Date:25/06/2009 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/mp/2009/06/25/stories/2009062550640200.htm

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Solve diabetes

A patient-focussed programme on diabetes

Handy Diabetes Conversations tool kit

This is new, interactive and is designed to go to the root of the problem. Called Diabetes Conversations, it is a programme meant for enhancing patient education. The interactive programme, a part of which is a conversation-based map, improves diabet es patients’ understanding of the disease by answering a series of questions. The patient finally finds an answer to his own problem by interacting with other diabetics under the guidance of a trained counsellor.

Just launched in India by Eli Lily in collaboration with International Diabetes Federation (IDF), the programme, says Sandeep Gupta, chairman and managing director of Eli Lily, will go a long way in an age when more and more patients want to be educated about their ailments. Designed for use in small groups of three to 10 patients, the conversation map tools provide an interesting colourful visual of different activities which a person does in his day-to-day life. The counsellor then asks questions to the patients thereby reaching the root cause of the disease. Dr. S.M. Sadikot, managing director and president, Diabetes India, and country representative, IDF, points out, “Every minute, 60 people die of diabetes across the world and it is the largest cause of amputations and blindness. It is better that the early signs of diabetes are diagnosed because at least then the further complications can be delayed if not completely eliminated.” Dr. S.K. Wangroo, senior endocrinologist, Indraprasthra Apollo Hospitals, adds, “Children as young as 12 years are today affected by diabetes, juvenile diabetes is an old word, it is classified as Type I diabetes in which a patient is completely dependent on insulin. Type II diabetes is when medical therapy is required.”

Diabetes Conversations, which is already functioning well across Europe, Latin America and Asia-Pacific region, is in English but Gupta says, in six to eight months it will also be launched in Hindi. The tool kit will be available in various hospitals, diabetes clinics, etc.

For more information on the tool, log on to www.idf.org