On February 17, 2021, the Korea Diabetes Association (KDA) (Chairman of the Board Kun-ho Yoon), Handok (Chairman & CEO Young-jin Kim, Vice President Jin-ki Paik), and Daewoong Pharmaceutical (CEO Seungho Jeon) signed an agreement to implement the Essential Guidelines for Diabetes Management (EGDM) Program based on guidelines for treatment of diabetes in Koreans.

The EGDM Program is the first educational program for self-employed physicians directed by a medical society. The KDA operates the EGDM program to support self-employed physicians who play a critical role in the treatment of diabetes as they establish diabetes management goals and treatment tailored to patients and assist in diagnosis and treatment according to standardized guidelines. In particular, the EGDM Program will offer practical assistance for treatment, such as proposing optimal diabetes management methods for Koreans and treatment methods tailored to each patient case.

The EGDM Program first began as the Staged Diabetes Management Program (SDM Program) launched in 2000. The SDM Program was an educational program developed based on diabetes treatment guidelines from the International Diabetes Center (IDC) in the U.S. and the World Health Organization (WHO). The program was revised based on the diabetes treatment guidelines for Koreans to become the EGDM Program in 2010. The EGDM Program is usually operated around 15 times nationwide every year, but last year, it was held twice online due to COVID-19.