In a major initiative to check diabetes, the Centre is contemplating compulsory blood tests. Set to be floated under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), the new project will seek to cover the entire population, specially the urban and rural poor, Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad told reporters today.
"I have asked the department of research to formulate a plan and may be we will also look into the feasibility of a public-private partnership mode for this," he said. According to him, the symptoms of diabetes are not recognised in villages and thus people just keep on taking non-prescription medications like Crocin to cure themselves.
Azad contended that “81 per cent of diabetes can be cured just by taking precautions such as changing food habits, exercising regularly and changing other lifestyle causes. “Thus for the have-nots or the poor people this will be a boon as they can control their blood sugar just by taking these measures if they know of their condition," he said.
Azad, however, agreed that the project was a costly one and needed enormous funds. "This a very costly affair. I have contacted external agencies and private organisations also."
"The chip and needle will alone cost Rs 30 per head. This is apart from the testing equipment. "I want to club this with NRHM," Azad said, adding manpower would then not be a problem as the NRHM structure along with the ASHAs would be used to carry out the blood tests.
According to experts, India, already the diabetic capital of the world, is heading towards a diabetic explosion, with 70 million people to be affected by 2015, a decade ahead of expectations. Fueling the alarming trend is the rise in diabetes prevalence in rural areas.
According to Diabetes Atlas published in 2007, there are 246 million diabetics across the world, with 80 per cent of them in the developing and underdeveloped countries. India, according to these statistics, has 40.9 million diabetics.
