Sanofi-aventis pharmaceuticals has announced complimentary educational grants to 40 gulf specialists to take part in a Cardiff University Post Graduate Diabetes Diploma.

The postgraduate diploma in diabetes is a two year part-time, distance learning course which is organised and led by the Diabetes Research Unit at the School of Medicine, Cardiff University, under the leadership of Professor David R Owens, professor of Diabetes Medicine, Cardiff University.

Professor Owens is also the director of the Diabetes Research Unit at Llandough Hospital in Cardiff, UK, and has been involved in the management of and research into diabetes for more than 30 years.

The initiative is a joint collaboration between Sanofi-aventis pharmaceuticals and the Emirates Diabetes Society (EDS), Kuwait Diabetes Society (KDS) and Qatar Diabetes Association (QDA) together with eminent health authorities in the UAE.

Dr Abdul Razzak Madani, consultant endocrinologist and head of Emirates Diabetes Society (EDS), said, “It is a fact that the incidence of type two diabetes has reached epidemic levels in this region, but we now have a comprehensive plan to tackle this chronic disease.”

“Through primary care physicians’ education we’ll create a unified generation of diabetologists with a full understanding of diabetes management and the capability of managing such an epidemic disease,” concluded Jean-Marc Voissier, general manager, Sanofi-aventis, Gulf.-TradeArabia News Service