Diabetes in Pregnancy—Awareness and Prevention (DIPAP) - a success story of World Diabetes Foundation (WDF).

Prevalence of diabetes is increasing globally and this includes pregnant women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM).

GDM is defined as a transient abnormality of carbohydrate/ glucose intolerance of variable intensity - a condition in which women without previously diagnosed diabetes exhibit high blood glucose levels during pregnancy. Women with this condition are at an increased risk of diabetes in future, as are their children and the following subsequent generations.

Thus an important public health priority in the prevention of diabetes is to address maternal health during ante and post partum period. Primary prevention will most likely reverse or halt the trend of increasing diabetes cases. Keeping this in mind, the World Diabetes Foundation (WDF) has been funding the project Diabetes in Pregnancy - Awareness and Prevention (DIPAP), run by diabetologists at Dr V Seshiah’s Diabetes Care and Research Institute at Chennai, working with the Tamil Nadu government in India.

There is no current national data regarding GDM. But on the basis of a community based study carried out in the Government Maternity Hospital , Chennai, it was found that the prevalence of GDM in urban, semi urban and rural areas was 17.8%, 13.8% and 9.9% respectively. Greater incidence in urban areas could be attributed to a more mechanized and sedentary life style coupled with increased maternal age.

The morning of 27th November 2008 was bleak indeed, what with the terrorists indulging in inhuman and senseless killings in Mumbai and cyclone Nisha playing havoc with normal life in Chennai. But somehow we managed to reach the government hospital of Chennai Municipal Corporation at Saidapet. This is one of the several hospitals where the DIPAP project has been running successfully since 2004.

It really lifted my low spirits to see about 20 women who had braved the inclement weather to be there for screening/ follow up action for GDM. The two lab technicians, Vimala and Radhi, appointed by the project managers, were busy taking the blood samples for glucose monitoring.