Expertises

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Since its creation, the NGO Santé Diabète has focused on the strengthening of health systems to improve prevention and management of diabetes, by supporting the development of field projects in the long term, the development of research projects or short-term expertise in many African countries.

More recently the NGO Santé Diabète has also began to work in France in the development of education projects for development, but also by bringing the expertise gained in the field in order to bring new skills in the French health system in partnership with various actors of this system.   Through its extensive network (NGOs, research centers, universities, health facilities, hospitals etc ....) Santé Diabète creates linkages and synergies between these different types of actors to improve the quality of care for people with diabetes while strengthening health systems.

Santé Diabète has developed specific expertise in different areas of the prevention and treatment of diabetes while strengthening health systems

Santé Diabète focuses its work on a comprehensive approach including all axes necessary for the establishment of a prevention and treatment of quality for diabetes. This comprehensive and innovative multi-partner approach is realized in practice by the development of five components:

1. Investing in primary prevention to reduce the human and economic burden of the disease progression

Primary prevention actions allows to inform the population about diabetes, its risk factors, consequences and screening opportunities by using 4 channels:

- Peer educators conduct sessions of prevention in their communities
- prevention sessions in schools
- prevention sessions in the media (radio and television)
- prevention sessions during mass screening of diabetes

2. Investing in the decentralization of care to ensure geographic accessibility of people to care of quality

Diabetes referral doctors are trained in regional hospitals and health centers after school to develop specific training modules with specialists and the National Directorate of Health.

These trainings then extend to the staffs of other secondary structures and primary structures. After each training, Santé Diabète accompanies the decentralization of management by structuring care (equipment of the consultations, organization of diabetes units). After the initial cycle of training, the Continuing Medical Education (CME) will focus on the reinforcement of capacity for the detection and treatment of diabetic foot, gestational diabetes and diabetic retinopathy.

3. Investing in secondary and tertiary prevention "therapeutic education" to reduce the burden of complications of diabetes

The work focuses primarily on the development of general tools for therapeutic education before the establishment of the sessions during diabetes consultations. In parallel, a specific program of patient education using the methodology of learning nests specifically targeting the cardiovascular risk, the management of dietary fat and the management of physical activity strengthens the more developed diabetes consultations.

4. Investing in the reduction of care costs for a geographic accessibility of people to care of quality

A technical assistance is provided to the Central Pharmacy of the country, which is in charge of the procurement and distribution of the drugs, to get high availability, accessibility and reduced cost of drugs and testing equipment necessary for diabetic people.

5. Investing in an integrated approach including active involvement of patients and their families through their associations by promoting self-management mechanisms and advocacy allowing them to defend their rights

In the current context of changing of health systems, the patient tends to play a more active and responsible role, both at the individual level and at the associative level. The creation of associations of diabetic patients will therefore enable them to fully play their role to provide moral help, practical, financial, social or legal assistance to patients and their families, through individual or collective actions. It will also enable them to fully play their role in the health system.

Research is a very important activity for the NGO Santé Diabète because it improves the actions and develops new approaches by linking directly the results of the research actions to the programs implemented.

Research projects launched in Africa or in France are conducted in collaboration with universities, health facilities or research centers.

Research fields

• Nutrition
• Reducing risk factors for diabetes
• New therapeutic approaches
• Access to treatment
• Therapeutic education
• Health information systems
• Traditional medicine
• Medical Anthropology

Santé Diabète delivers technical advice and formulation or evaluation missions in the field of prevention and treatment of diabetes

• The technical advice is translated by the realization of support missions in the short or medium term:

- drafting of national policies of fight against diabetes

- drafting of standards and procedures composing these policy documents

- development of the various operational documents for the implementation of these policies

- formulation of the process of monitoring and evaluation of these policies

• The formulation missions are organized into short-term missions to develop projects to fight against diabetes by including different stages of the project management cycle (identification, formulation, monitoring and evaluation).

• The assessment missions are organized into short term mission to carry out evaluations of national policies or of projects to fight against diabetes

• The extensive experience gained by Santé Diabète in the strengthening of health systems also allows it to offer technical advice and monitoring or evaluation missions, more broadly in the field of public health.

For example, Santé Diabète has:

• taken part in several expert groups for the development of strategic documents of the International Diabetes Federation Africa Region: « Diabetes Declaration and Strategy for Africa », Handbook of type 2 diabetes management for Sub-Saharan Africa and the training manual on diabetes for educators for Sub-Saharan Africa.

done high-level missions for the establishment of the fight against diabetes in many African countries (Guinea, Madagascar etc ....) taken part in the expert panel of the Social and Economic Impact of Diabetes International Expert Summit which took place in Beijing, November 2010 taken part in the ministerial conference in Brazzaville, organized by the WHO, leading to the declaration of Brazzaville in preparation for the UN summit on NCDs at the UN General Assembly in September 2011.

More recently the NGO Santé Diabète also began working in France, in the development of :

• Education Project in Development (EAD)

• Preventive actions, training and patient education using the expertise gained in the field in order to bring new skills in the French health system in partnership with various actors in this system