Task force countries:  13
Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal, Turkey, United Kingdom

Started in 1993, the project aims at improving the quality of diabetes care by integrating the pharmacist in national diabetes programmes to prevent diabetes onset, to ensure early diagnosis, and to prevent or delay immediate and late complications from diabetes.  The project is run through the PharmaDiaß programme as set out in a document that offers recommendations and concrete ideas on how pharmacists can implement the programme at national level.

The programme was developed in collaboration between EuroPharm Forum and the St Vincent Declaration (SVD) Action Programme.  For several years the previous task force manager, Maria Augusta Soares, Portugal, acted as Convenor of the SVD Working Group on Improving Diabetes Care – Role of the Pharmacist in the St Vincent Team.

In 2001 the PharmaDiaß programme was updated and revised to recommend that pharmacists take a step-by-step approach to diabetes prevention, early detection, and outcome-oriented patient counselling and education.  The focus of the project has now turned to implementation and data collection. The updated programme document (informally called PharmaDiaß II) is entitled "Improved Quality in Diabetes Care – The Pharmacist in the St. Vincent Team: Protocol and Guidelines" (June 2001).  Pharmacy-based diabetes care services are now running in the 13 task force countries, plus a further 6 countries, some of which use the PharmaDiaß programme.  These are:  Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia, Spain and The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

In October 2002, the task force manager over the past 10 years, Maria Augusta Soares from Portugal, handed over the management of the project to Kirsten Pultz of Denmark.