iSTEP-D Plus Online program kick-started in August. Photo courtesy of Sanofi

HCM CITY— The Vietnam Association of Diabetes & Endocrinology has collaborated with Sanofi-Aventis Vietnam Co., Ltd. to establish an online training programme on diabetes.

The programme marks the third phase of academic intensive training on Diabetes – iSTEP-D Plus, which was launched last year and is expected to reach more than 4,000 general practitioners across the country.

iSTEP-D Plus Online includes three courses with 15 lively lectures delivered by leading endocrinologists that offer the latest specialized knowledge for Vietnamese general practitioners at grassroots hospitals.

Course 1’s academic content is fully delivered to registered healthcare experts, while Course 2’s lectures are expected to be released in October 2020. 

After completing required courses and examination, healthcare workers will receive a certificate issued by the Vietnam Medical Association & Vietnam Association of Diabetes & Endocrinology.

As a constant effort to support convenient in-depth training for medical workers and improve healthcare quality for diabetic patients, the integration of online training course on mobile app MDCom is a breakthrough innovation from on-the-job training, in the 3rd phase of iSTEP-D Plus Vietnam roadmap (2019 – 2021).

MDCom contains information on seminars and updates for medical staff. 

Prof. Trần Hữu Dàng, president of Vietnam Association of Diabetes & Endocrinology, said: “Following the success of iSTEP-D and iSTEP-D Plus program, iSTEP-D Plus Online marks a renovation in training in adaptation to the current digital trend, especially beneficial during Covid-19 pandemic.”

“The project is expected to improve the healthcare worker’s professional capacity and contribute to the ultimate goal of optimizing diabetes disease control and enhance Vietnamese diabetes patient’s quality of life.”

Emin Turan, CEO of Sanofi Indochina, said: “Technology is rapidly developing and dominating many areas, including medicine. Being one of the pioneering pharmaceutical corporations to implement digital innovation in Science and Training activities, Sanofi hopes iSTEP-D Plus Online will contribute to the effort of improving healthcare worker’s professional capacity.”

In recent decades, the incidence of diabetes in Asia has increased significantly with the onset of illness in relatively young patients having a low BMI.

Diabetes prevention and management is one of the top priorities of Asian countries’ public health care.

According to statistics from the International Diabetes Federation, Việt Nam has 3.53 million people living with diabetes, and 80 deaths due to diabetes complications per day. VNS