Barometer Better Practices

Case studies from around the world can be used to gain insight on different approaches to changing diabetes, as well as the attitudes of participants and other interested parties, the difficulties encountered, and the various solutions used to overcome these obstacles.

Featured Case Studies

Case studies from the Changing Diabetes Barometer website provide illustrative examples from five different countries of how data collection and measurement are leading to improvements in each of the key measures used by the Changing Diabetes Barometer initiative to evaluate the current and future situation of diabetes in various parts of the world. This report presents evidence that being armed with diabetes data at a national level can improve national diabetes care and inform national diabetes policy, as well as deliver cost savings and increase productivity.

• Quality of Care – A project from Australia shows how collecting data and making it widely accessible opens up opportunities for analysis, learning, and targeted improvement in national diabetes management¹


• Prevalence of Diabetes – The rising prevalence of diabetes in India reveals the effects of urbanisation and increased life expectancy on the risk of developing diabetes and the urgent need to generate awareness of the diabetes pandemic¹


• Cost of Diabetes – An example from Israel provides objective evidence that measuring and sharing diabetes treatment results through improved education of primary healthcare teams leads to improved standards of care and cost savings¹


• Access to Care – Data on healthcare quality in the United States highlights the wide variation between outcomes achieved for people with diabetes within a country and demonstrates that accredited diabetes treatment plans show great potential for improving access to better care¹


• National Plans – Collection and analysis of clinical performance data from diabetes clinics in Italy forms the basis for a range of national and regional initiatives to improve the pattern of diabetes care throughout the whole country¹

It Just Takes 3 Project

In 2008, an initiative to map HbA_1c across Australia for each State, Division of General Practice, and individual postcode was undertaken as a joint project between Dr. Chrys Michaelides, a Queensland primary care physician with a dedicated interest in diabetes, and Novo Nordisk Australia. This initiative, called the ‘It Just Takes 3 Project,’ used an interactive Changing Diabetes Map as a benchmarking tool to drive change and to initially improve by 10% the number of people with diabetes in Australia achieving an HbA_1c <7%.²

The ‘It Just Takes 3 Project’ demonstrated that utilisation of local data can serve as a practical tool by quantifying the problem of diabetes control and allowing implementation of targeted strategies to improve quality of care in diabetes management. ²

Download “Utilisation of the Changing Diabetes Map as a Practical Tool in Diabetes Management: The It Just Takes 3 Project”

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In our efforts to change the course of diabetes and improve treatment outcomes, Novo Nordisk has worked to prioritize diabetes on public health agendas around the world. To date, Changing Diabetes briefing books have been created for thirteen countries, with the purpose of providing a clear picture of the current human and economic impact of diabetes and raising awareness of the challenge of diabetes among decision makers, medical communities, and the general public.

The briefing books provide an overview of the current status of diabetes in each nation, as well as a projection of the future burden of diabetes if efforts are not made to address it. They also document evidence that:

• Type 2 diabetes can be prevented


• The impact of diabetes can be managed


• Effective treatment prevents complications and improves lives


• It is cost-effective to invest in good diabetes treatment

Briefing Books available for download:

• Africa: diabetes: the hidden pandemic and its impact on sub-saharan africa (in English)


• Africa: diabète: la pandémie silencieuse et son impact en afrique subsaharienne (in French)


• Belgium: 'Diabète en Belgique: la pandémie cache et impact' (in French)


• China: 'Diabetes: the hidden epidemic and its impact on China'


• Denmark: 'How to stop the diabetes epidemic in Denmark'


• Denmark: 'Diabetes: den skjutle epidemic og konsekvenserne for Danmark' (pre-forum) (in Danish)


• France: 'Le diabète en France: l'épidémie silencieuse du 21ème siècle' (in French)


• Hungary: 'Diabetes: the hidden pandemic and its impact on Hungary'


• Italy: 'Diabetes, the hidden epidemic and its impact on Italy'


• Italy: 'Diabete: la pandemia silente e il suo impatto in Italia' (in Italian)


• Japan: 'Diabetes Data Book: Current state and future of diabetes treatment in Japan'


• Japan: 'Diabetes Fact Book'


• Russia: 'Diabetes: The hidden pandemic and its impact on Russia'


• Russia: 'Diabetes: a worldwide and national threat' (post-forum)


• Russia: 'Diabetes in Russia: problems and solutions'


• USA: 'Diabetes: the hidden pandemic and its impact on America'

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