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Diabetes – A Very Costly Affair for Many

by Thilaka Ravi on Sep 15 2009 12:13 PM

The socio economic impact of diabetes and its complications were discussed in a seminar at the Russian Cultural Center, in Chennai, South India on Sunday.  The seminar convened by M V Hospital for Diabetes and Diabetes Research Centre, Royapuram, Chennai (WHO Collaborating Centre for Research, Education and Training in Diabetes) discussed such issues like economic burden due to diabetes, multi-sectoral approach for reducing the burden due to diabetes, effective payment modalities to help finance the patients for management of diabetes and its complications, reversal of the social economic gradients in diabetes in India and direct and indirect costs involved in diabetes care. 


The seminar saw stakeholders from different sectors such as World Health Organization (WHO), Insurance, Government, ISRO, Pharmaceutical, and healthcare, gather in Chennai to identify, deliberate and come out with solutions to address the impact of Diabetes on the livelihoods of people in India.

The ‘Orientation program on socio economics for doctors  and manual detailing the socio-economic aspects of Diabetes care’ was formally unveiled by Mr. Andrew T Simkin, US Consul General, Chennai in the presence of Dr. Gojka Roglic, Responsible Officer, WHO Diabetes Program and Dr. Vijay Viswanathan, Managing Director, MV Hospital for Diabetes, Royapuram, Chennai.  This program was aimed at sensitizing medical practitioners on the socio economics of health care and diabetes.    

Dr. Gojka Roglic, Responsible Officer, WHO Diabetes Program, Geneva, delivered the inaugural address by talking on ‘Global burden of Diabetes and its complications’.

 

Dr. Vijay Viswanathan,Managing Director, MV Hospital for Diabetes and Diabetes Research Centre, Royapuram, Chennai, spoke on the ‘Economics of Diabetes and its Co-morbid conditions’, and explained medical insurance was not easily available for diabetic patients in India.  Most of them had to borrow, spend their savings, sell/ mortgage property to pay for amputations, heart surgery and dialysis when they get complications. He observed that patients with Diabetes were expected to increase to 57 million by the year 2025 in India – making it the country with highest number of diabetic patients in the world.

The seminar concluded with a panel discussion on “The Strategies to Combat Economic Burden of Non-Communicable Diseases including Diabetes”.  The panel discussion involved several panelists from across the industry spectrum such as from the Insurance Sector, World Health Organization, Government of Tamil Nadu, Indian Space Research Organization, Pharmaceutical Industry, Institute of Public Health and Health Care consultants.  The panel discussion came out with draft framework of proposals to address the epidemic nature of Diabetes and strategies to combat the same.

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