Certificate Course in Management of Thyroid Disorders to be Scaled Globally to Expand Professional Capacity of over 5000 Primary Care Physicians

New Delhi: Recognizing that Thyroid diseases are, arguably, among the commonest endocrine disorders worldwide and its associated complications are amongst highest in the world, Public Health Foundation of India, an apex think-tank in South Asia, while releasing the Thyroid Factsheet, at AOTA 2017 in Busan, urged for an immediate need to create awareness and sensitize the medical community in the developing and the least developed countries about the need update on screening, treatment and management of thyroid disorders, and expanding the Certificate Course in Management of Thyroid Disorders (CCMTD) globally to expand capacity of over 5000 specialized and primary care physicians.

Organizing Secretary elect of 2019 AOTA Congress (Sydney, Australia) Prof Duncan J Topliss, Director, Dept. of Endocrinology and Diabetes, Monash University, Australia along with Dr. RV Jayakumar, National Expert CCMTD, Dr. Sandeep Bhalla, Programme Director – Trainings, CCCI Division PHFI and the CCMTD Team release the Thyroid Factsheet and CCMTD Journey Booklet at AOTA Congress Busan, South Korea

About 200 million people in the world have some form of thyroid disease and according to a projection from various studies on thyroid disease, it has been estimated that about 42 million people in India suffer from thyroid diseases. Thyroid diseases are different from other diseases in terms of their ease of diagnosis, accessibility of medical treatment and the relative visibility that even a small swelling of the thyroid offers to the treating physician. Early diagnosis and treatment remains the cornerstone of management. Developing, Low and Middle Income countries account for a large percent of the global population that has thyroid disorders and the problem is more prevalent in women than men, where women diagnosed were found to have abnormal TSH levels compared men.

In his address Dr. Takashi Akamizu, AOTA President said, “Global efforts to tackle the challenge of Thyroid diseases have gained momentum globally. As President of Asia and Oceania Association (AOTA), it is my privilege to be associated with Public Health Foundation of India’s Certificate Course in Management of Thyroid Disorders. Through this course, PHFI and Chellaram Diabetes Institute (CDI), Pune, are doing great work in capacity building of Primary Care Physicians in the management of Thyroid Disorders. This is the only course in management of thyroid disorders which has been endorsed by AOTA for 10 years. Through this course, PHFI is doing a great job and have trained around 2500 doctors so far. We would be happy to support PHFI in future also so that they can start these initiatives in other Asian countries to build capacity of doctors.”

Dr. Won Bae Kim AOTA Secretary in his address said, “It gives me immense pleasure to announce that there is a dedicated session of our AOTA endorsed thyroid course which PHFI is running in collaboration with Chellaram Diabetes Institute in India for the Doctors to enhance their skills in the diagnosis and management of thyroid disorders. AOTA fully supports this initiative and look forward to take this course to other Asian countries.

Thanking AOTA for endorsing the Certificate Course in Management of Thyroid Disorders (CCMTD), Prof. D. Prabhakaran, Vice President Research and Policy – PHFI, said, “In today’s world, more than half of the Thyroid Disorders are undiagnosed or misdiagnosed, hence the need is to have a roadmap for country-led action for Thyroid disorders, especially in screening, preventing and controlling the disease and their key risk factors through informed medical professionals. The scaling of the Certificate Course in Management of Thyroid Disorders will be a unique example to bridge the knowledge gap and develop a trained set of doctors who are equipped with the latest advances in Thyroid management, and also follow the latest international and national guidelines, effectively preventing, diagnosing and treating a large number of people especially in the developing countries.”

PHFI’s Thyroid Capacity Building Program aims at expanding the professional capacity of General Physicians in the areas of research and development, medical education and awareness in Thyroid diseases in India and the South –South East Asia region. As part of this programme, more than 5,000 physicians in partnership with global partners and universities, in addition to Indian and South Asian states and countries, will benefit from accredited clinical and chronic diseases management training programmes. These programmes will equip clinicians with skills to avert Thyroid diseases and its related conditions in its early stages.

Representing PHFI at AOTA 2017 and releasing the Thyroid Factsheet, Dr. Sandeep Bhalla, Programme Director PHFI in his address said, “Recently various studies have indicated that thyroid disease should be considered during routine evaluation of the subcontinents susceptible group and should be followed by appropriate detection and treatment. The findings support the usefulness of training, screening and management for early detection that will benefit in preventing adverse health outcomes in the population such as Osteoporosis, Cardiovascular diseases and Hyperlipidemia. At PHFI it is our endeavour to help strengthen education, training, and research in the area of Public Health. The launch of the Thyroid Capacity Building Program under the CCMTD course will be a unique step further to tackle the rising prevalence thyroid disorders, aiming to strengthen the capacity of doctors to deal with the enormous challenges it poses, with the ultimate aim of improving the health outcomes of people.”

The training division of Centre for Chronic Conditions and Injuries (CCCI) at PHFI runs several courses in the field of NCDs/CVD management, one of them being Certificate Course in Management of Thyroid Disorders (CCMTD). This is a pan-India course which is a unique 4 months executive on the job program that aims to build capacity amongst primary care physicians to address management, counselling, referral and prevention of Thyroid Disorders. Chellaram Diabetes Institute (CDI), Pune (India) is the academic partner, and the course is supported by an unrestricted educational grant from GSK India. CCMTD is presently conducted in 35 regional centers of India spread across 18 states, 2 Union Territories (UTs) and 30 cities. The course has received an overwhelming response and a total of 2460 primary care physicians have been trained over the period of three cycles. The course curriculum has been vetted by a panel of 15 national experts that comprise of the renowned endocrinologists of India. It is a 4 modular course has been designed to be delivered once-a-month through contact session on a designated weekend. The course is administered by regional faculty who are eminent endocrinologists of their respective cities.