Diabetes survey to end by mid-May

MARGAO: The house-to-house survey for registering people with diabetes, which commenced in Margao and Panaji earlier this year, is expected to be completed within the next 15 days. Theproject, currently under way in the two cities, is part of the Changing DiabetesBarometer — a global diabetes care project undertaken by Novo NordiskEducation Foundation (NNEF) in association with the Directorate of HealthServices (DHS), Goa. A similar house-tohouse survey was recently launched inVasco, said officials, adding that the same exercise will be carried out inMapusa next month. Project manager Satish Barde told TOI that NNEF is in theprocess of submitting a proposal to the Goa government for expansion of itsdiabetes-related activities. "We will soon put a proposal to thegovernment to extend the activities currently undertaken in various places inthe state till the end of this year," he said. In Margao, the survey includedvisiting households where trained health workers took down the family’shistory of diabetes if at all. Moreover, all above the age of 35 years weresubjected to a Random Blood Sugar (RBS) test and those whose RBS exceeded 140 mgwere referred to Hospicio hospital for more tests. While the work ofcompiling the data collected via the survey conducted in Panaji and Margao isunder way, Barde said the collected information will be used to start thediabetes registry of Goa — a first of its kind in India. "The statisticaldata of both the cities will be officially disclosed at the end of the survey.However, all this information will enable us to start the registry which will bea unique part of the global project of NNEF launched in coordination with localgovernments and health departments. Goa in India is among 150 countries thathave committed to take concrete action to check this silent pandemic," he said.Launched in the state in September 2008, the Changing Diabetes Barometer projectaims to improve the lives of people with diabetes and reduce costs that arisefrom treating this progressive chronic disease. "There is still aneed for creating awareness about diabetes and its complications with emphasison early diagnosis to help people with diabetes to manage themselves better. Weare now therefore thinking of expanding the scope of work in the state," hedisclosed.