KARACHI: Experts at the Indus Hospital’s World Diabetes Day event on Friday said that the number of people with diabetes would increase from 415 million to 642 million by 2045.
The theme for this year’s event was ‘Eyes on Diabetes’. The event was aimed at promoting screening of patients to ensure early diagnosis of Type-2 diabetes. Experts stressed the need to make people aware of the risks associated with the disease. They said, “Diabetes is a silent killer, and one in two people suffering from the disease are unaware of it.”
They said around 6.7 million people suffer from diabetes in Pakistan.
During the awareness session, doctors measured sugar level of around 600 participants, taught them about diagnosis, prevention, treatment and management of the disease. The chief guests for the event were Zeba Bakhtiyar and Sardar Yasin Malik of Hilton Pharma. Bakhtiyar spoke about her experience of coping with diabetes. Sardar Yasin praised the hospital for continuing to treat patients with diabetes
The Indus Hospital’s Diabetes Management Programme (IHDMP) began its clinical services in September 2014. The programme has enrolled over 2,700 diabetic patients who are also receiving educational and nutritional counselling about the disease free of cost. In addition, the enrolled patients are screened for eye, foot and mental disorders. On average, 450 patients visit the IHDMP clinic every month. The hospital’s Foot Care Centre provides comprehensive foot screening to all enrolled diabetic patients as well as any required follow up treatment.
