SAHF wins BMJ “Diabetes Team Of The Year” award

The South Asian Health Foundation team with Jeremy Hunt, Secretary of State for Health

The South Asian Health Foundation (SAHF) has been named ‘Diabetes Team of the Year’ at the prestigious 2015 BMJ Awards.

The South Asian Health Foundation team with Jeremy Hunt, Secretary of State for Health

SAHF was praised during the judging process for their innovative community education programme that has helped to break down cultural barriers in South Asian communities which have historically held back self-management of the condition and engagement with NHS services by those directly affected by diabetes.

The judges commented, “This impressive project targeted a high risk population in seven major cities in the UK and is breaking down cultural barriers by taking important diabetes education out into the communities – to schools, community centres and places of worship, embedding health ambassadors in schools and recruiting local pharmacists as champions. They are achieving powerful attitudinal changes in areas of significant educational need.”

SAHF events were attended by 400 people of South Asian origin with Type 2 diabetes

Funded by an educational grant from Novo Nordisk, the project targeted all the main cultures across the South Asian community. Some 11 events were hosted by SAHF and local organisations in community centres, temples and GP practices, from Glasgow down to London. The events aimed to address issues of awareness and understanding of diabetes across the ‘at risk’ populations in South Asian communities in the UK. The events saw 400 people of South Asian origin with type 2 diabetes attend, and a post-project report was launched in Parliament with supporting speeches from Secretary of State for Health Jeremy Hunt and National Clinical Director for Obesity and Diabetes at NHS England, Professor Jonathan Valabhji.

Dr Kiran Patel, Consultant Cardiologist & NHS England Area Team Medical Director and Chair of Trustees, SAHF said, “We are thrilled to have been named as Diabetes Team of the Year as part of the prestigious BMJ Awards. The feedback from the judges was fantastic, and we are proud to see our efforts being celebrated in this way. The shift in attitude and understanding of diabetes brought about by this community education programme is encouraging; it has made a real difference to the lives of South Asians living with diabetes, as well as their families.”

“We are proud to have supported the South Asian Health Foundation in this important initiative,” said Klaus Henning Jensen, Novo Nordisk’s Head of Clinical, Medical and Regulatory Affairs for UK and Ireland. “The project met a clear need in the South Asian community and was successful in using educational intervention to break down barriers and expose myths around self-management and treatment that exist in this setting.”