November 14 marks World Diabetes Day with the theme of access to care, clearly one of the main challenges of our current health system. Diabetes, which affects one in ten adults worldwide, has a significant cost on our entire society. The impact could be significantly reduced by focusing on accessibility and prevention.
Accessibility to counter complications
Nearly 100 Quebecers per day have a new diagnosis of diabetes. To obtain early care, accessibility to quality health care is crucial. Patients must have access to education tailored to their needs to acquire skills to prevent disease-related complications. On the other hand, healthcare professionals must also have access to all the resources necessary to care for these patients with a comprehensive approach.
On the ground, the reality is very different and marked by silo management of chronic diseases. Specialist doctors try to gain local access to interdisciplinary clinics to care for their patients more effectively, but systematically come up against a lack of space, then a significant shortage of human resources. The objective is to bring together nurses, specialized nurse practitioners, nutritionists, pharmacists and doctors to build teams that use the full potential of each person. Moreover, clinics of this type have already proven themselves to treat certain pathologies such as heart failure.
Innovations in nutrition, pharmacology and technology for diabetes management can provide patients with hope for a better quality of life and a complication-free future. The population has the right to have access to an accessible and universal public health system in order to obtain individualized and appropriate treatment.
Acting in prevention, the key for all of society
Type 2 diabetes is mainly caused by our lifestyle habits and a genetic predisposition. We therefore cannot talk about diabetes without talking about obesity. While nearly one in 12 Quebecers has diabetes, one in 4 is obese. The economic burden associated with overweight and obesity was estimated at $3 billion in Quebec in 2011. Imagine in 2023!
Internal medicine specialists are confronted daily with complications linked to obesity, both in the emergency room and in intensive care or in outpatient consultations. These complications, such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and increased risk of cancer, have a serious impact on the quality of life of our patients.
In a context where there is a lot of talk about Ozempic and other miracle treatments against obesity, we firmly recall that a massive investment in education on healthy lifestyle habits remains the most promising approach. By adopting healthier behaviors in the early stages of diabetes, it is possible to stop progression and even achieve remission.
Through Bill 15, Minister Dubé promises to make the health system more efficient and facilitate access to care. Let us hope that this will take into consideration the learning of health professionals in the field and will have the expected results to improve local care, and above all, its access. For the well-being of our patients… and of all of society.