15 NOVEMBER 2018

PHRC, REC and Italian Barometer Diabetes Observatory Foundation sign tripartite cooperation agreement

An event dedicated to the World Diabetes Day was held in Baku on November 14. The main purpose of the event, held with the organizational support of the Danish company Novo Nordisk and the support of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation is to keep diabetes firmly in the public spotlight and educate people to lead a healthy lifestyle.

Head of the International relations department of Heydar Aliyev Foundation Soltan Mammadov gave a brief information on the provision of assistance from the Foundation to diabetes patients, particularly children suffering from this disease over the past period. It was noted that, the First Vice-president of Azerbaijan, President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Mehriban Aliyeva pays great attention to the development of health care and improving the material wellbeing of the population. “Heydar Aliyev Foundation also implements projects for the treatment of the children with visual impairments and congenital heart defects, as well as thalassemia patients. Also, Foundation  supplied prosthetic devices for 40 injured soldiers. And furthermore, number of socially-oriented projects are carried out for children from orphanages, families of martyrs and Internally displaced persons (IDPs). Regional Development Public Union (RDPU) established by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation conducts various health activities in the regions,” he said.

Denmark's Ambassador to the region Svend Olling spoke about importance of the event held in 160 countries and highlighted that, everyone suffering from diabetes receives the necessary services, which is proof of country's care for its citizens.

Deputy Health Minister Elsevar Agayev brought to the attention that among the diseases that lead to disability and death, diabetes ranks third after cardiovascular and oncological diseases. “According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 20-25 years ago, 30 million people were registered with diabetes, but statistical analysis show that, number of people officially diagnosed with diabetes was 200 million, unofficially cases of diabetes were more than 400 million. Projections show that by 2045, 620-630 million people could have diabetes. According to the statistics, 243,000 people in Azerbaijan had diabetes in 2017 and within the least eight months this year, the number of patients suffering from this disease has increased by some 20,000 people. That’s why, after 2006, three state programs on diabetes were adopted. In 2019, the state budget provides for an increase in expenditures for their treatment by 8 million manats,” minister added.

Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Health Musa Guliyev said that, the budget allocated to health care is expected at the highest level next year. He praised works undertaken in the field of disease prevention and medicine strategy of Danish Novo Nordisk's representation in our country, as well as relations among government, parliament and private sectors.

“Novo Nordisk is the World's 7th largest pharmaceutical company and the biggest pharmaceutical company headquartered in Scandinavia. 27.7 million people use Novo Nordisk diabetes care products worldwide. 200 thousands of them are patients from Azerbaijan. There are around 6000 employees in the company who are engaged in research and investigation. It takes about 10 years to produce a new drug molecule. Only one drug can't effectively treat patients with diabetes. Diabetes is a global disease and can be likened to a tsunami, because it affects millions of people worldwide” – said Emil Kongshoj Larsen, Vice President of the Danish company.

The President of the Charity Foundation for Special Diseases of Iran Fatemeh Hashemi and member of Italian parliament Roberto Pella talked about actions undertaken to combat diabetes in their countries.

Within the framework of the event, tripartite cooperation agreement was signed among Public Health and Reforms Center of the Ministry of Health (PHRC), Republican Endocrinology Center (REC) and Italian Barometer Diabetes Observatory Foundation.

Chairman of Azerbaijan Diabetes League Yegana Sultanova informed on results of the project entitled “Diabetes under control and success is ahead!” and winners of the competition held within the framework of the project were rewarded.

The full text of the news is available in Azerbaijani language.