NAHDI Medical Company has won the prestigious Best Community Development Award at the Gulf Sustainability and CSR Awards 2018 held in Dubai.

The award was for Nahdi Medical Company’s Diabetes Initiative, which was implemented through a joint cooperation between the Joslin Diabetes Center, Nahdi Medical Company and the Ministry of Health in the Kingdom.

The Joslin Center, located in Boston, Massachusetts, is a leading international organization specialized in diabetes research, clinical care and education. It is affiliated with Harvard Medical School. The center prepared the diabetes program in cooperation with the Health and Community Service Department in Nahdi Medical Company. The preparation and execution stages were supervised by the Ministry of Health.

The program was carried out to test whether pharmacists can positively affect the lives of diabetic patients in the Kingdom through educational and counseling activities about diabetes.

The program aims to raise the awareness, knowledge and confidence of diabetic patients on how to deal with and control this illness, as well as enhance their interaction with pharmacists and doctors.

The program benefits from frequent and regular meetings between diabetes-educated pharmacists and diabetic patients; and because most people live close to pharmacies, it is easier for them to acquire information about the illness.

In order to evaluate the diabetes program, the Joslin Diabetes Center organized online polls where diabetes consultant pharmacists could collect information about diabetic patients in order to evaluate and follow-up on their conditions.

The pharmacists identified the number of diabetic patients visiting pharmacies in order to determine the capacity of the preliminary sessions, the number of patients who agree to join the program, and the number of patients who attend each counseling session.

The program evaluation goals included calculating the number of individuals who signed up for the program and participated in the follow-up phase, as well as understanding the background and needs of the participants of the program and learning how to attract those who did not participate. The goals also included measuring the impact of the program on several aspects.

“It is a great honor and achievement for Nahdi Medical Company to win such a prestigious award and receive this recognition, especially for an initiative we hold dear to our hearts. Guests have expressed their complete satisfaction with the program, as they have gained more awareness and the ability to deal with diabetes themselves.

“The program’s results have achieved their goals of increasing patient awareness, knowledge and confidence when managing the condition, not to mention enhancing their communication with doctors and pharmacists in their local communities,” commented Sarah Anwar Turkistani, health and community service department manager at Nahdi Medical Company. — SG