To mark World Diabetes Day, Novo Nordisk Education Foundation (NNEF) and Novo Nordisk India Pvt Ltd have launched a ‘1000-day Challenge’ programme along with leading healthcare practitioners to address uncontrolled diabetes in India. Uncontrolled diabetes is a serious challenge in India with over INR 63,000 crore incurred in healthcare costs per year due to diabetes.

The 1000-Day Challenge intends to improve awareness and education amongst 150,000 practitioners and 10,000 paramedics through over 6,000 medical meetings and continuous medical education (CMEs) programmes over the said period.

In addition, for the first time, real-time data on the state of diabetes care is being made available through an innovative “India Diabetes Care Index”. The Index provides the average blood sugar control over 3 months of a given city through HbA1c data.

Dr A K Das, Senior Professor, Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences and Patron of the Impact India programme, said: “HbA1c levels will be adopted as the key performance indicator for this initiative. The India Diabetes Care Index reveals that the current average HbA1c of India is 8.56% against the usually recommended target of <7%. Through Impact India, we will work towards reducing the HbA1c levels of treated patients. Every 1% reduction in HbA1c reduces the risk of stroke by 12%, heart attack by 14%, diabetic eye disease by 31%, diabetic kidney disease by 33%, diabetic limb disease by 43%.”

The India Diabetes Care Index will be launched for at least 15 major cities over the next few months and will be updated on a quarterly basis.

The launch event in Delhi was attended by the top diabetes experts in India; former cricketer and Novo Nordisk changing diabetes ambassador Anil Kumble and Royal Danish Embassy Ambassador, HE Peter Taksøe-Jensen.

 As part of the programme, Anil Kumble will champion a healthy lifestyle through measures such as encouraging daily exercise and reducing “social snacking” as well as the in-take of high calories and processed food.

Anil Kumble said, “If we are to have any hope of bending the trajectory of the potentially catastrophic rise in diabetes, we have to work together to grapple with the factors that put people at risk in the first place. As a sportsperson, I look forward to tough challenges, and with the 1000-Day challenge, we are calling on every stakeholder to work collectively.”

India has 72.9 million people with diabetes. The prevalence of other common co-morbidities of diabetes like hypertension and high cholesterol levels are also high in India, around 26% and 14% respectively, further predisposing the population to an additional risk for heart and blood vessel diseases.

Dr Nikhil Tandon, Head of Department of Endocrinology, AIIMS, and Padma Shri awardee said: “The impact of diabetes is felt by the affected individual and the entire family, not merely as a contribution to physical ill-health, but also at an emotional as well as an economic level. A targeted programme backed by real-time data is the right approach to addressing this rising burden.”

Through this program, Novo Nordisk seeks to improve the understanding of the principal factors behind the rise of diabetes in India, enhance understanding on uncontrolled diabetes and then share and apply that knowledge to real-world solutions for people to live healthier lives with diabetes.

“The programme has a clear objective which can act as a rallying point for all concerned stakeholders. A tool like the India Diabetes Care Index is vital for understanding the areas that require maximum attention. For the first time, we will have a measurable system for assessing the impact of our efforts,” said Dr V Mohan, Chairman, Dr Mohan's Diabetes Specialities Centre and Padma Shri awardee.

Under the programme, digital platforms will be leveraged to partner with practitioners (doctors and paramedics), physician associations, government agencies and healthcare institutions to evolve and implement an approach to diabetes care appropriate to India.

“At Novo Nordisk we have been working for changing diabetes for nearly 100 years. With this new initiative, we have set an ambitious target and we hope to see India emerge as a role model in diabetes management,” said Frederik Kier, SVP, Region AAMEO, Novo Nordisk A/S.