Two states of the country, Gujarat and Rajasthan, have announced in their budget speeches to start dedicated type-1 diabetes clinics in all the district hospitals of their states*

Met Swami Chidananda Saraswati of Parmarth Niketan Ashram in Rishikesh*

Neeti Gopendra Bhatt

New Delhi. In our country India, which has the highest number of children and adolescents suffering from the serious disease of diabetes (Juvenile Diabetes Type-1) in the world, there is a dire need to create a positive environment for the suffering children as well as create public awareness. For this, the Government of India and the state governments along with all sections and organizations of the society as well as religious leaders need to use their influence so that the stigma of diabetes among children in India can be eliminated.

This idea was expressed by two doctor sisters Dr. Smita Joshi and Dr. Rawal Shukla of Vish Nagar in Gujarat, adjacent to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's hometown Vad Nagar, who set out on a drive to 12 states of the country in their own car to create an environment for opening diabetes care centers in all district hospitals of the country for diagnosis and care of diabetes in children and adolescents. They expressed this idea on Thursday to Swami Chidananda Saraswati of Parmarth Niketan Ashram in Rishikesh, while informing him about the pitiable condition of diabetic children in India and sought his help for public awareness and addressed the devotees who had come to participate in the evening Ganga Aarti.

The doctor sisters told that in the remote backward areas of India, deprived communities and tribal areas, due to diabetes in children from birth, lakhs of children are dying untimely every year. Especially girls are falling prey to this in greater numbers than boys because economically weak parents are not able to give insulin injections to their children suffering from diabetes three to four times a day. Mothers cry tears of blood seeing this suffering of their children.

She told that after India, America ranks second in the world in terms of diabetes among children and adolescents, but due to modern and developed resources there, insulin is given through pump belt method, unlike India, children do not have to suffer the pain of insulin injection three to four times a day, whereas in India, tears fall from the eyes of every mother many times while giving injection to innocent children.

Dr. Smita Joshi and Dr. Rawal Shukla told that they have been engaged in service work for diabetic children with their family since the year 2018 and to create public awareness for this, they have spontaneously driven 7000 km in their car from Kashmir to Kanyakumari in India and from East Course to West Course in America. As a result, people who earlier considered diabetes to be a royal disease of old and rich people, have now started accepting diabetes in children.

Unfortunately, in India, diabetes in children and adolescents (Juvenile Diabetes Type-1) is not covered in any health policy of the country. All health care programs or schemes benefit only patients aged 30 years or above. Therefore, it is neither considered a part of the child and maternal health program nor is it included in the NP-NCD program. Due to this, children suffering from diabetes are not getting any government assistance for its expensive medicines and injections etc.

After many years of efforts, two states of the country, Gujarat and Rajasthan, have taken the first initiative to take care of the health of children suffering from diabetes and the Finance Ministers of both the states have announced in their budget speeches to start dedicated Type-1 diabetes clinics in all the district hospitals of their states. However, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of the Government of India is also moving forward in this direction with a commitment to realize the dream of a healthy and happy India in accordance with the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a developed India @ 2047.  Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare J P Nadda and the Union Health Ministry are also in favour of formulating a national policy for the prevention and diagnosis of diabetes in children and adolescents, but since health is a state subject in the federal structure of India, the Government of India is encouraging people engaged in creating public awareness in this regard.

Smita Joshi and Dr. Rawal Shukla say that by staying close to diabetic children and their families since 2018, they have come to know the fact that insulin alone is not enough to combat this deadly disease, but there is a dire need for public awareness and change in government policies to remove the stigma about diabetes in children in our society.

Both the doctor sisters, Dr. Smita Joshi and Dr. Shukla Ben Rawal, have embarked on a 12-state tour at their own expense to motivate the states to set up dedicated type-1 diabetes clinics in district government hospitals on the lines of the NCD clinics already existing in all the states of India. 

They started this drive on 20th April from Gandhinagar, the capital of Gujarat and on 21st April via Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan, they reached the national capital New Delhi on 22nd April where they met AIIMS Director Dr. M. Srinivas and urged him that like district hospitals, dedicated type-1 diabetes clinics should be run in every AIIMS of the country for better health of children. Delhi AIIMS has already started this initiative. In this way, AIIMS Delhi will become a role model for all AIIMS.Dr. sisters also interacted with the health officials of the State Health Mission of Delhi State.

In the next phase of their drive, they met Haryana Director DGHS Dr. Kuldeep Singh and PGIMER, Chandigarh Director Dr. Vivek Lal and Pediatric Endocrinologist Dr. Devi Dayal in Chandigarh. She said that we had a very good discussion with the officials of the Health Department of Haryana State for the establishment of dedicated type-1 diabetes clinics in government district hospitals for the betterment of diabetic children.

Both the doctor sisters Dr. Smita Joshi and Dr. Shukla Ben Rawal have a program to go to Uttarakhand capital Dehradun, Uttar Pradesh capital Lucknow, Madhya Pradesh capital Bhopal. They will go from Bhopal to Nagpur in Maharashtra and from Nagpur to Chhattisgarh capital Raipur and from there to Odisha capital Bhubaneswar by self-driving.

From Bhubaneswar onwards, they will reach Bhubaneswar by flight via Assam capital Guwahati and Itanagar in Arunachal Pradesh, Imphal in Manipur and then return to their home state Gujarat from Bhubaneswar by self-drive.

This campaign started by them in the interest of millions of children of India is demonstrating his sense of responsibility and passion towards the society.