The Health | December, 2019
16
Highlight
Strengthening diabetes
care among practitioners
NADI aims to improve the
quality of diabetes care by
practitioners through its
NADI Advocate Programme
T
he rising prevalence of diabetes
globally is an urgent indication
that more needs to be done to
combat this presently incurable
disease.
At the healthcare level, the
National Diabetes Institute (NADI) has been
actively conducting programmes to further
enhance the medical practice standards
among healthcare professionals involved in
the management of diabetes.
These include the Continuing Professional
Development (CPD) Series with annual
Diabetes Asia Conference and the Diabetes
Complications Conference & Grand Rounds.
Advocacy towards
better healthcare
This year, NADI will embark on ‘Nadi Advo-
cate Programme’, a new programme for
healthcare professionals comprising a series
of Seminars (lecturers/workshops) that will
be held regionally throughout the country.
Through the ‘Nadi Advocate Programme’,
NADI hopes to help healthcare professionals
specifically the general practitioners to fur-
ther improve the quality of diabetes care and
achieve conformity of standards in diabetes
care in Malaysia.
Speaking to Emeritus Professor Dato
Mustaffa Embong, Executive Chairman
(Honorary) of NADI, he says: “The NADI
advocate programme aims to accredit GPs
who are committed to improve care for their
patients with diabetes. The advocates are
deemed to have the necessary knowledge,
skills and the commitment to take good care
of their patients with diabetes according to
international standards.”
Assurance for the public
What is the reason for NADI to organise the
advocacy-focused programme aimed at the
GPs? Dato Mustaffa says that it is for patient
assurance.
“The public will be more assured of better
care from their GPs when they are accredited
as NADI Advocates.”
Diabetes is a condition not too difficult
to manage, but requires high discipline from
the patients. GPs who are NADI advocates
can provide better motivation and guidance
for diabetes patients to manage themselves
better.
Public awareness on diabetes
NADI’s initiative to create the NADI Advocate
Programme is a sign that diabetes is still a
prevalent condition in Malaysia, as with
in many countries around the world. It
begs the question; how aware are we about
diabetes?
“The awareness about diabetes is quite
strong among the Malaysian public, however,
many do not take the disease seriously. The
nonchalant attitude leads to serious complica-
tions down the line.”
He does say however, that there has been
improvement in the number of people diag-
nosed over the years. “Malaysians who have
been identified to have diabetes has increased
over the years, through the concerted effort
by the government providing free community
screening.”
ADVOCACY IS
KEY: The NADI
Advocate Programme
can be a great tool for
better diabetes care by
general practitioners,
according to Emeritus
Professor Dato
Mustaffa Embong.
Increase in diabetes diagnosis is not a bad
connotation, as we might imagine reading
the statement. It signifies that we are able
to detect diabetes better, and implement
treatment and management of the condition
more efficiently.
Strides in treatment for diabetes
The condition is far from a newly discovered
one, and the treatment and management for
diabetes has largely been the same for a long
time. Having said that, Dato Mustaffa tells
that there are two breakthroughs that are
worth mentioning.
“The first breakthrough in terms of dia-
betes treatment concerns diabetes patients
who are also obese. We now know that the
condition can be ‘cured’ through weight loss.
“The other breakthrough comes in the form
of medication. There are now drugs that not
only reduce the patient’s blood glucose, but
can also cause weight loss and protect the
heart and kidneys as well.”
Biosimilars, an economically-
beneficial solution?
We also asked Dato Mustaffa about the use of
biosimilar insulin for diabetes patients, seeing
as the benefits of a biologically similar insulin
can ease patients’ monetary burden.
“Biosimilar insulin should help reduce
the cost of insulin for the patients. However,
the uptake by practitioners to recommend
biosimilars to their patients may be slow.
This is caused by worries about its efficacy
(no large-scale controlled trials done) and
side-effects relating to the immunogenicity.”
— The Health
Unlocking access to quality
A story of less for more.
A dive into biosimilars
“M
ANY are either unaware of
biosimilars or misunderstand
what biosimilars actually are.”
Aida Jaafar, the General Manager of Ethical
Specialty Business from Duopharma Biotech
Berhad says.
Duopharma Biotech is determined to spread
the awareness of the practicality of biosimilar
products. “Our aim is to educate the practitio-
ners as well as the public about biosimilars. I
believe education is the way forward.”
“Biosimilar drugs at its essence are not iden-
tical copies of the reference biological product.
It can however, very closely mimic the function
and effect of the reference biological product.
Thus the name. But that does not mean it is
any less effective. It is safe to say that it carries
similar efficacy and quality of the reference
product,” Aida says.
In other words, although biosimilar drugs
are manufactured by a different manufacturer
from the reference product, a biosimilar needs
to prove it is as safe and effective as the refer-
ence product before it can be approved for use.
According to Aida, the public is generally
wary and sceptical towards the economically
priced drugs.
“It is understandable. However, there
have been clinical studies confirming its
safety and efficacy. The drugs have also went
through rigorous testing before it can be
allowed in the market. The drug regulation in
Malaysia is very strict and without evidence-
based findings, the biosimilar drugs would
never have been allowed in the Malaysian
market.”
Furthermore, Aida says the biosimilar
insulins are now being supplied to govern-
ment hospitals in Malaysia as a cost-effective
alternative.
Why biosimilar
products are more cost-effective
When a new drug is created, the active ingre-
dients and manufacturing process is protected
by patent law. This is to allow the innovator
company recoup the cost of R&D, testing, and
manufacturing.
“Without the cost of discovering the