KARACHI: To control the increasing diabetic foot infection cases, the National Institute of Diabetes & Endocrinology at Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) has established a Diabetic Foot Clinic at the Ojha Campus. Sardar Yasin Malik - Chairman of Hilton Group and Prof. Masood Hameed Khan – VC DUHS along with senior faculty members formally inaugurated the Clinic recently.
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, the experts highlighted that: Diabetes is an accidental disease. Usually, patients do not realize when and how did they become diabetic. Pakistan is among the countries, which have a very high prevalence of diabetes.
According to International Diabetes Federation, On a global scale; one diabetic patient's foot is amputated every 20 seconds. Diabetes is increasing very fast. There is an urgent need to make all necessary efforts for the prevention and management of diabetes and its complications. It is also hoped that the increased awareness will lead to better chances of fighting Diabetes. More resources should be deployed for this task and more research fundings are needed to improve treatment options.
The speakers further informed that this Diabetic Foot Clinic will be supervised by Senior Diabetologists, Orthopaedics, plastic surgeons as well as rehabilitation teams of DUHS. They stated that the diabetic foot complications could be prevented by controlling diabetes, cholesterol, high blood pressure and proper care for the foot. Diabetic Foot Clinic at DUHS will provide diagnostic and treatment facilities to all kinds of diabetic patients suffering from any sort of foot problems.
Director of the National Institute of Diabetes and Endocrinology (NIDE) in DUHS - Dr Akhtar Baloch said that: Lack of awareness about diabetes is a big problem for diabetic patients. They tend to ignore the seriousness of this disease in the early stages, so it leads to foot gangrene and foot amputations.
Dr Nabila Soomro - Director IPM&R, presented her study on Foot-Gangrene, stating that; Most patients don't know that foot is the first victim of diabetes and foot-care is an effective tool against the damages of diabetes. Prof. Mujahid Humail - Orthopedic Surgeon DUHS said that; Amputation is not a treatment for Diabetes, it is simply a procedure to prevent further damage. The recovery rate after amputation is also very poor. Foot care & early diagnosis are the key solutions for preventing amputations.
Dr. Fareed ud Din - Deputy Director NIDE highlighted the necessity of foot clinics and discussed its aims and objectives. Coordinator of the Foot Clinic - Dr Shaikh Muhammad Zafar said that: We should all make efforts to educate the diabetic patients and their families about the preventive measures.
After the ceremony, camps for free blood-sugar tests, cholesterol and BMI (Obesity) tests, along with free eye and foot check-ups were also conducted. Literature regarding preventive measures, food and fruit intakes were distributed among the participants.