'A Dash of Care Foundation'

Preserving our health and preventing bodily diseases is just as important as supporting the needy, the sick, the gifted, the arts, sports, and the youth. Prevention is the most important principle that must be kept in mind throughout our corporate programs which support the environment and health care.

For this reason, the company decided to assist an initiative which would concern the majority of the Hungarian population. There are as many as five hundred thousand registered diabetic patients in Hungary currently, which represents five per cent of the entire population. This rate is equivalent to the international average. However, the most recent research states that the number of those affected by diabetes approaches eight to ten per cent today, both in Hungary and worldwide. This means that, in addition to registered diabetic patients, many people live with this disease but do not know about it. Currently, there are no comprehensive programs in Hungary to guide latent diabetic people to experts as early as possible. The A Dash of Care Foundation was established to start a movement to test everyone’s blood sugar level on a voluntary basis. The campaign was launched at fifty-five drug stores in Hungary on November 14, 2005 (World Diabetes Day), and volunteers had an opportunity to have their blood sugar levels tested.

A model experiment, which uniquely aims at adapting a pharmaceutical care program that has already proven successful overseas, also constitutes part of the program. Pharmaceutical care in Hungary was triggered by the campaign of A Dash of Care Foundation in the area of blood sugar level testing, and it will be expanded with further elements, such as blood pressure testing, cholesterol level testing, and information dissemination during the forthcoming years.