UAE can log on to Decidecommunity.com for Diabetes

On the occasion of Diabetes world day DecideTM dedicates its new website to people who are diabetic and aims to guide them to live life to the full

Dubai, UAE, November 20TH, 2013: DecideTM Diabetes Programme, supported by its partners MPC, Merck Serono, Lifescan and Medtronic have come together to launch their revamped interactive website ‘Decidecommunity.com' for the people in UAE, who are more concerned about diabetes management and prevention of the condition. This site is mainly dedicated to people who are diabetic and it aims to guide them to live life to their maximum potential. It's an audio-visual website with several tools that can provide practical help to people manage better their condition outside the clinic.

Diabetes is a condition where the amount of sugar (glucose) in blood is too high because the body cannot use it properly. This is because pancreas is not producing any insulin, or not enough, to help glucose enter body's cells – or the insulin that is produced does not work properly and this is known as insulin resistance.

“We are delighted to launch our highly interactive website during the Diabetes Awareness month. We redesigned our website for the residents in UAE and they can surf through all the required information on Diabetes. We made sure that this website will be an audio visual site that incorporates tools and games that can provide a practical approach to manage this condition outside the clinic. In addition, we have facebook and YouTube platforms to share information and connect with our diabetes communities in UAE. Decide™ not only seeks to educate people affected by diabetes, but is also involved in helping family members understand how they can better support those who live with the condition or even prevent the condition. Accordingly we have included special sections on diabetes, its risk factors and its signs and symptoms. As we believe that prevention or early detection of the condition is extremely crucial. We would like to thank the healthcare entities and the partners supporting this programme for helping us serve the community better,” said Wadad Aboul Khoudoud, Decide Programme Director.

Decide programme and its website has been acknowledged and endorsed by key specialists and healthcare entities.
 
“This ‘Decide Community' website, is an online community where they have gathered all information about diabetes in one place,” Dr.Abdulrazzak Al Madani, CEO, Dubai Hospital – DHA, President of Emirates Diabetes Society.

“I believe DecideTM programmes will significantly help improve the health of UAE residents and save the UAE millions of Dirhams in future health care cost,” said Dr. Wafaa Helmy Ayesh, Director of Clinical Nutrition Department.

“Educating the people about diabetes is a fundamental pillar in its management. We see DecideTM as the right partner to go with and together we have done several events to reach out to the community and the outcome has been fabulous,” Ahmad El-Naggar, Country Manager-Gulf,  LifeScan, a division of Johnson & Johnson (ME), Dubai Healthcare City.

“In Merck Serono, we strive to improve patients' quality of life by not only offering them Medicine to treat their diseases, but also through providing education and tools for prevention of diseases and its complications. Through our partnership with DecideTM, the non-for-profit community that is involved with the prevention and management of Diabetes, we believe we can achieve this goal by reaching out to more people and offering them help,” said Ahmed El Azhary, Regional Product Manager-Diabetes, Merck Serono Middle & Near East.

This chronic condition is widespread and yet, one out of every three people affected by diabetes has been found to be unaware of this fact. In the US alone, as per the American Diabetes Association, this constitutes about 7 million people. Type 2 diabetes is treated first with weight reduction, a diabetic diet, and exercise which have been highlighted throughout the website content. Medication is used when these measures fail to control the elevated blood sugar levels.