The Hindu : MoU for diabetes education course

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Apr 07, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Tamil Nadu-Chennai

MoU for diabetes education course

By Our Staff Reporter

CHENNAI APRIL 6 . Diabetes with its present incidence threatens to spread to over 50 million people in the country in a couple of decades and this calls for urgent education of the masses on prevention, control, management and care of the disease, diabetologists and policy-makers said at a meeting today.

The Madras Diabetes Research Foundation, Gopalapuram, which signed a memorandum of understanding with the Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney, Australia, today to offer a one-year Postgraduate Certificate in Diabetes Education, would seek to prepare a cadre of people called Certified Diabetes Educators (CDE) for raising awareness of diabetes among the public.

In countries abroad, the CDEs disseminated information on diabetes to the masses, and thus bridged the gap between diabetologists and the people, but in India, formal courses for them were lacking, said V. Mohan, detailing the salient features of the programme.

The objective of the course is to provide the basic knowledge, skills and attitude to become a CDE and thus help promote diabetes education in the community and influence social changes in diabetes epidemiology.

Inaugurating the course, the Health Minister, S. Semmalai, said the State Government proposes to conduct speciality camps for non-communicable diseases at block levels. A high-level committee headed by the Health Secretary was recently formed to draw up a policy framework in controlling and managing diabetes patients in the State. The committee would also go into the question of extending amenities and medical facilities to the diabetics, besides strengthening the existing infrastructure in government hospitals.

Two dialysis machines would be set up at every district headquarter hospital to add to the existing 20-odd facilities for the benefit of renal patients.

The Director of Medical Education, C. Ravindranath, said the Government was providing insulin for diabetics in the government hospitals free of cost for the poor and at a subsidised cost for others.

Stephen Colagiuri, Director, Diabetes Service, Prince of Wales Hospital, and Ruth Colagiuri, Director, Australian Centre for Diabetes Strategies, signed the MoU on behalf of the Australian hospital. They were jointly conferred the MVDSC Gold Medal Oration Award which was given away by Mr. Semmalai.

N. Mayilvahanan, orthopaedic surgeon in the Madras Medical College, who was recently conferred the Dr. B.C. Roy National Award, was felicitated. He donated his cash award to the proposed Bone Bank which is to come up in the Government General Hospital.

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