A mega diabetes test drive screens over 1.5L people
All the 100 Rotary clubs of RID 3132 participated in a year-long mega diabetes detection campaign in which a series of medical camps and testing drives were held; around 150 Rotarians were in the frontline checking the blood sugar levels of individuals with glucometer.
While paramedical staff helped them on the sidelines, “our Rotarians were trained adequately by pathologists from nearby hospitals,” says IPDG Suresh Saboo. Rotary teams conducted random tests at public platforms such as Railways, bus stands, airports, movie halls; social and family events like marriages, rituals and birthday bash; community melas; and festivals like Ganesh Utsav, Navratri, Christmas; fun fairs, exhibitions and at shopping malls.
Recalling the genesis of the campaign, Saboo said, “during the PEL/SEL seminars at Latur in April last year, the incoming club leaders were made aware about the prevalence of the disease, its severity, and the importance of diabetes detection. They were trained on the use of glucometer and told to get ready for the massive diabetes detection campaign from July 1.” The mega diabetes camps had a tagline ‘Ab ki baar, ek lakh paar,’ with a target of achieving one lakh blood sugar level testing in a year.
But the clubs had surpassed the initial target in Dec 2024, “and till the last week of May, we had conducted 1.28 lakh testing on individuals. We are confident of crossing 1.5 lakh diabetes testing by June 30,” explains Saboo. After the first testing camp was held at the Ruby Hospital, Jalna, “we conducted the next one during my installation on July 14 in the presence of TRF trustee Bharat Pandya. So far (as on May 23), we have conducted over 500 diabetes camps and drives.”
Individuals were given a standard medical report with his or her name, age and the blood sugar level which they can use for future clinical reference. “Around 1,000 Rotarians coordinated for logistics and smooth conduct of the camps which impressed Jalna MLA Arjun Khotkar,” says Dr Rajesh Sethiya, district chair, Diabetes Prevention, and chairman of Ruby Hospital. The legislator wanted to conduct similar camps in every village of Jalna district, and “he even brought around 80 persons for testing at our camp.”
Many people who tested positive for blood sugar level shared their “anxiety, incredulity, fear and frustration with our Rotarians,” says Dr Sethiya. Newly-recruited police constable, Ashok Patil (30) at the Police Headquarters, Jalna, was aghast that he was a diabetic as “he had a strong physique with an athletic body. We pacified and guided him to the next course of treatment for the disorder.” A TTE D K Singh assigned to the Nandigram Express train got to know that he was pre-diabetic, and “thanked Rotarians for such a mega testing drive which he has not seen in his life till then.” And 45-year-old M Dheeraj, a Rotarian, did not know he was a diabetic “until he was tested positive at a screening drive during the Garba event (Navratri) at a local temple.”
There are around 77 million diabetics (type 2) and 25 million pre-diabetics in India. “We wanted to detect the pre-diabetics so that they can take preventive steps to ward off this chronic illness,” says Saboo. Dr Sethiya is confident that “through awareness creation, we can avoid future health complications for a productive life.” His next project is to hold 100 thyroid detection camps in and around Jalna reaching out to at least 10,000 people.
The diabetes detection campaign of RID 3132 was funded by Jamnabai Shivratan Bagadiya Trust, Jalna, led by Pannalal Bagadiya.
