But what about the long term effects of sugar in the blood – particularly for diabetes patients? During the Pharmacy Show (NEC from 12 October 2008 onwards), Axis-Shield UK – a leading developer of medical diagnostic devices – will launch its Afinion™ analyser to the pharmacy market. This unique device measures HbA1c levels in blood and shows how much glucose red blood cells have been exposed to over a period of 120 days.

Giving lab accurate results in minutes rather than days, the advent of machines like Afinion™ mean the diagnosis and management of conditions like diabetes can happen more easily in the community – a point of interest to pharmacists looking to establish a diabetes testing service.

Five years on from the introduction of the Diabetes National Services Framework, many community pharmacists are now being encouraged by their local PCT to become more active in the diagnosis and management of long term conditions like diabetes. According to Diabetes UK, there are an estimated three quarters of a million people in the UK who are unaware that they are already living with diabetes.⁽¹⁾ And of those patients already diagnosed, more than 650,000 are failing to take their medication correctly⁽²⁾ – numbers which indicate that pharmacists could have a potentially crucial role to play in the management of this increasingly prevalent disease.

Commenting Sue Younghusband, marketing director at Axis-Shield UK said: “HbA1c tests are  regarded as one of the best ways to check diabetes is under control. Typically diabetic patients have a blood test for HbA1c twice a year, normally at a hospital clinic or by their doctor. The blood sample is sent to a laboratory for analysis and the patient is called back for a follow up appointment, several weeks later. However this drawn out process does nothing to motivate a patient to comply with their treatment.”

“Being able to test individuals who suspect they have a problem or check that patients already diagnosed are managing their condition effectively is one thing. But giving those patients their results in a matter of minutes rather than days or weeks is quite another. If a patient is tested and receives their HbA1c results in the same appointment, they become more engaged in the testing process and it’s easier for them to see the difference that small life changes can make – giving them a much better long term prognosis. Making HbA1c testing available through community pharmacies makes absolute sense and will enable PCTs to meet the targets that have been set for them as part of the national framework.”

If you’d like to know more about Afinion™ and Axis-Shield UK, visit the team at the Pharmacy Show and we’ll test your HbA1c – showing you just how easy it is to set up testing for diabetes patients in the community.

Footnote:

(1)     http://www.diabetes.co.uk/news/2008/Feb/Diabetes-UK-waist-size-survey.html

(2)     http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/108799.php