Sheikh Hamdan Award for Medical Sciences holds workshop for Dubai Medical College for Girls

The Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award for Medical Sciences was established in 1999 under the patronage of H.H.Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Minister of Finance & Industry with the objective of honouring scientists from every part of the world who tirelessly pursue distinctive medical research that serves the larger interests of humanity.

Titled "Problem Solving for Better Health (PSBH)," the workshop consists of a medical programme that is highly regarded around the world. PSBH is the flagship programme of HAP and has been created and sponsored by the Dreyfus Health Foundation, New York, USA. It is now being implemented in more than 24 countries around the world.

PSBH acts as an incubator of research projects and participants in this workshop will be guaranteed the skills to write several research protocols. 64 medical colleges of India are members of the PSBH fraternity. The PSBH programme exposes over 6,000 medical students to new ways of approaching health problems.

The workshop in Dubai was an ideal design of practical training in a theoretical framework. It was divided into two main sessions. Session One focused on the identification of problems and how to solve them and Session Two dealt with Protocols, including the written and presentation of Protocols.

The sessions were conducted under the leadership of C R Soman, HAP Chairman. He has the creditable achievement of developing medical programmes that suit current health problems. A team worker, he has vast experience in managing workshops and brings out the best from participants.

HAP has also renowned collaborations with distinguished scientists all over the world in PURE study (Prospective Urban Rural Epidemology study). Pioneering partnerships with the University of Odense and Nordisk has resulted in intensified studies on the epidemiology of diabetes, with special emphasis on the social and economic costs of diabetes mellitus.

As part of HAP's endeavor to tackle diabetes, a network of physicians has been created, who are interested in the primary management of diabetes mellitus. Named Doctors against Diabetes (DAD), the network has been functional since 2006. HAP has also established the Indo-Danish Collaboration on Diabetes Epidemiology (INDADE). Each of these initiatives has gained extraordinary acceptance and popularity.