According to a WHO report

• In India Six deaths happen every minute due to Diabetes
• Every fourth diabetic in the world today is an Indian.
• Indians are genetically more susceptible to diabetes
• If unchecked, 25 lakhs people will develop Diabetes every year and the rate would be increasing in subsequent years

Juvenile Diabetes
Diabetes is one of the most common chronic diseases to affect children. Globally, over 200 children a day develop type 1 diabetes. It can strike children of any age, even toddlers and babies. If not detected early enough in a child, the disease can be fatal or result in serious brain damage. Yet diabetes in a child is often completely overlooked. It is often misdiagnosed as the flu or it is not diagnosed at all.

In India

• Currently, there are 10 lakh children with Diabetes.
• Among those 70 percent come from poor families.
• Not less than half of them have to earn living and help parents, instead of going to the school. Treatment of Type 1 Diabetes, Insulin is alien and luxurious to them
• Over 12 thousand children every year (33 children per day) die of Diabetes. There is no count of how many die undiagnosed.

Contributed by
Dr. Bhavani Balakrishnan
MD phsychiatrist, Isha Foundation