Access to Diabetes Care: If Not Now, When?

Access to Diabetes Care: If Not Now, When?

Undoubtedly, we are living in an era of double pandemic, communicable disease COVID & non-communicable disease diabetes. Diabetes is silent most of the time and we are looking at this disease as the health tsunami of the 21st century as well as the threatening timebomb for our nation and the entire universe. The burden of diabetes in India is currently above 76 million and increasing rapidly day by day due to a lot of environmental triggering factors such as sedentary lifestyle and consumption of high-calorie unhealthy food. The sad scenario is that currently the younger generation is getting diabetes during the second and third decades of their life due to their lifestyle even though there is no family history of diabetes.

Here, we would like to highlight some facts about diabetes:

• The global burden of diabetes is more than 463 million people and is expected to rise to more than 578 million by 2030.
• More than 3 in 4 people with diabetes live in low and middle-income countries.
• 1 in 6 live births (20 million) are affected by high blood glucose (hyperglycaemia) in pregnancy.
• Two-thirds of people with diabetes live in urban areas and three-quarters are of working age.

The theme for World Diabetes Day 2021-23 is “Access to Diabetes Care”.

• Millions of people with diabetes around the world do not have access to diabetes care.
• People with diabetes require ongoing care and support to manage their condition and avoid complications.

We cannot wait any longer! Medicine, technology, support and care should be made available to all people with diabetes who require it.

Factors Critical for Diabetes Care:

• Even though a century has passed since the discovery of insulin, many people still do not have access to it.
• Oral medication remains a chief component in diabetes care. Quite a number of people either do not have access to it or are unable to purchase it due to financial constraints.
• While monitoring blood glucose levels is possible at home itself, people are unable to buy the necessary equipment and hence cannot keep track of their blood glucose level.
• People do not have proper knowledge about diabetes. Only when they are educated about it will they be able to manage it. Psychological support, which is important for people fighting diabetes, is also not provided to many.
• Many people do not have access to the nutritional food that is necessary to fight or prevent diabetes. Opportunities for regular exercise are also missing.

Considering the current burden of diabetes in our nation, to impart the right knowledge and guidance during emergency times, we at Kauvery Hospital have initiated a diabetes helpline number 88802 88802, 24×7 to help patients fight diabetes and also to aid the entire community in its fight against diabetes.

The Department of Diabetology, as an initiative to create the awareness of Diabetes has been conducting the event “Dishoom Dishoom Diabetes” for the past two years. This month the event is planned on November 14th at Kauvery Health Centre. Do call our help desk at 4000 6000 for further information.