KARACHI: Around 53 per cent people were found to be diabetic when over 21,729 people were screened for the lifestyle disease during last one year, said the report of a nationwide project.

“Among them, 11,500 were found to be suffering from type-2 diabetes in Pakistan,” said the report compiled by the Discovering Diabetes (DD).

“As many as 21,729 people were tracked through the DD helpline during last one year, who were screened and of them, 11,500 were found to be suffering from type-2 diabetes in the country. Of them, 8,255 patients have so far been connected with the healthcare professionals at the 200 DD Clinics functioning throughout the country for the treatment.”

DD Director Abdus Samad said the project was launched in 2021 in collaboration with the Pakistan Endocrine Society (PES) and a local pharmaceutical firm – Pharmevo. The project, he said, is aimed at reaching out to over 10 million diabetics in Pakistan who are still undiagnosed and due to complications of the disease, facing severe complications including amputations, renal failure, heart attack, mental health issues and other problems.

“Hundreds of thousands of pre-diabetics who called on our helpline were advised to adopt a healthy lifestyle to delay or avoid onset of the diabetes,” said Mr Samad.

“Since the launch of DD project in 2021, around five million people have been approached through medical camps, special awareness campaigns, print and electronic media as well as social media,” he said and added that they were planning to continue their quest of undiagnosed diabetics to put them on treatment.

The DD project lead said in addition to their toll-free helpline – 0800-66766 – for the diabetes awareness and assistance, they were having collaborations with the universities throughout the country to track and trace missing diabetics, create awareness and were using all means of the communication to urge people to adopt healthy lifestyle.

Renowned diabetologist Dr Abbas Raza in his message lauded the efforts by DD team for the collection of valuable data as well as connecting the patients with healthcare facilities for the treatment and urged other players in the pharmaceutical industry to come forward and support or initiate such projects.

“Support of the pharmaceutical industry is crucial in getting the real data and finding the missing millions of diabetics in Pakistan. I would also urge for collaborative efforts in the field of diabetes as a lot of organisations are working for the collection of data and there is a chance of overlapping of data,” he said and called for creating awareness among people who are living at the risk of contracting diabetes in Pakistan.

PES President Dr Ibrar Ahmed said in a country with over 33m diabetics and highest prevalence of diabetes, only doctors could not tackle the epidemic of diabetes, adding that partnerships between health associations and pharmaceutical industry could change the landscape of diabetes in Pakistan.

“PES had launched a pilot project in Mardan where people at risk of diabetes were being screened and, in this regard, we got the financial support from the Pharmevo. Now we are moving to Sindh, Punjab, Balochistan and Azad Kashmir, where five such centres would be established and people would be screened for the diabetes,” he said.

Published in Dawn, May 31st, 2023