Guwahati: Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has initiated a project for the diagnosis of diabetic patients in the remote areas of Assam.
“Diagnosis of diabetes is a major problem as there is no specific symptom like in communicable diseases and for this purpose the ministry has focussed on this aspect in a big way,” Ministry’s Regional Director Parthajyoti Gogoi said on Saturday at the launch of Health Management and Research Institutes’s (HMRI) comprehensive diabetes project in association with Denmark’s World Diabetes Foundation (WDF).
The Union ministry’s project has been launched in five districts of the state — Jorhat, Sibsagar, Lakhimpur, Kamrup and Dibrugarh — and there were plans to include more districts in near future, Gogoi said.
The state government has launched similar schemes to create awareness in 11 districts and “with proper integration of the projects and coordination between the state and Centre, we hope the problem, which has emerged as a major killer in the country, can be effectively tackled,” he added.
The primary aim of the project was to create awareness among the rural population, training of health workers and ensure availability of necessary treatment and medicines.
During a random survey conducted by the directorate, it was found that the people of both urban and rural areas were suffering from the disease, Assam Director of Health Services D Hojai said.
“Therefore, it is imperative to identify diabetic patients when the disease was in its early stage and tackle the problem effectively,” he added. HMRI Chief Executive Officer Balaji Utla said the project would provide vital awareness, screening and treatment of type II diabetes and will train rural health care workers on the disease in all 27 districts of Assam.
The project has three key components — Rural health outreach to conduct awareness activities and screen for diabetes, 26 telemedicine centres connected to specialists in Guwahati and a 24×7 Health Helpline available to provide medical and health advice, Ulta said.
The project was expected to raise awareness among 65 lakh people through posters, education and street plays, perform preliminary diabetes screenings of 12 lakh people and perform secondary screenings of 80,000 people with blood sugar tests, he said.
Training would also be provided to 4,800 Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA), 5000 community resource people and others who will act as a source of information and role models for proper disease management.
HMRI’s ‘Dox-in-Box’, an innovative machine, which captures, stores and transmits medical information like blood sugar, temperature, heart and lung sounds, oxygen level, images of skin and ENT, ECG and pulse rate, was also launched on the occasion. (PTI)