Introduction to diabetes care

FEATURE Living with Diabetes

At present over 170 million people are living with diabetess across the globe. Among them as much as 90% are living with diabetes type 2 while the remaining manage diabetes type 1 daily with insulin dosage. Recent research into the management of diabetes has found convincing evidence that diabetes type 2 can indeed be prevented and even delayed in high risk individuals through better diet, exercise and lifestyle choices.

With a strong medical case for the prevention and control of diabetes, improving care for persons with diabetes as well as for those at high risk has increasingly become an important concern for decision-makers and health-care planners.

The Innovative Care for Chronic Conditions (ICCC) Framework

Over the years, many models have been developed to assist policy makers and health care organizations with providing effective chronic care. One such model developed by the World Health Organization is the Innovative Care for Chronic Conditions (ICCC) framework. It is a systems approach for planning care in the public health sector. The ICCC framework provides a "road map" for decision-makers who want to improve their health system’s capacity to manage chronic conditions, like diabetes.

This Framework is comprised of fundamental components within the levels of patient interactions, organization of health care, community, and policy. These components are described as "building blocks", which can be used to help decision-makers progressively create or re-design a health care system to expand their capacity to manage long-term health problems.