Rising incidence of juvenile diabetes, a cause for alarm

In India there are 62 million people suffering from diabetes and the economic cost of the same is estimated to be 2.1% of the GDP.

This came to light on Monday during the signing of an MoU between the Gujarat government and Novo Nordisk Education Foundation.

The MoU was signed by additional director of medical services, Dr Sunil Avashia, and managing trustee of the foundation,
Melvin Oscar D'Souza.

According to health minister Jay Narayan Vyas, "Juvenile diabetes is a growing concern in the state with medications required at regular intervals. Unfortunately, a large section of society cannot afford these medications and there is a need to attack this disease through a mission mode."

In India, every eight seconds one person dies of diabetes and every 10 seconds three people are added to the list of patients suffering from the same, said Vyas. Keeping this in mind, Gujarat government and Novo Nordisk together launched the 'Changing Diabetes Barometer' project which will target four districts at the pilot stage.

Vyas also said that while 12% of patients in India are able to control diabetes, the remaining 88% succumb to the side effects of diabetes.

Jesper Hoiland, president of International Operations at Novo Nordisk, said: "It is believed that in the coming years, over 550 million people - mainly 1 in every 10 adults -will be suffering from diabetes and hence till the vaccine is devised and introduced in the market, it is important to curb the disease."

Hoiland said that they aim to train over 5,000 doctors, including doctors of primary care, to tackle the disease effectively.