Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja has announced that Type 1 diabetes drugs will now be home delivered to children in the state.
Medicines will now be home delivered via Primary Health Centres (PHCs) and district hospitals, to where these medicines will be dispatched. In Thrissur and Palakkad districts, the medicines will be distributed through PHCs. In Kannur, the drugs will be home delivered from the Pariyaram Medical College.
In Malappuram district, the medicines will be made available at the Perinthalmanna district hospital from where it can be delivered to houses. Meanwhile, in other districts, local health workers will facilitate the availability of these medicines for children.
Ever since the statewide lockdown to contain the novel coronavirus began in Kerala, several children with Type 1 diabetes in the state had been unable to access these medicines.
Prior to the lockdown, the medicines were available at all medical college hospitals in Thiruvananthapuram, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Thrissur and Kozhikode. However, due to districts being sealed, supply of the medicines were affected.
Type 1 diabetes mellitus, also known as juvenile diabetes, is a condition usually seen in children, when the immune system destroys insulin-making cells in the pancreas. The body is unable to produce adequate amounts of insulin. It is a chronic auto-immune condition that can set in at any age, but most commonly found after ages two to three and sometimes after age 13 - 14.
In Kerala, a group of parents who have children with Type 1 diabetes began Kerala Type 1 Diabetes Welfare Society in order to recognise that the disease was a growing problem in the state. The society helps those who are unable to meet expenses to diagnose the disease and for treatment. It also organises awareness sessions on how to handle the condition and it aims to set up training centres which train parents on how to manage the contrition in their children.
According to studies, out of a 100 people with diabetes, five of them are diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes mellitus. Out of a 100 cases of Type 1 diabetes, at least 95 of them are early onset cases.
Late onset of Type 1 diabetes can start anywhere between ages 30-50.
Treatment of type 1 diabetes involves insulin injections on a daily basis. Each injection is administered after checking the blood sugar levels of the patient.