Shillong: On Friday, Governor Shanmuganathan gave away the certificates to 22 practicing doctors from across Meghalaya who completed the Certificate Course on Evidence Based Diabetic Management (CCEBDM) Cycle-IV, at the Scouts and Guides hall here.
Speaking on the occasion, the Governor lauded the doctors for completing the course as they will now be better equipped to address one of the most widely prevalent lifestyle diseases – Diabetes. He shared the experiences of his acquaintances who have had their legs and toes amputated because of Diabetes and felt that doctors had a lot to do to create awareness about prevention of the disease.
In his usual characteristic style, the Governor started asking the doctors what they had learnt from the one year course. Various answers were given of which one was that Diabetes is preventable. Some pointed to diet control even before the onset of Diabetes.
The Governor also inaugurated the website of the Meghalaya Diabetes Association.
The Certificate Course was sponsored by the Public Health Foundation of India, New Delhi which now has a branch in Shillong in collaboration with Dr. Mohan’s Diabetes Clinic, Chennai. The course was anchored by Dr. Daljit Singh Sethi, MD who was also the Regional Faculty.
Earlier, while addressing the audience, Dr. Sethi said Meghalaya does not have a single endocrinologist who could better understand the specificities of Diabetes and that is why it is good that practicing doctors who interface with patients on a daily basis are given this basic course so they can guide their patients better.
Dr. Sethi said as far as Diabetes is concerned the rural-urban divide is fast closing due to the kind of food and drinks that have penetrated every nook and corner of the country.
Dr. Puskhar Kumar, MD of the PHFI said 246 million people worldwide suffer from Diabetes with six deaths every minute. Almost 3.2 million people (one out of five) die of the disease and 25% of the family resources go into the maintenance of the patient.
“The idea of the CCEBDM is to enhance knowledge, skills and core competencies of each doctor who goes through the Course,” he said, adding that the entire course was carefully observed and the curricula upgraded to meet the present challenges.
J.N. Choudhury, Vice President, PHFI, New Delhi outlined the role of his institution which he said was started ten years ago in the public-private-partnership model, to build up a cadre of public health professionals. Stating that India today has the highest GDP in the world he said it is the onus of PHFI through its research work to advocate for higher budget allocations for health.
“PHFI has used SHGs to increase awareness on health and we have trained 300 doctors from the North East. Now that we have PHFI unit in Meghalaya we would urge the State government to give this Institute a University status through its State Act. This would health train up cadres of researchers and health practitioners and this would help in bringing down the maternal and infant mortality rates,” Choudhury said, adding that this would also improve the capacities of primary health care system.
Others who spoke on the occasion included Dr. Mihir Saikia the only endocrinologist from the North East currently with PHFI, New Delhi.
