Dr. Hamzah Al Zubaidi, Coordinator of the Improving Health Care
Delivery and Medicines Use Research Group at the University of Sharjah,
won a Cooperative Research Award from the Harvard Medical School
Center for Global Health Care Delivery in Dubai for funding a project
titled “Implementing a diabetes and cardiovascular disease risk screening
program in community pharmacy in the UAE”. The award was in the amount
of AED 276,000. Diabetes and cardiovascular diseases are major public
health challenges in the UAE.
From 2017 to 2019, Dr. Al Zubaidi worked with local collaborators and
international experts to develop a screening program for diabetes and
cardiovascular disease risk in community pharmacies for people over 40
years of age. The program was tested in 12 community pharmacies in
Dubai, Sharjah, and Ajman cities. Over a period of 10 months, 568 people
were screened in these pharmacies. Thirty-eight percent of those who were
screened were found to have high blood sugar levels, and 14.6% had an
elevated risk for cardiovascular disease. Moreover, 79.2% were overweight
or obese. After testing, pharmacists explained the screening results to the
participants and advised them of methods to reduce their risk of diabetes
and cardiovascular disease, such as healthy lifestyle goals. Participants at
high risk (58.6%) were referred to a doctor for further testing and treatment.
It is feasible for community pharmacists to screen and refer individuals for
diabetes and CVD risks in the UAE. The successful implementation of the
screening model in community pharmacy, in terms of identifying at-risk
individuals and advising them to visit their physicians for further evaluation,
offers a new platform to increase screening capacity within the primary
care setting, and represents a key opportunity for the early detection
and intervention to tackle the increasing burden of both diseases. Early
identification of people at risk for diabetes and cardiovascular disease
allows early intervention through lifestyle changes and/or medications that
can delay the onset of, or prevent diabetes and cardiovascular disease.