World Health Day was observed here on Thursday with a rally organised on this year’s theme – ‘Beat Diabetes-‘ by the Department of Community Medicine, Thoothukudi Government Medical College Hospital, in association with Sterlite Copper and Indian Medical Association. It was flagged off by B. Shanthakumar, Dean. The rally commenced near MGR Children’s Park on Palayamkottai Road and concluded near Chidambara Nagar bus stop.
The staff members and students , who took part in the rally, carried placards highlighting the need for consuming healthy food to keep off diabetes and stay fit. P. Kumaran, Head, Department of Community Medicine, and branch secretary, IMA, welcomed the gathering and T. Sankarasubbu, Health Education Officer, proposed a vote of thanks. Arul Prakash, diabetologist, M. Madhusoothanan, Deputy Director, Health Services, and Kailasam, Chief Medical Officer, Sterlite, took part in the programme
‘The Indian Diabetic Community,’ a Facebook group, was launched by Empower, a non-governmental organisation. A. Sankar, Executive Director, said the number of people with diabetes increased from 108 million in 1980 to 422 million in 2014. The global prevalence of diabetes among adults rose from 4.7 per cent in 1980 to 8.5 percent in 2014.Diabetes could cause blindness, kidney failure, heart attack, stroke and lower limb amputation. In 2012, an estimated 1.5 million deaths were directly caused by diabetes and another 2.2 million deaths were attributable to high blood glucose. “The WHO projects that diabetes will be the seventh leading cause of death in 2030 .Healthy diet, regular physical activity, maintaining a normal body weight and avoiding tobacco use are ways to prevent diabetes”, he said.
