UN bus out to educate about diabetes

OUT TO HELP: The bus is backed by the UN and healthcare company Novo Nordisk.

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Keywords: Binjal, India

Mumbai: For the stranger, it may look like 24-year-old Binjal is getting measurements taken for a summer dress inside what seems like a huge vanity van.

But she is not. She is simply getting her blood sugar checked at a mobile kiosk, actually a United Nations bus that has come all the way to Mumbai from Denmark, journeying across five continents.

"When I really crave for sweets and all that, I do give myself a helping of pastry or a chocolate," Binjal, a retail professional, says of her compulsion.

It's for youngsters like Binjal that the bus has come all the way from Denmark, fully equipped to educate them about diabetes and its complications.

Backed by the United Nations and healthcare company Novo Nordisk, it's a 60-footer on a mission that's far more mammoth in size.

Size does matter, especially when you want to draw attention to a disease that's fairly common, but whose significance lies is the number of people it impacts, especially the youth.

According to estimates available with Novo Nordisk from various agencies, nearly 41 million people, a third of our population, have diabetes in India. Of that number one-10th are young people.

Type 1 diabetes, if left untreated, could lead to Type 2 diabetes, which is a more severe form of the disease. It can even lead to heart diseases and blindness.

So, the tagline for diabetes is: forewarned is forearmed - watching waistlines included.

"The youth in India today are exposed to a lot of junk food and sedentary lifestyle. Early detection and monitoring would help people to better understand whether they are with diabetes or at risk of diabetes," the Head of Corporate Communications with Novo Nordisk India Private Limited, Andre Gomes, says.