App launched to ensure right medication for diabetes

Bangladesh Diabetic Samity (BADAS) President Professor Dr AK Azad Khan has said the newly introduced Diabetes Journey Application will enable physicians to select the right medication for patients living with diabetes.

He said this while inaugurating this app at a programme at a Dhaka city hotel on Saturday.

With this, the organisation started disseminating this app and a diabetes treatment guideline among the doctors to ensure quality treatment for patients. 

The BADAS president said the application and guideline are developed as a supporting tool for the physicians 

BADAS took the initiative to use digital technology in health care and introduce a guideline-based treatment method for patients living with diabetes, he added. 

In the mobile application demonstration part, Coordinator of BADAS Centre for Global Health Research Dr Bishwjit Bhowmik said physicians who are interested to log in to the app, they have to insert their registration number provided by the Bangladesh Medical Research Council.

Then, they have to write the disease history of their patients, and the app, following the Diabetes Care BADAS Guideline 2019, will inform doctors what kind of medication he/she needs. This will help them to select the right medication for the patients.  Prior to using the app, physicians are urged to read the guideline thoroughly, he added. 

President (elect) of International Diabetes Federation Professor Akhtar Hussain, who joined the programme online, said more than 8 million people in Bangladesh are suffering from diabetes and it is increasing day by day.

"To know the real picture and how many diabetes patients Bangladesh has, we can do it through a comprehensive survey in association with government and private organisations, like BADAS," he said.

"The initiative you have taken will not be beneficial unless the patient follows the rules of changing lifestyle. So, apart from such technological adaptation, we should focus on it (changing lifestyle) to control diabetes," Professor Akhtar Hussain also said. 

President of Bangladesh Endocrinology Society Professor Dr Faruque Pathan said the app will help physicians to get updated info. It is mainly a tool for ensuring quality treatment for patients living with diabetes.

Professor Dr Md Robed Amin, line director at the NCD control programme of the DGHS, said improving treatment capacity of the doctors is also a demand of the time and these initiatives are aligned with the modernising treatment of diabetes management.

The initiative would become successful if a countrywide training programme is rolled out for the physicians on how to use this application, he added.    

The diabetes treatment guideline was prepared jointly by the BADAS and Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) Control Programme of Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), in collaboration with Novo Nordisk.