NIH Islamabad takes over Diabetes Registry of Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The National Institute of Health (NIH) Islamabad, through an official notification, has formally taken over the Diabetes Registry of Pakistan (DROP) to collect nationwide data on Type-1 and people with type-2 diabetes and manage the lifestyle epidemic in the country, International Diabetes Federation (IDF) officials. 

“We have officially been informed by the Executive Director NIH Islamabad General Amer Ikram that NIH has formally taken over the Diabetes Registry of Pakistan (DROP) from the Baqai Institute of Diabetology and Endocrinology (BIDE). DROP has now become the official diabetes registry of Pakistan through a government notification, and from now onwards, we will be having official notational data of diabetes in Pakistan”, Prof. Abdul Basit, President of the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region told.

IDF MENA region maintained that the legs of around 400,000 people are being amputated annually in Pakistan due to diabetic foot, a primary complication of diabetes, as around 33 million people are living with the lifestyle disease, of which the majority of people die within five years of amputation.

He maintained that 50 per cent of amputations could be prevented by establishing foot clinics across the country where general physicians trained to take care of foot ulcers can take care of the wounds and, in case of complications, refer the cases to specialized clinics before it becomes too late and urged the public and private sector to support them in spreading the network of specialized foot clinics across Pakistan. 

President of Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC) Prof. Noshad Shaikh, in his presidential address, termed diabetes as a ‘real emerging threat’ for Pakistan, saying by 2032, around 66 million people would be living with diabetes in Pakistan, and managing health needs of such a large population would be impossible for the health authorities in Pakistan. 

Speaking about PMC, he said he had been entrusted with the task of converting PMC into the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC), which was the original medical education regulator in the country, saying registration of doctors tripled after he took over and announced that PMDC would be restored as doctors were not willing to get themselves registered with the new body created by the previous government. 

“We have also taken some steps which were being demanded by the medical community as we have decided to mention and register the basic sciences degrees of the medical professionals, we have abolished the National Licensing Exam (NLE), and we have increased the duration of PMDC License from 2 to 5 years”, he added. 

According to him, every year, 50 billion rupees go abroad for the medical education of 20,000 medical students who were unable to get admission to medical colleges in Pakistan as the pass percentage of the MDCAT exam had been raised to 65 per cent, due to which hundreds of seats in the medical and dental colleges remained vacant. 

The President of the NADEP said they have been holding NADEP Footcon for the last several years to create awareness about diabetic foot ulcers, prevention from amputations and help physicians and clinicians save lives of people by managing complications of diabetes. 

Renowned diabetologist and Chair of the conference Prof. Zahid Miyan said diabetic foot clinics had saved thousands of lives across Pakistan by preventing amputations and urged the corporate sector to come forward and help establish 3000 diabetic foot clinics across Pakistan as part of corporate social responsibility.