Malta ranked 26th among 30 European countries in the Euro Diabetes Index 2014, published today by the Sweden-based research organisation Health Consumer Powerhouse.
The study, which shows a pan-European comparison of diabetes prevention and treatment, was presented during the 50th Congress of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes in Vienna.
The study’s main message is that although, since 2006, the combination of healthier lifestyle, better and broader patient education, better trained physicians and improved access to treatment and devices reduced the number of deaths in Europe due to diabetes by 10,000 a year, diabetes care must become much more efficient as more people are diagnosed with the disease.
Index director Beatriz Cebolla said that data on diabetes care, procedures and treatment outcomes in Malta were obscure or non-existent, making assessments very difficult.
“Diabetes prevention is a challenge for an obese and sedentary population. Malta has made impressive improvements on diabetes care since the mid-1980’s, but still has among the worst diabetes problems in Europe.
“Maybe patients should be more in charge? The access to devices for patient management, such as blood sugar- och insulin test strips and insulin pumps, is poor. Often a reality check of diabetes care quality, the rate of foot amputation is high in Malta.”
She said that to improve diabetes care Malta had to:
• Improve public health, reduce obesity and increase physical education in schools.
• Empower patients to take charge of disease management by offering good access to continuous structured education.
• Insulin dependent patients need better access to devices to properly control their blood glucose, such as test strips and insulin pumps.
• Establish a national diabetes registry, to record and assess outcomes of diabetes care.
• Patients need to regularly attend a number of check-ups. The number of people receiving those follow-ups needs to increase.