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| Representatives of IDF, IDF Europe Board and Members from Eastern European Countries |
The XVII Summit of Heads of Diabetes Associations of Eastern European countries “Unity for the Good” took place in Tashkent, Republic of Uzbekistan from April 19-21. This annual gathering aims at improving the cooperation between Eastern European governments to tackle diabetes prevalenece and incidence and its socio-economic consequences in these countries.
This year, the presidents of IDF Europe’s Member Associations from Uzbekistan, Prof Ismailov Said (Endocrinological and Diabetes Association of Uzbekistan) and Dr Ibragimova Nilufar (Charity Public Association of the Disabled and People with DM “UMID”), opened the summit. Around 100 representatives of Member Associations and national authorities participated in this high-level meeting, including delegates from the Parliament and the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Uzbekistan, and regional representatives of the World Health Organisation (WHO), the United Nations (UN) and UNICEF.
IDF President Prof Nam Cho, IDF Europe Chair, Prof Dr Sehnaz Karadeniz, IDF Europe Chair-elect, Dr Niti Pall, and IDF Europe Board Member, Dr Iryna Vlasenko, were also present.
The first day of the meeting focused on the specific challenges faced by the Region as whole and Uzbekistan specifically concerning diabetes incidence, as well as the progress achieved by the country in the prevention, management and care of the disease. Prof Nam Cho also provided a global perspective on the burden of diabetes and IDF’s role in tackling this problem.
During the following day, discussions concentrated on the best ways to improve cooperation between Eastern European countries to address the high diabetes incidence and its serious socio-economic consequences, specifically towards the implementation and/or improvement of diabetes national plans and the effective cooperation between ministries of health and diabetes associations. To this end, various working sessions were organised, which served to establish better advocacy procedures.
Other subjects of note during the meeting included innovation and digital technology to improve diabetes management and prevent its co-morbidities.
The summit, founded by IDF Europe Corporate Partner, Novo Nordisk, concluded with the adoption of the Summit resolution.
Many thanks to Said Ismailov and Nilufar Ibragimova and the entire teams of Associations!
