Diabetacare to work with Karnataka government

 Diabetacare, a medical technology startup that helps people manage diabetes through the use of technology and big data, will work with the Karnataka government to raise awareness about the disease.

“We are going to start a project very soon with the Karnataka government on diabetes management and awareness, probably by June or July. It involves advanced screening of eyes, heart, kidney and foot in a very systematic way, so that data is produced and can be given to the government straight away,” Diabetacare Founder and Managing Director Dr Sanjiv Agarwal told Deccan Herald.

The pilot project will start in Bengaluru. Approximately 70 million Indians live with diabetes and half of them are ignorant of their condition. The number is expected to touch the figure of 100 million by 2030.

“Yes, it will be started in Bengaluru. It will go on for a year or two. We will be catering to nearly 10,000 people, and this is in advanced testing, so these are already diagnosed with diabetes,” Dr Agarwal said.

Dr Agarwal explained, “It is training which is not for the normal public, but it is for people known to diabetes because everyone diagnosed with such should have their foot, and eyes diagnosed once in a year and should get their lipid, hemoglobin and lab tests done thrice a year.”

According to a World Health Organisation (WHO) fact sheet on diabetes, the global burden of type-2 diabetes is expected to increase to 438 million by 2030 from 285 million people (recorded in 2010).

In India, this increase is estimated to be 58%, from 51 million people in 2010 to 87 million in 2030. With over 67 million Indians already recognised with having diabetes and 77 million pre-diabetics, the country is home to the world’s second largest population of diabetics after China.