Under its Excellence across Borders program, Bayer HealthCare supports local projects in order to improve care of people with diabetes.

With this program, Bayer HealthCare actively promotes a country-specific approach in the MENA region with still low awareness in broader part of the population by sharing knowledge and experience in excellence-oriented networks.

Among the projects is a new Diabetic School Awareness Program aimed at teenagers in Saudi Arabia, which has now been started. The program intends to enhance diabetes awareness and management to reduce the number of people at risk and is supported by the Association of Diabetic Patient Friends in Jeddah and Bayer HealthCare’s Excellence across Borders initiative.

It presents a local approach to improve knowledge about current options in the diagnosis, therapy, and prevention of diabetes in this region.

“Improving the conditions for people living with diabetes will undoubtedly be one of the most challenging health issues of the 21st century,” said Gerd-Walter Rohm, initiator of the Excellence across Borders initiative at Bayer HealthCare. “Raising awareness among the younger population and sharing best practice is an important priority to drive progress on diabetes management.”

Saudi Arabia has the second highest comparative prevalence of diabetes in the MENA region. The country’s rapid urbanization has influenced the lifestyle and nutrition of its people over the past three decades, leading to epidemic proportions of about 23 percent of the adults affected by diabetes mellitus.

“The Excellence across Borders program fosters regional cooperation on all levels of diabetes management, helping us to further meet our patients’ needs,” said Professor Hassan Hussein Fatani, consultant endocrinologist at King Abdulaziz University and Erfan Hospital, and president of the Association of Diabetic Patient Friends, Jeddah.

Located in the Jeddah region, the Diabetic School Awareness Program aims at addressing the younger population that constitutes about 70 percent of the total population.