Dr Joe Cassar, the Minister for Health, the Elderly & Community Care, Ulrich Schweppe, Senior Market Development Agency Business at Roche Diabetes Care and Roche's local marketer and distributor Vivian Corporation, met at the Hilton Malta to agree on the most important levers for an effective holistic diabetes management and discuss how this can be optimally implemented for improved diabetes care structures in Malta. Commitment towards optimal collaboration between both parties was established.

Roche Diabetes Care is a pioneer in the development of blood glucose monitoring systems and a global leader for diabetes management systems and services. For more than 35 years, the Accu-Chek® brand has been dedicated to enable people with diabetes to live life as normal and active as possible as well as to empower healthcare professionals manage their patients' condition in an optimal way.

Today, the Accu-Chek® portfolio offers people with diabetes and healthcare professionals innovative products and impactful solutions for convenient, efficient and effective diabetes management spanning from blood glucose monitoring through information management to insulin delivery. The Accu-Chek® brand encompasses blood glucose meters, insulin delivery systems, lancing devices, data management systems and education programs - leading to an improved medical outcome.

To improve this situation, people with diabetes need to understand the principles of treatment, make informed choices, cope with the relevant testing technology, and know the symptoms of the various complications. “This is why our holistic diabetes management approach aims at helping patients to better understand their values, make informed therapy decisions and become experts of their condition,” said Ulrich Schweppe.

In Malta as well as in many other countries, Roche Diabetes Care provides educational tools such as the Accu-Chek® Assist program. It includes information leaflets and brochures as well as video material to help motivate people with diabetes to change their behaviour, and advice resources that facilitate an optimised patient-doctor dialogue.

“Roche Diabetes Care's materials and training offerings are effective and support improved therapy results – that's what the feedback from participants and caregivers keeps showing,” said Gordon Zammit, Sales & Marketing Manager at Vivian Corporation.

Another important cornerstone for successful diabetes management is the concept of structured self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG). It gives a detailed overview of blood glucose levels over time and provides doctors with a database for treatment decisions. Also, it visualizes how lifestyle affects the metabolism, which makes people with diabetes feel more accountable for their own actions.

Vivian Corporation has been selected by Roche to conduct a pilot study amongst the public to monitor the glycaemic variability according to the Accu-Chek® 360º View concept. In brief, selected patients with diabetes were supported to monitor their blood glucose level in a structured way over a period of seven months using the Accu-Chek® Active System. The study commenced in November 2010 and should end in May 2011.

Roche Diabetes Care, together with Vivian Corporation, has proposed to the Minister that this study may be extended further in order to study a bigger proportion of Maltese citizens with diabetes. All selected patients will be instructed how to perform structured testing, and interviewed regularly in order to assess the effect of one's glycaemic control with such structured testing. Once the study will be finalised, the results will be assessed and published.

The Ministry for Health, the Elderly and Community Care welcomed this research initiative and stated that it is looking forward to being informed of its outcome.