Manipal: The education hub of the coast organized a diabetes screening programme for faculty and non-teaching staff on Monday, 14 November on the occasion of World Diabetes Day. Manipal College of Nursing and Manipal University in collaboration with Manipal Institute of Technology (MIT) conducted the screening at the latter’s campus.
One hundred and sixteen persons were screened in the morning. Of them, nine had diabetes. Weight, height, Body Mass Index, random sugar and fasting were checked. Participants either with diabetes or the ones diagnosed for the first time were screened for retinal changes. Foot screening was carried out by the diabetes screening team of International Diabetes Federation (IDF) project of Kasturba Hospital, Manipal. Students and faculty displayed their posters on the theme and best posters were awarded.
Chief Guest for the programme, Dr. Gopalakrishna Prabhu, Director of MIT advised people to avail of the facilities available at Kasturba Hospital, without hassles and close at hand. “People in general neglect health. Routine screening is important to prevent complications for those with diabetes,” he said.
Dr. Anice George, Dean of Manipal College of Nursing said, “We need to be responsible for our health. At least one day in a year we need to spend on health checks so that we remain healthy and be free from diabetes which is one of the most common diseases today.”
Later, Dr Sulatha V Bhandary, Associate Professor in the Ophthalmology department of KMC Manipal had an interactive session with faculty, security men, and others. She spoke of proper diet and exercise necessary for fitness and explained the pathological changes in the eyes due to diabetes. She also cleared their doubts about cure and care for diabetes how it could be managed.
A “Walk for Diabetes” was also organized on the same occasion to create awareness among the general public about diabetes. The walk was inaugurated at 8 AM by Dr. Poornima Baliga, the Dean of KMC outside the Manipal.Edu building. As many as 650 students and faculty members including 12 students from other countries participated in the walk.
