Bangkok--Sep 30--Francom Asia
Three local hospitals bag this year’s prestigious award
The Khemmarat Hospital in Ubon Ratchathani was named this year’s winner of the Sanofi-aventis Distinguished Diabetes Service Award for 2005 in recognition of its institutional commitment to improving the quality of lives of all people affected by diabetes. The special award ceremony was held in Bangkok during the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society of Thailand.
The Khemmarat Hospital has been lauded for its outstanding care and treatment of diabetes patients, with the opening of a Diabetes Clinic that offers diagnosis, treatment and prevention of the disease. It has also formed a Diabetes Care Team that looks after the needs of patients and trains care providers who can offer optimum diabetes care to patients. Its commitment to community service is exceptional as it has formed partnerships with public care units to reach out to more people who need diagnosis, medicine, treatment and care. Doctors and health care workers are also assigned to visit patients in their homes. Khemmarat Hospital also offers diabetes-related information while creating a general plan for a healthier community.
During the ceremony, special awards were also presented to the Ban Pong Hospital in Ratchaburi and the Su-ngai Golok Hospital in Narathiwat for their exemplary commitment and diligent work to serve diabetes patients, physicians, caretakers and staff workers, as well as the families of those afflicted with the disease.
According to Prof. Dr. Wannee Nithiyanant, President of the Endocrine Society of Thailand, this prestigious award greatly encourages those who help community members gain easy access to the care they need. “More than 5 million Thai people suffer from diabetes and this number continues to rise. Diabetes is the chief cause of chronic renal failure, stroke, ischemic heart disease, peripheral arterial disease, diabetic retinopathy, cataracts and other complications. From the latest health findings on Thai people, more than half of diabetic patients do not realize they have the disease. In the last 5 years the number of those afflicted has doubled. Therefore, it is of utmost importance and urgency that diagnosis and treatment systems be improved to fight diabetes. In response to this, these three fine hospitals have shown us their exemplary efforts in facing diabetes problems.”
“Sanofi-aventis plays its role as one of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies, and has been offering innovative diabetes products worldwide for over 75 years — both oral medicine and insulin injections,” said Mr Fabrice Baschiera, Managing Director of sanofi-aventis Group in Thailand. “sanofi-aventis has been working closely with the International Diabetes Federation and the Endocrine Society of Thailand to promote public awareness of diabetes so patients can receive better treatment and care. This is the commitment behind the Sanofi-aventis Distinguished Service Award, where a fund of 300,000 Baht is awarded each year to doctors and healthcare providers who serve diabetes patients.”
“In Thailand, we will be one of the major supporters of the coming International Diabetes Federation Western Pacific Region Congress to be held in Bangkok next month. Other major projects we are currently supporting are the ‘Thai Insulin Academy’ and the ‘Diabetes Awareness Now — DAWN) to train related doctors on severe diabetes management. We will continue to support the Sanofi-aventis Distinguished Diabetes Award to further encourage Thai healthcare providers to carry on with their highly commendable efforts to fight against diabetes.”
In cooperation with the Endocrine Society of Thailand, the Sanofi-aventis Distinguished Service Award was initiated in 2001. Each year, sanofi-aventis awards Baht 300,000 to deserving individuals, groups or institutions so that they can continue in their efforts to make great progress in the fight against diabetes.
The sanofi-aventis Group is the world’s 3rd largest pharmaceutical company, ranking number 1 in Europe. Backed by a world-class R&D organisation, sanofi-aventis is developing leading positions in seven major therapeutic areas: cardiovascular disease, thrombosis, oncology, diabetes, central nervous system, internal medicine, vaccines.
For more information, please contact:
Khun Wandee Lerdsupongkit or Khun Nuttaporn Tangwongsan
sanofi-aventis Press Information Service
C/o Francom Asia
Tel: 02 233-4329/30, 02 233-4338/39
Fax: 02 236- 8030
E-mail: [email protected]
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