City rings in diabetes campaign

Campaigns in the city on World Diabetes Day this year, on November 14, will focus on preventing diabetes in children. The Madras Medical College has led the way by launching a massive screening programme covering over 5,000 students in Chennai Schools.

Campaigns in the city on World Diabetes Day this year, on November 14, will focus on preventing diabetes in children.

The Madras Medical College has led the way by launching a massive screening programme covering over 5,000 students in Chennai Schools.

Around two months ago, the diabetology department rolled out a programme covering class XI and XII students of 32 Chennai Schools. Parameters for the screening included recording the students’ blood pressure, cholesterol, body mass index and obesity and testing them for anaemia.

The college is in the process of tabulating the findings which will be used to develop an educational and prevention programme for the students, said dean V. Kanagasabai.

The college has been organising awareness programmes for its own nursing and medical students besides patients. Around 980 of the 1,000 patients who come to the hospital every day for treatment have type-2 diabetes, indicating the huge burden of the disease, the dean said.

On Saturday, Dr. Mohan’s Diabetes Specialities Centre along with the International Diabetes Federation, announced a screening programme for pregnant women.

Dr. A. Ramachandran’s Diabetes Hospital, along with the department of school education, has vowed to educate one lakh school children and 1,000 teachers about diabetes and its prevention. The World Diabetes Foundation is supporting the educational programme.

Jean Claude Mbanya, president of International Diabetes Federation, said four out of five persons with diabetes live in developing countries, and a third of pregnant Indian women have diabetes.

Dr. Mohan’s Diabetes Specialities Centre will launch a screening programme for pregnant women as a pilot project called WINGS — Women in India with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus Strategy. The project will later be rolled out in other low resource countries, Prof. Mbanya said.

As part of its effort to educate students, the GH organised a rally on Friday at the Marina Beach, in which nursing and medical students from Madras Medical College, to which the hospital is attached, participated.

Vasan Eye Care Hospital has also organised a month-long awareness drive, including lectures and complimentary screening for visitors.