VOLUME 10 NUMBER 4 • NOVEMBER 2013
143
SA JOURNAL OF DIABETES & VASCULAR DISEASE
Diabetes Personality
LOVE AND PASSION MAKE ALL
THE DIFFERENCE WHEN MANAGING
PATIENTS WITH DIABETES
S Afr J Diabetes Vasc Dis
2013;
10
: 143–144
D
r Ashley Murugan is this year’s winner of the
Servier award for Community Involvement
in Diabetes, presented each year at the
Centre for Diabetes and Endocrinology’s (CDE’s) an-
nual Postgraduate Forum in Diabetes Management.
He describes himself as ‘shocked’ to have received
the award, having opened his diabetes clinic only
in 2011.
‘So receiving the Servier community award in 2013
is a huge achievement for me. When I first became
involved in community work, my aim was to make
a difference in people’s lives, not to be recognised
or win an award of any kind. My work is motivated
purely by love and passion. Winning the award was
therefore totally unexpected. I also offer my heart-
felt thanks and gratitude to all my staff members for
their on-going effort and dedication.’
Dr Murugan is a general practitioner with a special
interest in diabetes management. ‘It is well known
that the management of diabetes in South Africa is a
major health challenge. Since entering private prac-
tice in 2010, I’ve seen the prevalence of diabetes
and its complications increase at an alarming rate,
a phenomenon even more pronounced in rural com-
munities where access to medical care and resourc-
es is limited. This prompted me to open my diabetes
clinic, the Zululand Centre for Diabetes and Related
Illnesses, in February 2011’, he says.
Dr Murugan feels that the face of diabetes is con-
stantly changing and that there are still massive gaps
in many fundamental aspects of diabetes manage-
ment. ‘It is well known that the diabetes epidemic is
associated with long-term complications, including
nephropathy, retinopathy, neuropathy, cardiovascular
disease, stroke and death. All of these can be mini-
mised by timely and effective treatment of elevated
blood pressure, lipids and blood glucose levels. Very
importantly, individuals with undiagnosed type 2 dia-
betes are also at significantly higher risk for these
complications.’
‘Sadly, in South Africa a large proportion of people
with diabetes are not routinely monitored either for
the condition itself or its complications. This is es-
pecially true for people living in rural communities
such as the one where I work, where the opportunity
to commence early treatment is often missed. One
way to address this is diabetes screening, which has
become the cornerstone for early diagnosis within
my clinical setting.’
Challenges and rewards
It’s Dr Murugan’s experience that a substantial pro-
portion of diabetic patients fail to comply with some
or all aspects of diabetes management. ‘When it
comes to assisting a patient better understand his/
her diagnosis while simultaneously enhancing com-
pliance, I face major challenges on a daily basis. The
diagnosis itself often carries significant emotional is-
sues. In a newly diagnosed diabetic, much additional
work may be required to address his/her perceptions
of how the condition will place limitations on his/her
life.’
‘I often find that non-compliance is common in
older patients (those aged above 55 years), who are
asymptomatic at the time of diagnosis and have no
apparent complications. In others, the absolute fear
