The Institute for Clinical and Healthcare Effectiveness (IECS) and the World Diabetes Foundation (WDF), together with the Northeastern University (UNNE) and the University of La Plata (UNLP) consolidate their strategic collaboration with the goal of improving prevention, early detection, and comprehensive diabetes care in vulnerable populations in Argentina's public health system.
Within this framework, a day of exchange of experiences and presentation of preliminary results of the project was held on April 28, 2025. "A comprehensive approach to strengthening prevention and care for people with diabetes in vulnerable populations within the public health system.", developed by IECS, UNNE and UNLP, with the support of WDF.
The opening of the meeting was led by Dr. Vilma Irazola, director of the Department of Research in Chronic Diseases at IECS, Silvia Lapertosa, professor at UNNE, and Mr. Jorge Elgart from UNLP, and was also attended by Dr. Andrea Beratarrechea, representative of the WDF. During the meeting, the importance of collaborative work and the leading role of local health teams at each stage of the project were emphasized.We would like to thank all the participating health teams for their immense work and their openness and generosity in working collaboratively throughout the project with the common goal of improving the care of our population.", highlighted the Dr. Vilma Irazola.
Throughout the day, progress and lessons learned were presented in several key areas: training and development of healthcare teams, diabetes screening and early detection strategies, improvements in the quality of care, the incorporation of health technologies, and community-oriented communication strategies. In addition, professionals from Tandil, Salta, San Juan, Misiones, Neuquén, Catamarca, Tucumán, Mendoza, and La Plata shared their stories, highlighting how the comprehensive approach proposed by the project contributed to strengthening capacities, better coordinating levels of care, and bringing concrete tools to the most vulnerable populations.The project represented a great opportunity for us. It provided us with new knowledge, strengthened team training, and offered strategies that enabled timely identification of at-risk patients and improved management of those with diabetes. It also optimized our growing care network, facilitating the necessary coordination with the Maternal and Child Hospital so that our pregnant women with gestational diabetes could receive adequate follow-up care. In short, its implementation was a great benefit to our population.", reflected Dr. Roxana Alemán, Coordinator of the Southern Area of Primary Care of the province of Salta.
Likewise, Dr. Tomás Baliña, Director of Community Health of the Municipality of Tandil, highlighted: “The project is important, first, for the impetus it gave to working with healthcare workers, promoting truly interdisciplinary actions, where each team member assumes a clear and powerful role to address complex problems directly in the field. Second, it provides fundamental value through the creation of the dashboard, which provides real-time information and allows us to think not only about the people who consult at the health center, but also in population terms: reaching out to those who are not arriving and measuring whether we are achieving the appropriate therapeutic goals.".
The collaboration between IECS and WDF reaffirms both institutions' commitment to generating sustainable changes in the approach to diabetes in Argentina, placing people at the center of care strategies and consolidating primary care as a fundamental pillar for achieving a lasting impact.