The Role of the General Practitioner in Diabetes Prevention

In the guideline ,,Prevention of Type-2 Diabetes" of the ,,German Nationales Aktionsforum Diabetes mellitus" (NAFDM) the general practitioner plays a secondary role in the recruitment and in the guidance of clients at high risk for the development of type-2 diabetes. The risk can be easily determined using the FindRisc form (www.diabetes-risiko.de). According to the participating associations, the general practitioner focuses on curative medicine and has no education in the prevention of diseases. The ,,Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Allgemein- und Familienmedizin" (DEGAM) has refused its participation for this reason. To implement the guideline ,,Prevention of Type-2 Diabetes" of the NAFDM anyhow, a change in the process structure has to be discussed, in which the general practitioner plays a central role. Hereby, it could be achieved that prevention of type-2 diabetes becomes a central challenge of function of general practitioners, because the general practitioner has for a long time been experienced in the prevention of metabolic and vascular diseases and tumours.