Hundreds of children's lives can be saved by timely diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes: experts

Source: The News International

ISLAMABAD: Hundreds of children having Type 1 diabetes die annually in Pakistan for not being diagnosed timely due to the lack of awareness among their parents and physicians about the disease, but all of them can be saved by timely diagnosis and putting them on insulin, senior diabetologists and health experts said on Saturday.

"Of the 100,000 children having Type 1 diabetes in Pakistan, many are not diagnosed timely and die within a few days of the onset of the disease. If parents are aware of the symptoms of Type 1 diabetes and such children are treated by trained and qualified physicians, their lives can be saved by giving them insulin for rest of their lives," renowned diabetologist and project lead of Changing Diabetes in Children Prof. Abdul Basit told a news conference at the National Press Club (NPC) Islamabad.

Accompanied by Ambassador of Denmark to Pakistan Jakob Linulf, Irum Ghafoor, Manager Changing Diabetes in Children, Dr Zafar Abbasi, Rashid Rafique Butt, General Manager Novo Nordisk Pakistan and head of diabetes care at Roche Pakistan Sohail Malik, Prof. Abdul Basit said not a single child should die due to the unavailability of insulin, adding that in this regard, they had launched the Changing Diabetes in Children project in Pakistan two years back.

"The Health Promotion Foundation in collaboration with Novo Nordisk and Roche Pakistan has been providing free of charge insulin to over 1,500 children living with Type 1 diabetes for the last two years. Our goal is to reach out to 3,000 children, whose parents cannot afford insulin throughout the country and provide them free of charge insulin to live a normal and happy life," Prof. Abdul Basit added.

Responding to a query, he said if a child starts losing weight without any reason suddenly, urinates frequently, has extreme hunger and mood changes, these signs could be the symptoms of Type 1 diabetes and parents should take the child to a trained and qualified pediatrician and also request for checking his or her sugar to ascertain if the child is having Type 1 diabetes or not.

The Ambassador of Denmark to Pakistan, Jakob Linulf, also deplored that hundreds of children were 'dying unnecessarily' in Pakistan as their parents didn't know that their children had Type 1 diabetes and they were not getting the right, which is insulin that could save their lives and help them live a long, healthy and happy life.

"There is a need to tell parents that early diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes can save the lives of hundreds of children in Pakistan. There is also a need to train physicians and doctors regarding proper diagnosis of the Type 1 diabetes and putting them on insulin as per guidelines," the ambassador said, adding that the partnership between Novo Nordisk and Health Promotion Foundation is a significant stride towards improving the lives of children with diabetes.

"The Changing Diabetes in Children programme aligns with the International Diabetes Federation's mission to promote diabetes care and prevention worldwide," he added.

Irum Ghafoor said they have 16 Changing Diabetes in Children centres in different regions covering all provinces including Punjab, Balochistan, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and also the federal capital, Islamabad.

"Through these centres, we have enrolled 1,544 children across Pakistan by the end of year 2023. Children living with diabetes, who visit these centres, have access to free insulin and blood glucose monitoring equipment for better diabetes control," she informed.

In addition to providing comprehensive diabetes care, the foundation is also providing training to healthcare professionals on better management of diabetes and have trained more than 200 healthcare professionals including doctors and nurses, Irum Ghafoor said, adding that they have also provided awareness and education to more than 10,000 children and their caretakers on how to live a normal life with diabetes through diabetes camps and awareness campaigns.

Rashid Rafique Butt said Novo Nordisk is striving to defeat serious chronic diseases such as diabetes, adding that they know that it takes more than medicine to defeat diabetes which is why they were building partnerships.

"We have partnered with the Health Promotion Foundation to launch the Changing Diabetes in Children programme in 2021 to provide access to affordable care to improve the lives of children living with Type-1 diabetes, which also has a positive impact on their families," he added.