CII-Eli Lilly collaborative approach has two stages. Two – day summit on “Non Communicable Diseases – Strengthening for Diabetes Care” will be held in Delhi on 7-8 June, 2013. Prior to this, five state level round tables at state capitals were organized in Maharashtra, West Bengal, Chhattisgarhi, Rajasthan and Delhi. The sixth round table will be organized in Kerala shortly. Each roundtable is a brainstorming session with the participation from NCD directors, program officers, and non-governmental organizations at the state and district levels.
The two - day National Summit will deliberate on a wide range of topics on diabetes management, policy gaps, best practices, capacity building of nodal officers, education needs, media and technology tools for awareness and education. The national summit will be participated by national and international experts and policy makers.
One of the important objectives of the joint initiatives is exploring the possibilities of public–private partnerships (PPP) and involvement of industries to complement the NCPCDCS, based on the feedback received from state roundtables and national summit. CII will be taking initiatives in this regard.
Addressing the media at a function coinciding with the announcement of the collaboration of CII and Eli-Lilly to work together for diabetes management in the country, Dr. Jagdish Prasad, said that the collaborative effort can supplement and complement the governmental programs in diabetes prevention and management. “Governmental delivery systems at the states and centre, alone will not be able to combat the growing incidence of diabetes in the country. We need a multi-stakeholder approach to address the present and future challenges posed by diabetes in the country,” he added.
Dr.Prasad informed that the government would be introducing health as a subject at the school level. In this regard consultations are underway with the Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) as well as the National Institute of Health and Family Welfare, which is currently preparing the course framework. Diabetes control and management will be a major part of the syllabus and added that the course will be introduced from the next academic year.
Talking about the steps being taken by the government for diabetes control and management, Dr Prasad said that screening of people are on throughout the country, both in urban and rural areas. The incidence of diabetes is more in the urban centres on account of the changing life styles. The union government is supporting the state governments not only for screening but also for meeting the expenses for diabetic treatment. In this regard, he informed that for every 5000 people in rural areas, one glucometer is being given free for screening the people and diabetic related treatment is free.
Explaining the gravity and scale of diabetes incidence in the country, Dr Prasad observed that India has over 61 million diabetic patients today as against 50.8 million last year, an increase of over 12 per cent. Estimates put that by 2030, India’s diabetes burden will cross 100 million, as against 87 million estimated earlier. The international Diabetes Federation’s (IDF) fifth diabetes atlas says that India’s diabetes prevalence in the age-group of 20-79 is 9.2 per cent and at that rate India is only second to China in terms of incidence of diabetes. In 2012, diabetes caused 983,000 deaths in India and that way the largest contributor of mortality.
Dr Prasad said that the Government of India is committed to tackle the enormous health challenges posed by the growing incidence of diabetes. National Program of Prevention and Control of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases and Stroke (NPCDCS) was launched as a response to prevent and manage these diseases. Diabetic prevention and management is an important component of the program.
The 12th Five Year Plan envisages a scaling up of the program in the entire country. It seeks to create a platform for sharing and learning of the national and global best practices in diabetes prevention and management. It will also seek to rollout a multi-stakeholder approach in the country for addressing the growing incidence of diabetes.
CII has a stake in the prevention and management of diabetes, which can lead to heavy economic losses at work places. The number of workers in the organized and informal sectors is increasing. The productivity of employees afflicted with diabetes will be lesser and the financial burden cast on the enterprises can be very high for diabetic treatment for the employees and their immediate families. CII will provide a platform for policy recommendations and action points in the area of preventing diabetes.
Mr. Melt Van Der Spuy, Managing Director, Eli Lilly & Company India Pvt Ltd, said “Supporting diabetes prevention and management initiatives is an essential part of Lilly’s ongoing commitment to fighting this growing epidemic. To address the rising burden of diabetes it is imperative for the industry stakeholders to collaborate, deliberate and collectively develop prevention and management strategies. The two day National NCD summit on June 7th & 8th would provide a unique platform for learning and sharing and will help to explore some innovative approaches towards managing Diabetes in India”.
Proceedings of the state roundtables will be analyzed to collate the findings. Based on these, a white paper with policy recommendations will be prepared and submitted to the Union Government.
The summit will be an annual event bringing together industry experts, practitioners and policy makers on one platform towards an effective diabetes management program in the country.
