Hemas Hospitals combats deadly NCD with ‘Beat Diabetes’ programme
Hemas Hospitals recently launched ‘Beat Diabetes’, an islandwide mega programme to screen and treat thousands of Sri Lankans for diabetes.
The only mass-scale diabetes screening campaign organised by a Sri Lankan private hospital, the Beat Diabetes initiative aims to make affordable quality healthcare accessible to thousands of Sri Lankans.
The campaign which has already hosted over 50 screening programmes across the island offers free diabetes screening, health education, consultations and medication, in addition to connecting the newly identified diabetic patients to a diabetic clinic held monthly.
“According to the WHO and International Diabetes Federation (IDF), diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death globally, and the prevalence of diabetes among adults in Sri Lanka is 8.5 percent. At present, one in 12 adults in the country has diabetes, which indicates that it’s a problem of great national concern. It’s essential to diagnose and direct the identified diabetics and prediabetics to a treatment plan early to avoid severe complications in the future.
In the absence of an effective islandwide programme to screen for diabetes, we are glad to contribute to this cause of national importance with this initiative. We believe that access to quality healthcare is a right of every Sri Lankan Citizen and we are thankful to all those organisations who partnered with us in successfully organising this programme islandwide, in helping to ease the burden of screening, and treating for diabetes,” Hemas Hospitals Managing Director and Association of Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes President Dr. Lakith Peiris said.
Organised in collaboration with a number of private and public sector organisations, including government offices, temples, churches, Lions service organisations, local government bodies, religious organisations and regional traders’ associations the campaign has screened over 5,000 individuals. The identified diabetics are offered free consultations with specialist consultants at the location and the option of attending monthly clinics organised by Hemas Hospitals across all areas which have been a part of the ‘Beat Diabetes’ campaign. Hemas Hospitals also conducts awareness programmes by leading specialists in the field at the screening camps.
The campaign has organised over 50 camps across Sri Lanka covering the districts of Colombo. Gampaha, Anuradhapura, Kandy, Badulla, Kegalle, Nuwara Eliya, Badulla, Matale, Monaragala and Ratnapura by now expecting to expand to cover more areas over the next year.