Conscious of the alarming situation as far as diabetes is concerned the government has made it a priority to include in its government programme the writing up of a White Paper on National Service Framework for Diabetes ( NSFD ) for Mauritius.

The Prime Minister has personally ensured that this task is given a high priority by delegating a team in the Prime Minister’s Office to jumpstart work on this White Paper and it is now being finalized at the Ministry of Health. This White Paper falls in the vanguard of the government to put people first and therefore to move the person living with diabetes to the heart of our health service.

The NSFD will aim to recognize those people with diabetes who do not know that they have diabetes such that they are not only recognized once they have developed complications. It will aim to recognize those people at risk of developing diabetes and use current knowledge in order to delay or prevent the onset of diabetes. In the process there will be a national campaign to make people aware and to sensitize them about diabetes.

Recognising the invariable paradigm that the fight against diabetes can only be won by the person living with diabetes the NSFD will undertake a vast empowerment programme for people living with diabetes. NSFD will reengineer all aspects of diabetes care such that a modern, up to date diabetes care is delivered to the person living with diabetes. In order for this to be realized, health care professionals working with people living with diabetes will be given appropriate training and all the tools necessary, for instance , facility for glycosylated haemoglobin ( HbA1c ) facility for lipid profile measurement, monofilaments and hand-held Doppler equipment . The NSFD will target initiatives to screen and recognize complications early in order to reduce long term disabilities. In particular a national digital retinal screening service will be set up. Foot care will be revamped with support from podiatrists and orthotists.

NSFD will ensure that we no longer strive in our fight against diabetes in isolation but that we partner with international organizations in order to benefit from the experience of best practice elsewhere and at the same time we facilitate research in the fight for knowledge in order to win the battle against diabetes.

The NSFD lays out the standards of diabetes care and the interventions required for them to be achieved. At the outset it has to be recognized that the task will be Herculean and it will not be achieved overnight. In fact it can realistically be said that a ten-year time scale will be required for all the standards to be achieved. This would be the same time scale set by the Department of Health of the United Kingdom for their NSFD to be firmly in place.