Mapping the burden of diabetes in five small countries in Europe and setting the agenda for health policy and strategic action
Background: Diabetes is a global epidemic affecting every country. Small countries, however, face distinctive challenges related to their health system governance and their ability to implement effective health systems’ reforms. The aim of this research was to perform a comparative assessment of exi...
Published in: | Health Research Policy and Systems |
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Main Authors: | , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
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BioMed Central Ltd.
2021
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Online Access: | https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/80065 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12961-020-00665-y |
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ftunivmalta:oai:www.um.edu.mt:123456789/80065 |
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University of Malta: OAR@UM |
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English |
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Non-insulin-dependent diabetes -- Government policy -- Malta Non-insulin-dependent diabetes -- Government policy -- Cyprus Non-insulin-dependent diabetes -- Government policy -- Iceland Non-insulin-dependent diabetes -- Government policy -- Luxembourg Non-insulin-dependent diabetes -- Government policy -- Montenegro Medical policy -- Europe States Small -- Case studies Diabetes -- Europe -- Data processing |
spellingShingle |
Non-insulin-dependent diabetes -- Government policy -- Malta Non-insulin-dependent diabetes -- Government policy -- Cyprus Non-insulin-dependent diabetes -- Government policy -- Iceland Non-insulin-dependent diabetes -- Government policy -- Luxembourg Non-insulin-dependent diabetes -- Government policy -- Montenegro Medical policy -- Europe States Small -- Case studies Diabetes -- Europe -- Data processing Cuschieri, Sarah Pallari, Elena Terzic, Natasa Alkerwi, Ala'a Sigurðardóttir, Árún Kristín Mapping the burden of diabetes in five small countries in Europe and setting the agenda for health policy and strategic action |
topic_facet |
Non-insulin-dependent diabetes -- Government policy -- Malta Non-insulin-dependent diabetes -- Government policy -- Cyprus Non-insulin-dependent diabetes -- Government policy -- Iceland Non-insulin-dependent diabetes -- Government policy -- Luxembourg Non-insulin-dependent diabetes -- Government policy -- Montenegro Medical policy -- Europe States Small -- Case studies Diabetes -- Europe -- Data processing |
description |
Background: Diabetes is a global epidemic affecting every country. Small countries, however, face distinctive challenges related to their health system governance and their ability to implement effective health systems’ reforms. The aim of this research was to perform a comparative assessment of existing diabetes management practices at the population level and explore governmental-related policy for Cyprus, Iceland, Luxembourg, Malta and Montenegro. This is the first time that such an evidence-based review study has been performed in the field of diabetes. The overall purpose was to set the agenda for health policy and inform strategic actions for small countries that can benefit from dealing with the diabetes epidemic at a country level. Methods: We collected data and synthesized the evidence on dealing with diabetes for each of the five small European countries according to the (1) epidemiology of diabetes and other related metabolic abnormalities, (2) burden of diabetes status and (3) diabetes registers and national plans. We collected data by contacting Ministry representatives and other bodies in each state, and by searching through publicly available information from the respective Ministry of Health website on strategies and policies. Results: Diabetes rates were highest in Cyprus and Malta. National diabetes registers are present in Cyprus and Montenegro, while national diabetes plans and diabetes-specific strategies have been established in Cyprus, Malta and Montenegro. These three countries also offer a free holistic healthcare service to their diabetes population. Conclusions: Multistakeholder, national diabetes plans and public health strategies are important means to provide direction on diabetes management and health service provision at the population level. However, political support is not always present, as seen for Iceland. The absence of evidence-based strategies, lack of funding for conducting regular health examination surveys, omission of monitoring practices and capacity scarcity are among the greatest challenges faced by small countries to effectively measure health outcomes. Nevertheless, we identified means of how these can be overcome. For example, the creation of public interdisciplinary repositories enables easily accessible data that can be used for health policy and strategic planning. Health policy-makers, funders and practitioners can consider the use of regular health examination surveys and other tools to effectively manage diabetes at the population level. peer-reviewed |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Cuschieri, Sarah Pallari, Elena Terzic, Natasa Alkerwi, Ala'a Sigurðardóttir, Árún Kristín |
author_facet |
Cuschieri, Sarah Pallari, Elena Terzic, Natasa Alkerwi, Ala'a Sigurðardóttir, Árún Kristín |
author_sort |
Cuschieri, Sarah |
title |
Mapping the burden of diabetes in five small countries in Europe and setting the agenda for health policy and strategic action |
title_short |
Mapping the burden of diabetes in five small countries in Europe and setting the agenda for health policy and strategic action |
title_full |
Mapping the burden of diabetes in five small countries in Europe and setting the agenda for health policy and strategic action |
title_fullStr |
Mapping the burden of diabetes in five small countries in Europe and setting the agenda for health policy and strategic action |
title_full_unstemmed |
Mapping the burden of diabetes in five small countries in Europe and setting the agenda for health policy and strategic action |
title_sort |
mapping the burden of diabetes in five small countries in europe and setting the agenda for health policy and strategic action |
publisher |
BioMed Central Ltd. |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/80065 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12961-020-00665-y |
genre |
Iceland |
genre_facet |
Iceland |
op_relation |
Cuschieri, S., Pallari, E., Terzic, N., Alkerwi, A. A., & Sigurðardóttir, Á. K. (2021). Mapping the burden of diabetes in five small countries in Europe and setting the agenda for health policy and strategic action. Health Research Policy and Systems, 19(1), 1-10. https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/80065 doi:10.1186/s12961-020-00665-y |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess The copyright of this work belongs to the author(s)/publisher. The rights of this work are as defined by the appropriate Copyright Legislation or as modified by any successive legislation. Users may access this work and can make use of the information contained in accordance with the Copyright Legislation provided that the author must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the prior permission of the copyright holder. |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12961-020-00665-y |
container_title |
Health Research Policy and Systems |
container_volume |
19 |
container_issue |
1 |
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1766038569440247808 |
spelling |
ftunivmalta:oai:www.um.edu.mt:123456789/80065 2023-05-15T16:48:29+02:00 Mapping the burden of diabetes in five small countries in Europe and setting the agenda for health policy and strategic action Cuschieri, Sarah Pallari, Elena Terzic, Natasa Alkerwi, Ala'a Sigurðardóttir, Árún Kristín 2021 https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/80065 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12961-020-00665-y en eng BioMed Central Ltd. Cuschieri, S., Pallari, E., Terzic, N., Alkerwi, A. A., & Sigurðardóttir, Á. K. (2021). Mapping the burden of diabetes in five small countries in Europe and setting the agenda for health policy and strategic action. Health Research Policy and Systems, 19(1), 1-10. https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/80065 doi:10.1186/s12961-020-00665-y info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess The copyright of this work belongs to the author(s)/publisher. The rights of this work are as defined by the appropriate Copyright Legislation or as modified by any successive legislation. Users may access this work and can make use of the information contained in accordance with the Copyright Legislation provided that the author must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the prior permission of the copyright holder. Non-insulin-dependent diabetes -- Government policy -- Malta Non-insulin-dependent diabetes -- Government policy -- Cyprus Non-insulin-dependent diabetes -- Government policy -- Iceland Non-insulin-dependent diabetes -- Government policy -- Luxembourg Non-insulin-dependent diabetes -- Government policy -- Montenegro Medical policy -- Europe States Small -- Case studies Diabetes -- Europe -- Data processing article 2021 ftunivmalta https://doi.org/10.1186/s12961-020-00665-y 2021-10-16T18:06:32Z Background: Diabetes is a global epidemic affecting every country. Small countries, however, face distinctive challenges related to their health system governance and their ability to implement effective health systems’ reforms. The aim of this research was to perform a comparative assessment of existing diabetes management practices at the population level and explore governmental-related policy for Cyprus, Iceland, Luxembourg, Malta and Montenegro. This is the first time that such an evidence-based review study has been performed in the field of diabetes. The overall purpose was to set the agenda for health policy and inform strategic actions for small countries that can benefit from dealing with the diabetes epidemic at a country level. Methods: We collected data and synthesized the evidence on dealing with diabetes for each of the five small European countries according to the (1) epidemiology of diabetes and other related metabolic abnormalities, (2) burden of diabetes status and (3) diabetes registers and national plans. We collected data by contacting Ministry representatives and other bodies in each state, and by searching through publicly available information from the respective Ministry of Health website on strategies and policies. Results: Diabetes rates were highest in Cyprus and Malta. National diabetes registers are present in Cyprus and Montenegro, while national diabetes plans and diabetes-specific strategies have been established in Cyprus, Malta and Montenegro. These three countries also offer a free holistic healthcare service to their diabetes population. Conclusions: Multistakeholder, national diabetes plans and public health strategies are important means to provide direction on diabetes management and health service provision at the population level. However, political support is not always present, as seen for Iceland. The absence of evidence-based strategies, lack of funding for conducting regular health examination surveys, omission of monitoring practices and capacity scarcity are among the greatest challenges faced by small countries to effectively measure health outcomes. Nevertheless, we identified means of how these can be overcome. For example, the creation of public interdisciplinary repositories enables easily accessible data that can be used for health policy and strategic planning. Health policy-makers, funders and practitioners can consider the use of regular health examination surveys and other tools to effectively manage diabetes at the population level. peer-reviewed Article in Journal/Newspaper Iceland University of Malta: OAR@UM Health Research Policy and Systems 19 1 |