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Michael Hall outlines the work and aims of IMAGE – the Development and Implementation of a European Guideline and Training Standards for Diabetes Prevention

Michael Hall

The prevalence of type 2 diabetes is dramatically increasing all over the world. In the European Union, evidence shows that the standards for its prevention vary greatly between the Member States. By sharing best practice and raising standards in the prevention of type 2 diabetes throughout the EU, the progression towards type 2 diabetes can be reduced so making a significant contribution to controlling the diabetes epidemic. Although several prevention management concepts currently exist in various EU countries that can be implemented into clinical practice, EU-wide strategies are still lacking.
Therefore, the IMAGE Project, initiated by Dresden’s Technical University, was submitted to the European Commission (EC) under the Call for Proposals 2006 and was subsequently recommended for co-funding as one of the largest projects in the public health sector.

Aim
It is widely recognised that effective primary prevention is the key to reducing the epidemic in type 2 diabetes. The IMAGE project will help to address this through the development of four specific objectives:
l A European-wide guideline for the primary prevention of type 2 diabetes to improve information and knowledge about preventing type 2 diabetes and its complications. The aim is to produce a guideline that is practice-oriented, readily available and useful to all healthcare professionals working with people who are at high risk of diabetes.
l A European curriculum for training prevention managers/educators; these healthcare professionals will be equipped to respond quickly and effectively to the increase in type 2 diabetes, its burden to society and to individuals and their families who are at risk of diabetes.
l European standards for quality control which will include a European wide system of continuous evaluation of primary prevention programmes
l A European e-health training portal to ensure that evidence-based health information is available to both prevention managers and all healthcare professionals, so helping to reduce inequalities in health across the EU.
Achieving these objectives will realistically improve the EU ability to respond rapidly to the drastic increase in the social and economic burden related to type 2 diabetes. By addressing health inequalities and health determinants across all policies and activities in Europe, the project will be of major importance in the prevention of diabetes and the promotion of health.
Timeframe and work-flow
The three-year project started in June 2007. 32 organisations and institutions from 13 EU countries, plus Serbia, Ukraine and Israel, are currently involved as partners in the IMAGE project. Partners will work in seven work packages to achieve the project’s objectives.
* Acknowledgements - This article arises from the project IMAGE, which has received EU funding, in the framework of the Public Health Programme.
Details: www.image-project.eu

This article was published on 10/30/2007

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