Study groups formed for diabetes research

Senior physicians of the country have lined up against the growing risk of diabetes in Pakistan as National Study Groups have been formed to carry out research on diabetes in local settings for better prevention and control of the disease.

The groups, each consisting of five or more senior physicians, were formed in a meeting of the National Diabetes Chapter of Pakistan Society of Internal Medicine (PSIM) held at the University of Health Sciences (UHS) on Sunday under the chairmanship of UHS VC and PSIM President Professor Javed Akram under the Pakistan Society of Internal Medicine.

The meeting was attended by a large number of senior physicians from all over Pakistan. In his address, Prof Javed Akram said diabetes was spreading like wildfire in Pakistan and about 25% of the population was suffering from this disease. “It is now necessary to bring evidence-based medicine into it through indigenous research so that the disease can be controlled and patients can be treated in a better way,” he said.

Prof Javed Akram added that his institute was working to promote a culture of research in the field of medicine. “To this end, the best physicians from all over the country have come together and we have selected 13 research projects based on the results of which the roots of this disease will be reached and recommendations will be made to the policy-makers.” Prof Akram said the research done at a local level would be published in national and international journals.

Funding for these research projects would be provided by UHS and PSIM. He said this was the first time that such research was going to be conducted in Pakistan which would surely prove to be a gamechanger for the country and its people. Prof Zaman Sheikh said based on foreign research, guidelines for controlling diabetes at a local level were not proving to be effective.