Bangladesh launches campaign to break the ‘rule of halves’ in diabetes

The diabetic association, an insulin maker and private sector players have jointly launched a campaign to break the ‘rule of halves’ of diabetes in Bangladesh as elsewhere in the world.

According to the rule of halves, roughly half of all people with type 2 diabetes are not diagnosed; half of those diagnosed do not receive care; half of those who receive care do not achieve their treatment targets; and half of those who reach their targets do not achieve the desired outcomes of living without any complications.

Bangladesh does not have its own national statistics to say the number of diabetic people. According to the International Diabetes Federation’s estimates, it is 6.9 million. Of them, according to the rule of halves, only 0.37 million are living without complications.

Insulin maker Novo Nordisk together with the Diabetic Association of Bangladesh (DAB) and Padma Textile jointly launched the countrywide campaign on Wednesday for building massive awareness in the run-up to World Diabetic Day on Nov 14.

At least 150 rallies will be brought out across Bangladesh during the period. Besides, workshops for journalists, and 100 medical education programmes to share knowledge on diabetes management with around 300 doctors will also be organised, they said at a media briefing in Dhaka on Wednesday.

Danish Ambassador-designate Winnie Estrup Petersen, DAB President Prof AK Azad Khan, Secretary General Md Sayef Uddin, Chief Executive Officer of Ibrahim Cardiac Hospital Prof MA Rashid and Novo Nordisk Managing Director in Bangladesh Anand Shetty were present at the briefing.

The theme of this year’s World Diabetic Day in Bangladesh is ‘the truth about diabetes’. The truth is, Bangladesh ranks 10th globally with the number of people suffering from undiagnosed diabetes, Shetty said.

“The truth is, treating diabetes is not so expensive, but not treating diabetes is costly,” said Prof Khan.

Undiagnosed or untreated diabetes increases the risk for many serious health problems including heart attack stroke, eye problems and kidney disease.