Events

The Diabetes Challenge

Mumbai
6 October, 2008

Prof Dr Ram Dhillon

A business and research and development mission was lead by Ann Keen, UK Minister for Health Services to Mumbai to highlight UK's new global strategy for healthcare and to explore opportunities for collaboration in diabetes. The reason for coming to India was to provide a local solution, creation of the concept of family-doctor service and lastly better quality of healthcare in accordance with international standards.

The new strategy 'Health is Global' shows how the UK Government intends to work with international partners such as the WHO, other governments, business and civil society for improving global health. A research by WHO shows that almost two million of the population in the UK suffers from diabetes. Diabetes mellitus has been identified as one of the biggest healthcare challenges affecting the world and India in particular. Thus the strategy for combating diabetes that was implemented in the UK in 2001 is now showing clear results.

Globally, experts are working to minimise the risk factors of developing Type II diabetes. Therefore the team working for this will offer exchange of knowledge and experience that is required to encourage mutual beneficial collaboration in these areas. India-UK links in healthcare have grown over the years. The UK delegation on this mission constitutes an impressive mix of Government, industry and R&D professionals. Diabetes UK works for people having diabetes and is also associated with the BT Healthcare, one of the biggest suppliers of IT systems to the healthcare industry.

"Repeat visits to clinicians for non urgent matters, preventable admissions, secondary presentations through poor control and poor medicines management are some of the challenges faced by diabetes patients," said Prof Dr Ram Dhillon, Consultant Surgeon, Middlesex University, London. He works closely with the UK and Indian organisations to deliver medical education to enable both the countries to tackle common challenges.

The current scenario of diagnosis and monitoring in India are hospital-based diagnosis, outpatient clinics, user dependent variables and patient's monitoring technique. "Cutting-edge service, redesigning national pilot side and actuarial analysis of practice population are some of the long-term conditions management," said Dr Niti Pall of Pathfinder Healthcare Developments CIC, a community interest company operating as a social business that aims to investigate new ways to provide healthcare to people and challenge health inequalities.

"India is the diabetic capital of the world and the major reason for this is the socio economic divide of the country. The other reason for this is the rural urban divide wherein only 1/3rd of the population is educated and reside in the advanced part of the country. The area of subsidised healthcare are Government-aided and civic run hospitals, major medical institutes and healthcare for individuals across all strata of society," stated Shashank Joshi, Consultant- Endocrinologist, Lilavati Hospital, Mumbai.

EH News Bureau