Government of Tamil Nadu
Chennai:
Tamil Nadu on Sunday applied to the center to allow the start of a new course in MD diabetology, nutrition and metabolism, which aims to increase the number of professional health care providers in the country. Medical and Family Welfare Minister Ma Subramanian said in his letter to Union Health Minister Mansukh L. Mandaviya that diabetes mellitus is a chronic metabolic disorder that is a huge contributor to health spending by both government and individuals.
The prevalence of diabetes in India is next to China with a prevalence of 7.7 crore in addition to 7.5 crore in people diagnosed with prediabetes, Subramanian said in his letter.
“If urgent preventive measures are not taken, most of these pre-diabetics will quickly become overt diabetes, adding to the burden on the country. In Tamil Nadu, the prevalence of diabetes was around 10.4 percent, ”he said. State and central governments have historically focused their health policies on the detection and early treatment of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, he said.
“The addition of a Diabetology, Nutrition and Metabolism (MD) course will increase the number of professional health care providers available in the field. This will help successfully implement state and central government policies to create diabetes care units in health centers in the state and the country.” , he said.
Mr Subramanian said the move would also result in the creation of a diabetes treatment unit in all of Tamil Nadu’s district hospitals. Referring to the two-year, full-time diploma course in diabetology offered since 1986 at the Institute of Diabetology at Madras Medical College, he said Tamil Nadu was the first state in the country to introduce this course, approved by the Medical Council of India.
The creation of a new MD (Diabetology, Nutrition, and Metabolism) degree would help convert the already existing MCI-recognized diploma in diabetology into study places, which would help create additional teaching faculties.
“We propose and call on the National Medical Commission to include the nomenclature of the MD course (diabetology, nutrition and metabolism) in the NMC plan so that we can upgrade diplomas in diabetology to MD courses and this course also at other institutions in Tamil Nadu., “He said.
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