In addition to the 32 million people living with diabetes in India, recent data indicate that about 16% of pregnant Indian women have gestational diabetes.Despite medical and scientific advancement, many remain in the dark about basic knowledge of diabetes and its prevention and control measures - not least information and awareness on gestational diabetes mellitus.This is true not only for the lay public but also among health care professionals. The problem of gestational diabetes and its potential influence on the development of diabetes in the mother and child at a later stage has been largely unaddressed.The project seeks to create awareness among the public - particularly women's groups - on gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and to build capacity in the healthcare system to prevent, manage and control the problem.
The first three years of intervention are considered a pilot phase of the project. In this phase, the project will focus on one urban and one rural setting. These will be the city of Chennai and Kanchipuram district in Tamil Nadu.The surveillance aspect of the project covers 1000 pregnant women in Chennai city and 1500 in Kanchipuram district attending primary health centres, and child welfare centres spread over the selected areas. These women will form the primary target group to be followed for three years.Capacity building will take place at different levels. Medical professionals in the project area will be trained to monitor and guide the field staff to run the project activities.The field staff will be trained to perform various activities, including enlisting pregnant women, administering glucose tolerance tests, identifying gestational diabetes, medical nutrition therapy, insulin administration, follow-up, etc.Last but not least, local NGO's women self-help groups are trained for their effective participation to educate their families, other women and the communities at large.The project's awareness component will first identify message content for the target groups. Production and distribution of posters, handbills, pamphlets and stickers will occur, and mass media will disseminate the messages.Specialist agencies will be used for the mass media aspect. In contrast, local NGOs play a crucial role in raising community awareness.
• 510 healthcare staff, including doctors, nurses, dieticians and extension educators, were trained on symptoms, treatment and preventive/control measures of diabetes GDM• Automatic screening for gestational diabetes among pregnant women became mandatory by the government• 1,679 women with gestational diabetes were treated with meal plan to maintain their target blood glucose levels• Pamphlets, handouts, display cards, posters, stencil cuttings, wall paint, banners etc. were distributed to all patients including ante-natal mothers