Practo launches Transform – Its flagship digital diabetes management and remission program
71 per cent of doctors believe that Diabetes Remission (DR) is possible, i.e. bringing blood sugars back into the normal range without the aid of medications – revealed a survey conducted by Practo. The survey was conducted to understand the attitudes of the healthcare community towards managing India’s rising diabetes burden. With over 100 million people with diabetes(PWD) in India and an estimation of it doubling by 2045, there is an urgent need to revisit diabetes management strategies in the country.
In addition to shedding light on the positive attitudes of Healthcare professionals (HCPs) towards diabetes remission, the survey also highlighted several barriers to implementing diabetes remission in their patients. While healthcare professionals believed that nearly 40 per cent of their patients were eligible for diabetes remission, only half of the healthcare professionals (52 per cent) had access to a dietician (either in-house or externally) or a structured diabetes remission program, with the remaining having to single-handedly play many roles in a time-constrained environment.
Some commonly reported barriers by doctors to successfully achieving remission in their patients were:
- Difficulty in adherence to diet and fitness plans by the patient – 86 per cent
- Lack of family support – 43 per cent
- Lack of resources to closely follow up on patient’s progress – 29 per cent
In summary, the doctor’s survey not only highlighted a growing predisposition towards diabetes remission among healthcare professionals but also identified a crucial gap in diabetes care delivery: the need for a structured support system for healthcare professionals to enable the successful delivery of a diabetes remission plan to their patients.
‘Transform’, Practo’s recently launched diabetes remission program, aims to bridge this gap in delivering quality diabetes remission care. It is a 6-month program aimed at helping type 2 diabetes patients reduce their reliance on medication and achieve diabetes remission through healthy eating and activity. It was developed with the help of medical experts from the NHS, U.K, using the evidence from the landmark DIRECT trial adapted to the Indian population. It combines technology with a multidisciplinary team (MDT) approach with a focus on sustained habit and behaviour change.
The survey was conducted in April 2023, among 260 diabetologists with a 50-50 split between tier I cities (Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Pune) and tier II & III cities.
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