KARACHI: A project aiming at promoting awareness about prevention and treatment of diabetes was launched on Wednesday.

Titled Kaarvaan, the project is an outcome of collaboration between Roche Diabetes Care with DoctHERs.

Under the initiative, doctors, nurses, and lady health workers would be trained in diabetes management and would be educating the masses about preventive diabetes management, its treatment, symptoms, early diagnosis, insulin advocacy, usage of glucometers, and busting myths.

“More than 415 million people in the world are suffering from diabetes. Pakistan is ranked fourth all over the world for having the highest number of diabetic patients with the recent count having climbed as high as 19.1 million — making up around 17 per cent of the country’s total population. As per studies, about 45pc of diabetic patients in Pakistan are undiagnosed,” says a press release.

Studies show that if enough knowledge is not made available to the general public regarding diabetes, the disease burden is expected to increase by 67pc by 2030, it adds.

Published in Dawn, February 19th, 2021