KARACHI, Nov 16: If Karachi’s population is taken to be 12 million, and the prevalence of diabetes is deemed to be only 8 per cent, then there are about 1 million diabetics in the city.
However, the city has only five or six diabetic clinics. These clinics obviously cannot cater to the needs of all the diabetics in the city, Prof Mashoor Alam of the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) told Dawn on Saturday.
Showing this reporter round the JPMC’s diabetic clinic, he said diabetes was a disease that adversely affected all the organs of a patient. “As you know, in diabetes the level of glucose goes up in the blood,” he said.
“And blood passes through each and every organ in a body. That’s why each organ is affected.” He said it was imperative that blood sugar was kept within the prescribed limits at all times.
The professor said eye ailments, like cataract, and heart attacks were common complications among diabetics. “Another horrible complication is the diabetic’s foot. In this complication even a small scratch on the foot can lead to amputation of a toe or even the entire foot.”
Prof Alam introduced at least five patients to this reporter whose toes had been removed. One patient had had his right leg removed.
Speaking of the stench that surrounded a patient whose toe had been amputated, he said: “Even I cannot stand near these patients for long, so strong is the stink. And I am certain that once the bandage is removed you will bolt.”
He said the only dresser in his ward who could take care of the amputees was Mohammad Ilyas. “This man is so dedicated that he comes even on holidays to the ward just to dress up the amputees’ wounds.”
Prof Alam told Dawn that Ilyas, ironically, was recently diagnosed as a diabetic. “This is something which I will never be able to explain. This is the guy who takes care of the diabetics and God gives him diabetes in return for his services?”
In response to a question, the professor said the JPMC’s diabetic clinic had 8,000 registered diabetics who visited it regularly. At the centre the blood examinations and other investigations were carried out with the help of sophisticated equipment.
The clinic regularly organized awareness programmes and training courses for the benefit of doctors as well as paramedical staff, he said. The seventh such programme was held recently.
Prof Alam said the clinic was an example of good partnership between the NGOs and public sector. Answering a question, he said the diabetics were charged Rs40 per visit.
“For this amount, we carry out all their medical investigations and also give them medicine. The cost to a patient works out to Rs2 per day.”
Prof Alam said needy people were exempt from paying the fee.
