The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : A dose of aid for those in need

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Mar 07, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

A dose of aid for those in need

Sahana Charan

TIMELY ASSISTANCE: A boy undergoing check-up at the Samatvam Asha Diabetes Centre in Bangalore. — Photo: Samptah Kumar G.P.

Bangalore: The long queue of patients, many of whom are children, is not an unusual sight in this clinic even on a Sunday. The fact is that they come here only on the first Sunday of the month to collect what is now their lifeline — a month's supply of insulin and drugs.

The Samatvam Asha Diabetes Centre (also called Jnana Sanjeevani Medical Centre) in Marenahalli in J.P. Nagar is the brainchild of diabetologist S.S. Srikanta and provides free insulin to the largely neglected group in society — underprivileged diabetics, both children and adults.

"Many children in India with Type 1 (insulin dependent) diabetes die even before they are diagnosed. They may get high fever and become unconscious but before they can reach a health facility they are dead," says Geeta Kamath, CEO of Jnana Sanjeevani.

A major number of the beneficiaries are poor children and young adults with Type 1 or juvenile diabetes. One is 14-year-old Shalini, who is not only diabetic from the time she was five years old but is also deaf and mute.

"Earlier she used to get epileptic attacks when her blood sugar levels shot up. Now, after coming to this clinic, she has been getting her daily dose of insulin," says Shalini's mother Saraswathamma, a domestic help who has Type 2 diabetes.

"These children who come to our clinic will not survive if they miss one or two days of their insulin shots. If not properly managed, they will also have complications such as diabetic foot, kidney failure and blindness," says Dr. Srikanta.

The centre supports two programmes, which are sponsored by Infosys Foundation, Biocon and Microlabs — "Disha" for children and young adults with Type 1 diabetes and "Dosti" for adults with Type 2 diabetes. Through these programmes, Dr. Srikanta and his team have reached around three lakh persons and screened 30,000 persons. Free/subsidised treatment has been reached to 3,000 underprivileged people while 30 diabetes health workers have been trained.

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