Bucharest, August 28, 2018 – 200 insulin-dependent children from Bucharest and from 28 counties of Romania will benefit from monitoring and treatment based on an application using Artificial Intelligence and “Machine Learning” algorithms, under the project launched by the Diabetes Support Association, with funds provided by the Vodafone Romania Foundation through the 2018-2019 Connecting for Good program.
The new application is the first ever in Romania to be used in treating insulin-dependent patients and is part of the one-of-a-kind telemedicine system that ensures needle-free diabetes care. The process is being implemented under the supervision of a diabetes doctor, who looks for ways to optimize the application. The new system is being developed by the first ever Telemedicine Center for Pediatric Diabetes in Romania. The project, covering the application development, has received funds amounting to 414,000 RON from the Vodafone Romania Foundation and is part of the fourth stage of the Foundation’s partnership with the Diabetes Support Association. The current project stage will continue the activities carried out so far, namely the monitoring, by means of the telemedicine solution, of the diabetic children listed on the center’s records, the therapy education sessions and the many other support actions.
Integrating Artificial Intelligence in the treatment of insulin-dependent patients is going to simplify the daily calculation and adjustment of insulin doses for each patient and enhance the accuracy of a procedure that is not only painful, but that also requires the handling of a large amount of data. Presently, the burden of collecting and analyzing blood sugar measurements is left with the parents of the diabetic children undergoing treatment.
“This application will allow the accurate, informed, personalized and safe adjustment of the insulin dosage for the 200 children. The variables collected by the system, such as the blood sugar level, the carbohydrate intake and the level of physical activity, are evaluated precisely, to determine the right amount of insulin to be administered to each patient. In addition to enhancing the safety level of the insulin therapy, the application can handle a large number of patients”, said Angela Galeta, Director of the Vodafone Romania Foundation.
„The future of medicine is right here, right now, so all we need to do is keep up with it. As part of the Connecting for Good program, we started in 2015 by using blood glucose sensors and the remote monitoring of insulin-dependent children, which represented a major step in the care of pediatric insulin-dependent diabetes. We have educated patients, parents and doctors in the use of these devices and we hope that the results obtained and the efforts made so far will promote this modern diabetic disease monitoring and treatment system, designed to improve the quality of life for as many patients as possible across the country, on an ever wider scale”, said Dr. Mihaela Vlăiculescu, President of the Diabetes Support Association.
Since the start of the Vodafone Romania Foundation’s partnership with the Diabetes Support Association, in June 2015, the support provided to insulin-dependent children has included the acquisition of over 140 full blood glucose monitoring systems and 20 wireless insulin pumps. The total value of the project to date amounts to more than 2.2 million RON.
Connecting for Good, the program enabling the Vodafone Romania Foundation to support the Telemedicine Center for Pediatric Diabetes, provides funds to projects using modern technology in order to improve people’s lives and drive societal changes.
The Vodafone Romania Foundation is a Romanian nongovernmental charitable organization, established in 1998, which operates separately and independently from the Vodafone Romania SA’s business. During its 20 years of activity, Vodafone Romania Foundation has funded 1,104 programs run by 706 NGOs throughout the country, in the fields of healthcare, education and social services. These projects had a total of 2.7 million beneficiaries – children, young and old people and physically, socially or economically disadvantaged people. So far, the Vodafone Romania Foundation has invested over 28 million euros in projects run by nonprofit partner organizations. More details about the Foundation’s programs are available at www.Fundația-vodafone.ro, http://jurnaldebine.Fundația-vodafone.ro/ and www.facebook.com/Fundațiavodafone.
The Diabetes Support Association (www.sprijinpentrudiabet) is a non-governmental organization whose main purpose is to facilitate access of insulin-dependent patients to quality healthcare services by providing them, in addition to medical, educational and emotional support, with the chance to use devices of the latest technology, which make a big difference in terms of the quality of life and the comfort of insulin-dependent children and young people. Thanks to its volunteer medical staff, the Association has pioneered the use of blood glucose sensors and the integration of blood glucose sensor measurements in the current insulin therapy practice in Romania.
