Biocon Biologics has partnered with Diabetes Africa and St Paul’s Hospital Millennium Medical College in Ethiopia to implement the ‘Embedding Specialist Nurses in Diabetes Care’ initiative. This project has resulted in a scalable approach to enhancing the skills of nursing staff.
To guarantee the continuity of this specialized nursing enhancement initiative, Biocon Biologics, headquartered in Bengaluru, has pledged ongoing support to both Diabetes Africa and St Paul’s Hospital Millennium Medical College. The program involves collaboration with various stakeholders, including healthcare providers, professional diabetes associations, health-related NGOs, and officials from Ethiopia’s Federal Ministry of Health.
Susheel Umesh, the Chief Commercial Officer for emerging markets at Biocon Biologics, mentioned that “the initiative to educate specialized diabetes nurses draws on the collective knowledge of multiple contributors, integrating Ethiopia’s Federal Ministry of Health to forge a resilient system for diabetes care. The aim is to elevate nurses’ competencies, incorporate diabetes management into primary healthcare, and craft a model that can be replicated across Ethiopian hospitals.”
Ethiopia, with a diabetes prevalence of 2-3%, is among the top four sub-Saharan African nations with the most adult diabetics. Diabetes accounts for almost 2% of the nation’s deaths, with a marked gap in skilled healthcare workers exacerbating the issue.
Dr. Bernadette Adeyileka-Tracz, the Executive Director of Diabetes Africa, commented: “Diabetes is an urgent global health crisis. In countries across Africa, including Ethiopia, nurses dominate the healthcare landscape. The foundation laid by St Paul’s experience gives us hope that diabetes specialist nurses can revolutionize care delivery. Our mission is to bring enduring and systemic change to confront the health challenges head-on.”
Dr. Sisay S. Betizazu, the Provost of St Paul’s Hospital Millennium Medical College, noted: “Backed by Biocon Biologics, the project’s primary aim is to better diabetes management through specialized nursing. By equipping nurses with targeted training, we could transform healthcare delivery. Addressing systemic hurdles like service structure, training gaps, and quality assurance, the project sets a course for creating a clear path toward diabetes specialization, which strengthens vital areas of our health infrastructure. Considering our facility’s high patient influx, effectively trained nurses at the primary level could manage many, permitting an expansion of tertiary services led by residents and endocrinologists.”
Diabetes presents a significant challenge worldwide, particularly in low- and middle-income countries where it’s often mischaracterized as a ‘disease of halves’: half diagnosed, half treated, and half compliant. The WHO has emphasized a substantial lack of healthcare professionals sufficiently trained in preventing, diagnosing, and treating diabetes.