that goes beyond simply talking about basic science, towards healthcare delivery and mechanisms by which we can improve the lives of people with diabetes." The ADA visited the National Diabetes Center to look at the facilities and the diabetes education program and to engage in more detailed discussions on how the program can be enhanced with the aim of getting accredited by the ADA, according to Dr. Mahmoud Zirie, adding that HMC and the ADA are also exploring possible collaborations in research, as well as accreditation for healthcare professionals involved in diabetes care.