World Diabetes Day 2017

World Diabetes Day 2017

This year’s theme for World Diabetes Day is women and diabetes – our right to a healthy future. There are 199 million women in the world who are living with diabetes and this is forecasted to increase substantially within the next 20 years.

Diabetes is the ninth greatest cause of death amongst women globally and this accounts for 2.1 million deaths each year. In addition to this, women with type 2 diabetes are 10 times more likely to develop coronary heart disease than women without diabetes (International Diabetes Federation, 2017). Therefore, the health implications are vast. This year’s campaign highlights the need for health systems to pay greater attention to the specific needs of women and to ensure that all women have access to the necessary diabetes medication. Equally, 70% of type 2 diabetes cases are preventable, therefore, the education of adolescent girls is paramount – as lifestyle habits which are adopted throughout adolescence are proven to contribute to type 2 diabetes later in life.

In India, 26.5% of the population lack access to healthcare (The World Bank, 2016) and this has implications for the diagnosis and treatment of illnesses and diseases such as diabetes. Salt of the Earth are working in partnership with CRUSADE to deliver a healthcare project which will improve the lives of 50,000 people in Tamil Nadu, India. The three objectives of this project are to (1) increase access to primary healthcare, (2) disseminate information and promote understanding of health and (3) educate young people on health, hygiene and basic first aid.

A key component of this project is the provision of 104 mobile health camps, of which 70 camps will be focused on diabetes and blood pressure diagnosis. This will enable members of the communities to receive a diabetes diagnosis and the necessary medication. The education of young people will also help towards the prevention of type 2 diabetes in the future; it will also improve the overall awareness of the disease. All of which are ways that Salt of the Earth is playing an active role in reducing the rates of diabetes in India.

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