Diabetes Mass Education for Patients,Their Educators,and the General Public by the Pharmacies of Sweden

The Swedish National Pharmacies organized a nationwide diabetes campaign during 1991 in order to improve services for patients with diabetes and to enhance public awareness of the disease. The rationale behind this activity was new medical findings indicating that the burden of late complications due to diabetes mellitus could be diminished if current knowledge was used. Several ways of educating patients, and health care and pharmacy staffs, as well as the general public, were used. More than 6,000 patients were asked to point out problems with diabetes services for the local staffs, new educational material was developed, and the staff of the National Pharmacy Organisation was educated. The follow-up of the campaign showed a broad involvement by pharmacies in Sweden and media visibility. A large proportion of the population (26%) was aware of the campaign and 10% had obtained some printed material from the local pharmacy. The sale of home blood glucose tests increased, especially in the age group below 45, as total sales increased. The number of patients reporting that they had diabetes in the National Health survey showed a small tendency to increase. The cost of the campaign amounted to 0.5% of the total yearly pharmacy sales to patients with diabetes in Sweden.