Diabetes and its related complications are at epidemic proportions in Trinidad & Tobago. Pregnant women are at greater risk for developing diabetes, which poses serious threats to babies and mothers, including an increased chance of foetal abnormalities and higher rates of maternal mortality.
The Helen Bhagwansingh Diabetes Education, Research and Prevention Institute (DERPI) at The UWI St. Augustine Campus, established a national screening and treatment programme for diabetes in pregnancy. To support the programme, an ICT application was developed called HiPTT – Hyperglycemia (or high blood sugar) in Pregnancy in Trinidad & Tobago.
The heart of HiPTT is a Web portal which supports the full cycle of data entry, flow and visualization between patient, doctor and medical laboratories for the management of diabetes in pregnancy.
HiPTT works through an integrated system that supports the flow of information between patient, doctor and medical laboratories, for the better management of diabetes in pregnancy. The app will automatically provide interpreted test results and reports to registered patients. Healthcare providers will be notified of any abnormal results and can review and provide real-time feedback to pregnant women. Medical labs will be able to easily provide electronic reports, enabling doctors to conveniently review a patient’s medical results via mobile device or desktop computer. These features will significantly improve the detection of diabetes earlier in pregnancy, and facilitate timely medical interventions, that can save the lives of mothers and their babies.
The HiPTT Team consists of lecturers from The UWI St. Augustine’s Department of Clinical Medical Sciences and the Faculty of Engineering, members of DERPI, and the Caribbean Industrial Research Institute’s Centre for Enterprise Development (CARIRI CED), with support from Microsoft. The Health in Pregnancy project is a DERPI initiative with support from the National Gas Company (NGC), an i2i Grant from the Trinidad & Tobago’s Ministry of Planning and Sustainable Development, the Rotary Club of St. Augustine, Community Chest and 2001 Carpet World, with technical support from Microsoft and CARIRI.
