D-Talk: Pre-diabetes treatment project launched
Programme likely to be expanded beyond six districts
PHOTO: REUTERS
PESHAWAR:
The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government, with assistance from donor agencies, launched ‘D-Talk,’ a pre-diabetes treatment and prevention project in six districts.
A training session was also held for health officials from DI Khan, Buner, Haripur, Nowshera, Lakki Marwat and Karak at a hotel in the provincial capital on Friday.
According to the programme’s agenda, once trained, officials will impart expertise and knowledge to other employees at respective health facilities to create awareness among people. Hospitals will then provide services to diagnose and minimise the development of complications in diabetes mellitus.
At the training, Minister for Health Shahram Tarakai said, “Doctors always prescribed medicines and carried out surgeries but if adequate awareness sessions had been held, hundreds of people could have been saved from these different illnesses.”
Tarakai said, the programme is a first of its kind and doctors should avail the opportunity to get trained. “If whatever has been planned and learned is not implemented, all these efforts would be futile.”
The minister said initially only six districts will be part of the programme, but since diabetes was spreading rapidly, D-Talk will be expanded to the whole province.
Silent killer
Secretary for Health Jamal Yusuf said diabetes had become an epidemic and was a silent killer. “Health employees should be trained so they can catch diabetes at the earliest and diagnose and monitor patients,” he said.
Project Director Professor Dr A H Amir said people who fall in the pre-diabetic category [those who can easily fall prey to diabetes due to several reasons] will be picked up for the first stage of treatment.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 12th, 2016.
The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government, with assistance from donor agencies, launched ‘D-Talk,’ a pre-diabetes treatment and prevention project in six districts.
A training session was also held for health officials from DI Khan, Buner, Haripur, Nowshera, Lakki Marwat and Karak at a hotel in the provincial capital on Friday.
According to the programme’s agenda, once trained, officials will impart expertise and knowledge to other employees at respective health facilities to create awareness among people. Hospitals will then provide services to diagnose and minimise the development of complications in diabetes mellitus.
At the training, Minister for Health Shahram Tarakai said, “Doctors always prescribed medicines and carried out surgeries but if adequate awareness sessions had been held, hundreds of people could have been saved from these different illnesses.”
Tarakai said, the programme is a first of its kind and doctors should avail the opportunity to get trained. “If whatever has been planned and learned is not implemented, all these efforts would be futile.”
The minister said initially only six districts will be part of the programme, but since diabetes was spreading rapidly, D-Talk will be expanded to the whole province.
Silent killer
Secretary for Health Jamal Yusuf said diabetes had become an epidemic and was a silent killer. “Health employees should be trained so they can catch diabetes at the earliest and diagnose and monitor patients,” he said.
Project Director Professor Dr A H Amir said people who fall in the pre-diabetic category [those who can easily fall prey to diabetes due to several reasons] will be picked up for the first stage of treatment.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 12th, 2016.