25 villages in Kancheepuram to get easy access to diabetes care

Talking to DTNext on the side lines of an event held in the city on Friday to announce the new programme, ‘25 Village adoption initiative,’ Dr V Mohan, chairman, Dr Mohan’s Diabetes Specialities Centre, said that the programme looks at catering to the diabetic care needs of children and senior citizens. “Those in both age groups rely on others for the treatment and care. Therefore, we wanted to mark our 25 years by reaching out to those who need care in the 25 villages,” he said. With an objective to build sustainable diabetes care at affordable cost, the initiative will drive across diabetic awareness campaigns, medical camps, outreach programs on dietary planning and many more. 

The initiative will also have personnel including various doctors and researchers deployed in villages to study the needs of diabetic patients in the regions and prepare tailor made treatments at a subsidised cost. Dr R M Anjana, Joint MD, of the centre said that the Sai Rural Diabetes Specialities Centre established at Illedu-Choonampet is catering to the needs of those in and around the area for the last 10 years. Dr Mohan pointed out that the prevalence of diabetes rate in the district may not be as high as it is in Chennai (25 per cent). But when compared to rural areas in other states, Tamil Nadu has a higher prevalence rate in the rural belt at 10-12 per cent. 

“We aim to keep adding more villages with every milestone. The bigger plan is to reach out to 50 villages,” he said. The event was presided by J Radhakrishnan, Secretary Department of Health and Family Welfare.   The ‘DMDSC Lifetime Contribution Award’ was awarded to Professor G. Arjundas, Former Professor of Neurology, MMC, Professor S. Kameswaran, Patron, Madras ENT Research Foundation, Dr. Sarada Menon, Founder, SCARF, Dr. V. Shanta, Chairperson, Cancer Institute, and Professor K. V. Thiruvengadam, Former Professor of Medicine, Stanley, MMC and GH.