Mumbai marks World Diabetes Day

A walkathon, street play and several other events were held in the city Sunday on the eve of World Diabetes Day, with experts advising people to maintain an active lifestyle to avoid diabetes and other diseases.

Over 300 people participated in the walkathon organised by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in association with Abbott Diabetes Blue Fortnight - a diabetes awareness campaign - across 27 wards of the city.

A street play was also organised by the BMC to encourage fellow Mumbaikars to take up running, walking and other exercises.

"Walking and regular physical exercise go a great extent towards managing diabetes", said Sonal Modi, chief nutritionist at Diabetes Endocrine Nutrition Management and Research Centre.

According to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), the global diabetic population has reached a staggering 366 million in 2011, and healthcare spending on the disease has reached $465 billion.

It added that in the current year, one person is dying from diabetes every seven seconds.

"IDF's latest data is proof indeed that diabetes is a massive challenge the world can no longer afford to ignore. In India, about five percent of people who come in for bariatric surgery now are coming exclusively to cure diabetes," said Ramen Goel, a Mumbai-based bariatric surgeon.

Many important landmarks and monuments in Mumbai, as well as across the country, will sport a blue look Sunday to create awareness on diabetes.

Places like the BMC building, KEM Hospital, Nair Hospital, Siddhi Vinayak Temple and Abbott office building will be lit up in blue as part of a unique initiative for diabetes awareness on the eve of World Diabetes Day.

The initiative has been taken up by HEAL Foundation and Via Media Group in association with health and family welfare ministry, the IDF, the Archaeological Survey of India and the BMC.

Around 50 top monuments and buildings around the country will also be lit up blue under the Abbott Diabetes Blue Fortnight-2011 initiative.

These include Shaniwarwada Fort in Pune; the Swaminarayan Akshardham Temple, Old Fort, Red Fort, Qutub Minar, Humayun Tomb, AIIMS, Fortis Hospitals, Metro Bhavan (New Delhi/NCR), Agra Fort and Fatehpur Sikri, Agra; the Imambara in Lucknow; Manek Chowk and City Palace Grounds, Udaipur and Konark Temple in Orissa.