Iranian National Diabetes Research Network Project: Background, Mission, and Outcomes

Diabetes is a noncommunicable disease with worldwide distribution. It meets all the three criteria for a public health disorder: A high disease burden; Changing burden suggesting preventability; and Fear that things are unknown and out of control. On the other hand, it is one of the major causes of death and disability, so it leads to the important area of research on prevention, screening, and early intervention. Iranian Ministry of Health (MoH) has designed a health system for more equitable allocation of health resources based on Primary Health Care (PHC). It is an integrated and stratified health care system, and national or multicentric preventive programs should be implemented in this system. According to MoH reports in 2004, 5,513 physicians worked in the PHC system. As the health systems moves towards greater coverage with more addressees, the traditional approaches to clinical research will fail.