In a bid to tide over the challenges of diabetes among young people in India which is leading to an increasing number of school dropouts and psycho-social issues like turmoil in marriage because of insulin deficiency, Novo Nordisk has launched its Dawn Youth project.

With the number of people diagnosed with diabetes estimated at 44 million, the Dawn Youth project is viewed as a platform to help young people come to terms with issues and challenges of the disorder and provide them with the right therapeutic approaches to care.

The project, which was launched last year at Brussels and parts of European Union, has a dedicated advisory panel which has framed guidelines for India. These include a dedicated patient-centred approach by involving school managements and parents, MJ Gomes, project manager, Dawn Youth, Novo Nordisk India told Pharmabiz.

The decision to support youth comes in because of the poor diabetes management in schools. Every 10 seconds, a child is being diagnosed of suffering from diabetes. Six of 10 children with diabetes are not able to manage the condition in school. Nine of 10 children cannot rely on a school nurse to assist them with their diabetes condition.

There are several occasions when young patients experience low and high blood sugar conditions and fall sick. At times, they show symptoms like loss of concentration or even suffer from an insulin shock. Poorly regulated diabetes can, in the long run, lead to severe complications of heart and kidneys. All this can easily be prevented by proper diabetes care and support. This is where Dawn Youth project can guide the young patients about the right treatment and care.

With different therapeutic approaches adopted by general physicians and family doctors to treat young patients with, the company will also create an awareness among the medical fraternity to prescribe state-of-the-art insulin delivery devices which offer great deal of convenience when oral drugs are not effective. Globally, doctors prefer to prescribe quality insulin pens which are painless and easy to administer.

The Dawn Project has three phases. Under the phase-I, camps are being organized in six locations at Mumbai, New Delhi, Bangalore, Patna, Thiruvananthapuram and Karnal. The camp will create an awareness and help the youth to network. This phase will also help the Novo Nordisk's advisory panel to understand the critical issues specific to India and at the same time, sensitize the need to maintain proper levels of insulin intake, stated Gomes.

For phase-II, the pharma major will involve educational institutions. It will help schools and colleges take appropriate measures by making nurses or medical experts and counsellors available to handle young people with diabetes. The conditions for children with diabetes in school can only be changed when parents, school staff and healthcare providers work together, he said.

The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) observed 2007 as 'Year of the Child with Diabetes'. This year, the United Nations has declared 2008 as the 'Year of diabetes among children and adolescents'.