New project aims to reduce premature deaths linked to diabetes in Peru

In Peru, an estimated 1 million adults suffer with diabetes and 220,000 people are at the risk of developing diabetic foot ulcers.  Diabetes is reported to be the third cause of premature death.

Thanks to funding from the Newton Fund-Institutional links programme, Professor Roozbeh Naemi, from the University’s Centre for Biomechanics and Rehabilitation Technologies is to lead an international collaborative project with Pontificia Universidad Católica del in Peru.

Professor Naemi said: “The aim of this project, is to develop an ultrasound-based diagnostic tool to identify diabetic foot ulceration risk among the Peruvian population.

“This one-year project, has a focus on improving the diagnostic outcome of diabetic foot disease by developing an ultrasound-based diagnostic tool to assess the patients’ feet. By improving the prognosis of diabetic foot complications, the project outcomes can have huge implications in reducing the socioeconomic burden of diabetic foot diseases in Peru.”

The Newton Fund-Institutional links programme is designed to establish opportunities for sustainable, solution-oriented research and innovation collaborations between academic groups from the UK and other countries like Peru to tackle global challenges such as access to affordable health care

• Each year more than 26 million people worldwide develop diabetic foot ulcers. The lifetime incidence of foot ulcers in developing countries is more than 20% among people with diabetes. The risk of death at 5 years for a patient with a diabetic foot ulcer is 2.5 times higher than the risk for a patient with diabetes with no foot ulcer. By improving the prognosis of diabetic foot complications, the project outcomes can have huge implications in reducing the socioeconomic burden of diabetic foot diseases in Peru.