Tamil Nadu seeks Centre's intervention to launch MD Diabetology, Nutrition and Metabolism

Chennai: Tamil Nadu on Sunday requested the Centre to allow commencement of a new course on MD Diabetology, Nutrition and Metabolism aimed at increasing the number of professional healthcare providers in the country. Minister for Medical and Family Welfare M Subramanian in his letter to Union Health Minister Mansukh L Mandaviya said diabetes mellitus was a chronic metabolic disorder which contributes immensely to health expenditure to both the government and to an individual.

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The prevalence of diabetes in India was next only to China with a prevalence of 7.7 crore in addition to 7.5 crore people diagnosed with pre-diabetes, Subramanian said in his letter. "If urgent preventive measures are not undertaken, most of these pre-diabetics will rapidly progress to frank diabetes, thus increasing the burden for the country. In Tamil Nadu, the prevalence of diabetes was about 10.4 per cent," he said.

State and central governments in the past have been focusing on detection and early treatment of non-communicable diseases like diabetes in their health policies, he said.

"Starting an MD (Diabetology, Nutrition and Metabolism) course will increase the number of professional health-care providers available in this specialty. This will help in successful implementation of the state and central government's policy of creating diabetes care units in health care centres in the state and the country," he said.

Subramanian said the move would also lead for creation of diabetes care unit in all the district hospitals in Tamil Nadu. Referring to the two-year full-time diploma in diabetology course offered at the Institute of Diabetology at Madras Medical College since 1986, he said Tamil Nadu was the first state in the country to launch this course which was approved by the Medical Council of India.

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The creation of new MD (Diabetology, Nutrition and Metabolism) course would help in the conversion of the already existing MCI recognised diploma in Diabetology seats in to degree seats helping in creation of more number of teaching faculties, he said.

"We propose and request the National Medical Commission to include MD (diabetology, nutrition and metabolism) degree course nomenclature in the NMC schedule thus enabling us to upgrade Diploma in Diabetology seats to MD degree seats and also commence this course in other institutions in Tamil Nadu," he said.