Government of Karnataka inks MoU with Novo Nordisk Education Foundation to launch ‘Changing Diabetes Barometer’ program

Government of Karnataka recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Novo Nordisk Education Foundation (NNEF), a non-profit organisation set up by Novo Nordisk India, to launch the ‘Changing Diabetes Barometer’ (CDB) program. The MoU signing ceremony was presided by N, Dinesh Gundu Rao; Dr Naveen Bhat Y (IAS) – Mission Director, National Health Mission (NHM), Government of Karnataka and Vikrant Shrotriya – Managing Trustee, Novo Nordisk Education Foundation. Also present at the occasion were Harsh Gupta, Principal Secretary to Govt. of Karnataka, MoHFW; D. Randeep, Commissioner, Commissionerate, MoHFW and John Dawber, CVP and MD, Novo Nordisk GBS.

The MoU was signed between Dr Naveen Bhat Y (IAS) – Mission Director, National Health Mission (NHM), Government of Karnataka and Vikrant Shrotriya – Managing Trustee, Novo Nordisk Education Foundation, today.

As part of this MoU, Community Diabetes Centres (CDCs) shall be developed in various district hospitals, sub-district hospitals, community health centres and primary health centres across the state. These will assist introduce a holistic approach for focused diabetes care, as a part of the Outpatient Department (OPD) consultations. The pilot projects will be launched in three districts of Karnataka – Bengaluru Urban, Dakshina Karnataka and Yadgiri. The program aims at mapping diabetes impact on real-time basis and promote early diagnosis and treatment options along with lifestyle modifications.

Lauding the effort, Minister, Shri Dinesh Gundu Rao said, ” Diabetes continues to be a major health concern not just for Karnataka but for the entire nation. The Indian Council of Medical Research in its recent study highlighted that India has around 101 million people living with diabetes and another 136 million people in pre-diabetic stages.[1]

Speaking about the initiative, Harsh Gupta, Principal Secretary to Govt. of Karnataka, Health and Family Welfare Department, said, “This MoU with Novo Nordisk Education Foundation is a promising step towards creating awareness and addressing the growing numbers by working towards developing focused and strategic care for people. I congratulate NNEF and the National Health Mission for this transformative collaboration and wish them success.”

Commenting on the development, D. Randeep, Commissioner, Commissionerate Health and Family Services, said, “The statistics around people living with diabetes as well as those with pre-diabetic condition are alarming. We need active measures to ensure early detection through screening and referral at primary-and community-level. There is a need to create awareness around Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes in a user-friendly and sustained manner. These, in turn, can lead to lifestyle modifications, thereby reducing the burden of diabetes. We are happy to forge this partnership with NNEF and look forward to working together to strengthen the diabetes care model for the state of Karnataka and look at diabetes in a more focused fashion at our NCD centres.”

Managing Trustee, NNEF, Vikrant Shrotriya said, “Changing Diabetes Barometer (CDB) program highlights NNEF’s unique ‘ACT’ approach – increasing Awareness, building Capacity and elevating Treatment across Karnataka. Till now, we have partnered with several state governments in various capacities to develop programs that support diabetes care under the public-private partnership (PPP) framework.”

The objectives of this partnership are to improve the overall diabetes care ecosystem in the state of Karnataka by means of several interventions including, creating awareness and advocacy for NCDs like diabetes among the masses, a 360-degree upskilling and training model for doctors and healthcare workers at primary and secondary healthcare facilities, improved infrastructural support, digitisation support and education and counselling for lifestyle modification via Information, Education and Communication (IEC) material.

[1] Ranjit Mohan Anjana, MD et al.Metabolic non-communicable disease health report of India: the ICMR-INDIAB national cross-sectional study (ICMR-INDIAB-17); The Lancet ; Volume 11, Issue 7, P474-489, July 2023