Mard to combat ignorance about diabetes

Diabetes should be a major concern for Mumbaikars as the number of people diagnosed with the disease has been rising. However, a pilot study carried out by Mard has shown that people are still ill-informed about the disease, especially those who are from the lower economic and social strata.

Mard recently conducted a pilot study among 200 out-door patients who visited KEM, JJ, Nair and Sion Hospitals.

In the study, they asked several questions to patients to measure their awareness about diabetes. But to most questions, patients failed to provide correct information, showing how ill-informed people about the disease.

For example, when patients were asked if diabetes was only seen in the after-middle-age group, 146 out of the 200 surveyed patients said yes, which is incorrect.

As per the study more than 60 per cent of patients think that if no patient in a family is diabetic, there are no chances of getting diabetes.

Throwing light on it, Dr Manoj Chawla, diabetologist, Asian Heart Institute, said, “If there is a diabetic patient in a family, chances of getting diabetes also increases. So, such misconceptions need to be addressed properly.”

So, to spread awareness among people, Mard has started a new campaign, ‘Let’s Beat Diabetes’, under which it will distribute pamphlets free of cost to patients at KEM, JJ, Nair and Sion Hospitals.