The Global Partnership for Effective Diabetes Management has launched the first global recommendations designed to help physicians achieve recommended treatment goals for diabetes management. Despite increasingly stringent clinical practice guidelines, more than 60% of those with type 2 diabetes currently have glucose levels above the recommended targets (HbA1c less than 6.5%), putting them at risk for serious complications such as cardiovascular disease.
The Global Partnership for Effective Diabetes Management, a multidisciplinary task force of internationally respected diabetes experts from leading institutions and diabetes organisations worldwide, recognised that current treatment strategies were not sufficient to get patients to achieve glucose goals. Their global call to action, including 10 Practical Steps to Better Glucose Control was published in the International Journal of Clinical Practice (November 2005).
The Global Partnership advocates a proactive approach to the management of type 2 diabetes, calling for earlier use of combination therapy, in parallel with diet and exercise reinforcement. The recommendations provide specific action points for when changes in treatment strategy should be considered.
