Apollo Hospitals launches ‘SUGAR’ – A major initiative to combat Diabetes in the country

Hyderabad, September 29, 2008: Apollo Hospitals Group and MSD Pharmaceuticals Pvt. Ltd., today announced a joint initiative to combat diabetes in the country. As part of this intiative 'SUGAR' – a chain of diabetes management clinics was launched by Dr Prathap C Reddy, Chairman, Apollo Hospital Group. Dr. Naveen A Rao, Managing Director, MSD Pharmaceuticals Pvt Ltd., and Dr. K. Hari Prasad, CEO, Apollo Health City, exchanged an MoU to formalize this relationship.

Apollo Hospitals has always strived to identify the Indian healthcare requirements and create effective solutions. SUGAR is an initiative aimed at combating the menace of diabetes in the country with a focus on reducing or delaying incidence of diabetes and minimize the incidence of complications in those who are already diabetic, said Dr Prathap C Reddy, Chairman, Apollo Hospitals Group.

Apollo plans to setup 150 clinics across India by December 2009, the pilot phase of this project is being initiated by establishing two SUGAR clinics in Hyderabad. The first two SUGAR Clinics which are operational from today are located at Mehdipatnam and Malakpet in Hyderabad. Within the next couple of months all our hospitals and clinics in the country will start offering these facilities.

It is also proposed to launch new stand alone SUGAR Clinics in communities where the incidence of diabetes is high, said Dr Hari Prasad. These Clinics will provide diabetic patients a comprehensive diabetes treatment, including comprehensive diagnosis, evaluation, education and treatment including life-style.

As part of the MoU signed today, Apollo shall develop and deploy a Structured care protocol (SCP) to manage the diabetic patients visiting the clinic, with scientific inputs from MSD and shall also provide training to physicians and paramedics. 

MSD on its part shall support patient education by providing patient education content to make patients aware of diabetes and its management and facilitate research in the diabetes disease management. MSD shall also assist Apollo in developing relationship with international Organizations / companies having expertise in the diabetes disease management for the purpose of research.

 About Diabetes in India

Diabetes is considered to be amongst the biggest causes of morbidity and mortality in the country. Better management of the disease would drastically bring down the diseases burden in India.

India is considered to be the global capital of diabetes and it is projected every fifth adult in the country would be an adult. Diabetes is a major contributor for heart diseases, brain strokes, renal failure, peripheral vascular diseases, eye diseases and infections. At the current rate it is projected that India will need to spend a whopping $30 billion by the year 2030 to manage the disease burden created by diabetes.

PRE-DIABETES : A scientific screening program will help identify those who are likely to become diabetics in near future. Identifying these pre-diabetics and taking them through a Life Style Management program helps in preventing diabetes in a significant proportion of them and delaying the onset of diabetes in the remaining.

The concept of Pre-diabetic care is being introduced as part of this initiative and we believe that this will play a major role in dealing with diabetes in the country.

DISEASE MANAGEMENT PROGRAM : Diabetes is often viewed as a disease and almost always treated as a disease. Managing diabetes goes beyond the realms of curative care into life style management.

Controlling blood sugar levels, reducing the pharmaceutical requirement for controlling blood sugar levels and close monitoring and early intervention for complications of diabetes are important components of managing diabetes.

This needs a holistic approach to managing diabetes and SUGAR brings together a program that offers a 360 degree approach to managing diabetes.

EXCLUSIVE & COMPREHENSIVE : SUGAR Clinics offer exclusive facilities catering to all the needs of a diabetic. It is a one stop shop for the management of diabetes and includes highly specialized clinics for eye, kidneys, heart and feet.

These clinics will manage the life cycle of a diabetic and work towards minimizing the associated morbidity and mortality. These clinics working on a specifically developed clinical pathway will offer standardized care to every patient walking in.