The Avicenna Tajik State Medical University organized an event in Bokhtar city dedicated to the World Diabetes Day (WDD).  A large-scale information campaign to raise public awareness of diabetes mellitus was conducted at 3 locations in Bokhtar city: two at the “Farovon” and “Hoji Sharif” markets and one at the City Health Center (CHC).  During the whole day, volunteers distributed leaflets on risk factors and how to prevent the disease and explained about the risks of neglecting early detection.  The volunteers also encouraged everyone to take a test and measured their blood glucose levels. 334 people were screened for their height, weight, as well as blood glucose levels were measured, and FINDRISK questionnaires were administered.

In Tajikistan, the number of people with type 2 diabetes mellitus is increasing every year.  According to official statistics, 50,518 patients were diagnosed with type 2 diabetes mellitus in 2021.  The main causes of diabetes include carrying excess weight, unhealthy diet, lack of physical exercise, family history and certain medical conditions.  The disease is often asymptomatic in its early stage and often diagnosed too late.  The age of those tested during the campaign ranged from 18 to 72 years old, out of which 138 men and 196 women.  It should be noted that in the population tested, 50 people were found to have carbohydrate metabolism disorders and 71 people were found to have diabetes mellitus. In addition, 114 (57 men and 57 women) were overweight and 126 (52 men and 74 women) were obese.

"I was very surprised by this action near the Farovon market and wanted to find out if I had any signs of diabetes.  The volunteers did a survey and measured my blood sugar level. Fortunately, I'm fine, I'm completely healthy." - shared one of the participants of this information campaign.

It is also worth mentioning that a seminar was held for family doctors at the Bokhtar City Health Centre. The seminar addressed the issues of aetiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment of acute and late complications of diabetes mellitus.  At the end of the seminar, a quiz was held and the winners’ received glucometers. At the beginning of December in Dushanbe, TOT training for endocrinologists and family physicians on the introduction and implementation of the guidelines "Timely diagnosis and control of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus" was organized to improve medical care for patients with diabetes mellitus and improve the skills of experts. The participants of the training were experts from 4 regions of the republic: GBAO, Sughd and Khatlon provinces and districts of republican subordination.  A total of 37 specialists were trained during 2 rounds of training. At the end of the training, certificates were awarded to the participants and future trainers were selected among the participants for further work on introduction and implementation of the diabetes guidelines at the regional level.

The information campaign was funded by the European Union (EU) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and implemented through the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) in the frame of the “Building a System on Integrated Primary Health Care in Tajikistan (BaSIC)” Project.