NAHDI Medical Company, a pioneer in the healthcare sector with the largest chain of pharmacies in the Middle East and North Africa, has announced the successful conclusion of its ‘Keep it at 7%’ campaign, which was launched across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to encourage Type I&II diabetics to achieve the maximum drop in their A1C% test results, aiming for the normal result of 7.

During the campaign, Al Nahdi health educators offered tips to diabetic patients on the best ways to adopt a healthier lifestyle and raised patient awareness about the importance of taking the A1C% test. They also explained the steps to be taken to keep the test result under 7% as it indicates the efficiency of the medication being used and protects the patient from diabetes related complications.

A 1% reduction in A1C has proved to reduce secondary diabetes complications by 20%-40%. Complications include renal failure, arteriosclerosis, cardiac diseases, hypertension, high lipid and cholesterol levels, neuropathy, blindness, to mention but a few.

Three persons from different regions were given prizes for achieving the highest drop in A1C% within three months. The first winner, who achieved a 9.3% drop, received SR10,000, the second received SR7,000 after achieving a decrease of 8.4 % while the third received SR3,000 after a drop of 7.7% in the test. Cash and non-cash prizes were also handed to 100 people.

Eng. Yasser Joharji, CEO of Nahdi Medical Company, expressed appreciation at the high level of public participation. Stating that the campaign had raised public awareness about the importance of the A1C test, Eng. Joharji encouraged diabetic patients to regularly check their A1C results and monitor their general health as well as diabetes level.

He said Al Nahdi will continue to serve the community and help improve public health in line with the Vision 2030, seeking to achieve sustainable health and development levels.

“We will work harder to devise innovative methods and find stimulating educational programmes to increase public awareness about diabetes, reduce the spread of chronic diseases and enhance health education for everyone,” Eng. Joharji said.

Al Nahdi partnered with the USA-based Joslin Diabetes Center in 2015 and implemented a wellness diabetes programme under the direct supervision of the Ministry of Health. The programme aims to enhance the role of community pharmacists in educating diabetic patients and make a difference in their lives through diabetes counseling. The partnership soon proved to be successful and Al Nahdi opened ‘Diabetes Education Clinics’ in 50 of its branches in more than 20 cities where pharmacists answer diabetes related questions from patients. Since 2014, Al Nahdi has published an annual diabetes report in collaboration with the Joslin Diabetes Center, considered the world’s leading diabetes research which is affiliated with Harvard Medical School. — SG