By IANS,
Chennai: One of India’s premier centres for diabetic foot research and treatment, the city-based M.V. Hospital for Diabetes and Diabetes Research Centre, Thursday launched a multi-level awareness campaign “Footcare for people with diabetes”.
Renowned footcare specialist Ali Foster, honorary consultant at King’s College, NHS London, shared insights on prevention of foot complications at the public interactive session attended by over 300 people.
Tamil Nadu’s director of medical education T.P. Kalaniti launched the country’s first online diabetic footcare forum – www.mvdiabeticfoot.com – on the occasion.
“Diabetes foot complications rank among the most common and severe complications that most diabetics face. WHO statistics indicates that 50 percent of non-traumatic foot amputations in the world are due to diabetes”, Foster said.
The forum will provide tips and advice for management and prevention of complications of the foot that people suffer due to diabetes.
As a globally recognised health care centre for foot care complications, specialists from M.V. Hospital will provide all necessary content and counselling through the forum.
To ensure that the awareness programme reaches right up to the grass roots level, M.V. Hospital also released a booklet titled ‘Tips on Foot Care for People with Diabetes’.
“The online diabetic footcare programme will help us to reach patients across the globe and provide counselling and guidance for not only diabetic foot issues but for all kinds of foot related problems,” explained Vijay Viswanathan, managing director of M.V. Hospital.
Experts say diabetic foot complications are completely preventable with proper care and attention. “People with long-standing or poorly controlled diabetes are highly susceptible to the risks of having permanent damage to their feet.”
“Ulcers, sores, bacterial infection of skin are some of the common diabetic foot problems. If they are not treated properly, they can lead to serious complications like gangrene and amputations. We wanted to bring awareness among the large diabetic population in India that with proper care they can easily avoid this fate,” emphasised Viswanathan.
M.V. Hospital for Diabetes is also recognised as an internationally known tertiary care centre for referral of diabetic patients requiring super-specialist opinion and management.