ACE launches new guideline for Diabetes management in Adults

Dr Manikandan, EC Member of ACE, a senior and respected Endocrinologist from Madurai acted as moderator for this program. Dr. Mani familiarized ACE as a non-profit, non – commercial body registered in India, that serves as a platform for like-minded Endocrinologists who aspire to work for the cause of the science of Diabetes and Endocrinology, its utility and application for the betterment of the people in the country. He said that ACE currently has a membership of about 24 Endocrinologists trained in the UK and serving in India.

After the formal Lamp Lighting ceremony, the chief guests launched the guidelines. Video messages of Dr Viral Shah, Editor, Clinical Diabetology and Dr Sangita Reddy, Joint Managing Director of Apollo Hospitals were played, in which they congratulated ACE team and lauded the efforts put by ACE team.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr JP said that we are facing a critical situation in India as far as the health scenario is concerned because, on one side communicable diseases are coming down but non-communicable diseases are rising alarmingly, among them Diabetes and Cancers are creating havoc. India, now home to the 2nd largest population of diabetics, needs so much to be done, right from creating awareness among people to patients, maintaining regular follow ups with their doctors, he stated. Dr JP sensitized that governments and political parties must take up ‘public healthcare’ as a main stream issue.

With paltry contribution to public healthcare in terms of GDP, common people are landing in poverty due to hospitalization-related expenses burdens, he said. Inspite of abysmal health statistics due to various reasons, the good work of all doctors for the society is commendable, he stated. Dr JP congratulated ACE members for returning to India, imparting great service to the society and taking up a great initiative to launch “new diabetes guidelines” particularly in Indian context.

Dr. Ravi Sankar spoke about the need for revising the treatment guidelines of diabetes in the wake of invention of newer molecules, advancement of technology and changing lifestyles. He mentioned that ACE’s endeavours’ to develop clinical guidelines on various Diabetes and Endocrine topics of relevance, would continue. The current comprehensive guideline on type 2 Diabetes has been published in the Journal Clinical Diabetology, in Feb 2023, he added.

In his address, Dr Rajat Kumar emphasized on the need to create awareness among people about diabetes and advised to involve media and draw the attention of government for its support. While allocation of budget is not an issue, the policymakers should be made aware of the gravity of the situation, he added. Dr Rajat Kumar invited ACE team to come forward with proposals to guide the government pertaining to health issues.

Explaining the new guidelines, Dr Ravi Sankar mentioned that, India is home to over 80 million diabetes cases, the numbers are predicted to rise and that diabetes is transforming into a major epidemic that can disrupt public health. Stressing on the importance of ACE guide lines, Dr Ravi Sankar claimed that these guidelines are practical, have been created after extensive work by their team and most importantly are based in the Indian context for General Practitioners and Physicians to follow. Dr Ravi Sankar was hopeful that the guidelines would help Physicians and General Practitioners to deal with all cases of type 2 Diabetes right from diagnosis to the later years’ complications.

A question & answer session was also conducted followed by a pledge by Dr Murali Ganguri, a senior and well-known Endocrinologist from Vijayawada and Treasurer of ACE. The meeting concluded with vote of thanks rendered by Dr Lenatha Reddy, EC member of ACE and a renowned Paediatric Endocrinologist from Hyderabad.

The launch meet was attended by about 110 delegates, including Dr. Vamsi and his Medswan team, Senior and eminent Endocrinologists across the country, Dr. Usha Ayyagari, Dr. Srinath, Dr. Satish Kumar, Dr. Sanjay Sinha, Dr. Santosh, Dr. Sudeep, Dr. Radhika, Dr. Ravi Kumar, Dr. Manish, Dr. Bhanu Praveen, Dr. Smitha, and Dr. Chandan, who are very much respected for their contributions in the field of Diabetes and Endocrinology and are ACE members.