Educate GPs to tackle diabetes

CHENNAI: The key to eradicating diabetes in India eventually, is for specialists to educate primary care physicians, announced Shaukat Saidkot, President-elect of the International Diabetes Federation (IDF).“India is not one entity. It’s more like the United States. But one thing they have in common is that 99 per cent still only get to see a general practitioner,” he said. He also added rather candidly, that if these GPs had no idea about how to deal with pregnant women with diabetes, then there was no point to seminars, research or any advancement in medicine. He spoke at the inaugural session of the Scientific Conference of the International Association of Diabetes and Pregnancy Study Groups (IADPSG), here on Friday.Addressing a gathering of international and national delegates, comprising researchers and doctors, Sadikot said diabetes is an ‘evil’ that existed because “good people do not come together to fight it.” India has a problem with diabetes with estimates in 2011 saying that we could have 580 mn diabetics by 2030, he reasoned and asked that every diabetologist did their part.V-C of the TN Dr MGR Medical University Dr Mayilvahanan Natarajan said with pride that TN’s programme to curb gestational diabetes had been adopted by several other states.