WDF launches project for prevention of Diabetes
- September 15, 2013, 3:12 pm
- Health News
- 239 Views
KARACHI, Sept 15 (APP): The World Diabetes Foundation (WDF)
has launched a three-year "Gestational Diabetes Mellitus Prevention
and Control Programme" project in Pakistan with the collaboration of
Baqai Institute of Diabetology (BID).
The Head of the Institute, Prof. Dr. Abdul Basit, explaining the
salient features of the project said that WDF is helping the developing countries in encountering the epidemic of diabetes and in Pakistan BID
is its strategic partner, says a statement here on Sunday.
"Our country has a high prevalence of diabetes while in the past
years, the occurrence of high blood pressure had doubled and that of obesity tripled in the ages of 15 to 25 years, therefore even younger population, (18 years or less) is getting afflicted with Type 2 Diabetes".
He said health needs to be a priority of our policy makers and
there ought to be national policies for the prevention of diabetes and
it has become important to launch diabetes-related projects in Pakistan .
He was of the view that Gestational Diabetes should be considered
as an early warning sign of Type 2 Diabetes occurrence efforts be made to prevent it through lifestyle modification strategies such as improving physical activity, reducing weight and improving diet of Pakistani women
of reproductive age and the project is a major step in that direction.
Dr Shabeen Naz Masood said that women with uncontrolled blood sugar
levels during pregnancy may have immediate adverse consequences such as deranged lipid levels, high blood pressure, pre-eclampsia and eclampsia.
Dr. Musarrat Riaz said that our ethnic predisposition to diabetes
necessitates universal screening of all pregnant women for Gestational Diabetes.
Patient education is key to the management and medical nutrition
therapy and exercise are the first steps.
Dr Asmat Nawaz said that main objectives of this project are to create
awareness in the community, to train doctors and health care professionals and to establish Gestational Diabetes screening as a regular procedure. Public Awareness Programmes would be organized.
