Lifescan launches self-testing blood glucose monitor

Lifescan, a Johnson & Johnson group company, has launched 'One Touch Horizon', a self-testing blood glucose monitor. Priced at Rs 1,500, it is the most affordable blood glucose meter in India with all the essential features found in other meters that are priced upwards of Rs 4,500.

It is the first time that Johnson & Johnson has launched any product first in India. The company held clinical trials on the meter in India and the UK in the last one-and-half-a-years, and the meter has proved to be on par with the best in the industry.

Launching the glucose meter here on Friday, two leading diabetologists "� B K Sahay from Hyderabad and V Mohan from Chennai "� said that it was the result of a collaboration between the medical fraternity and Johnson & Johnson. While incorporating the essential features and performance of other devices in the market, it is also priced lower by 67 per cent, they said.

Only one per cent of diabetic patients in India self-monitor their blood glucose levels and even those going to labs for tests are confined to the urban areas.

Keeping this in view, the affordable pricing of the device would help scores of people, even in rural areas, to constantly monitor their glucose levels to prevent diabetes. If used thrice a week, the device could be used for four years, the doctors said.