How India plans to fight against diabetes epidemic?
India is seen as the diabetes capital in the world. The disease is taking the shape of an epidemic in the country. As an attempt to fight it, Madras Diabetes Research Foundation (MDRF), with the support of World Diabetes Foundation (WDF), started a project called MDRF-WDF Chunampet ‘Rural Diabetes Prevention Project’ in Chennai.
The highlight of the project is the use of a fully equipped Tele-medicine Van as a novel tool to make diabetes health care, including treatment of its complications, accessible to the rural population. With its help, 23449 people (above 20 years of age) from 42 villages have been screened for diabetes and its related complications, especially eye and foot complications.
Thus 87.7% of the total population of these villages has been screened within a period of one and a half years. Just for the sake of figures, 970 people had known diabetes and 1114 persons were diagnosed for the first time. 1061 retinal examinations have been done in the telemedicine van.
This seems to be a unique example of private public partnership, with the doctors ‘reaching out to the unreached’, and following a structured care recall programme by going back to the people frequently for follow up action.
Source: NewsTrack
Filed under Diabetes, Diabetes awareenss
