A Telangana district where 98% of 30+ population were screened for diabetes

District Collector Adarsh Surabhi monitoring a diabetes screening camp in Wanaparthy. 
| Photo Credit: ARRANGEMENT

Nearly 99% of people over the age of 30 years in Telangana’s Wanaparthy district were screened for diabetes over a five-month period, leading to the detection of 19,643 cases, including 2,857 new ones, informed district collector Adarsh Surabhi.

The screening drive, titled ‘Mission Madhumeha’ (diabetes), was conducted from October 2024 to March 31, 2025, to assess the prevalence of diabetes in the 30+ age group. Based on sub-centre population data, the Health department estimated that there were 3,09,197 people in this age group lived in the district as of August 12, 2024. Of these, 3,04,215 or 98.4% of the target were tested.

HCWs trained

Accredited Social Health Activists, Auxiliary Nursing Midwives and staff nurses went door-to-door with glucometers to measure the blood sugar levels. They were trained to conduct the finger prick test and use the glucometer to study blood glucose levels.

Initially, they conducted a Random Blood Sugar (RBS) test. If a person’s sugar levels were found to be higher than 160 mg/dL, they were asked to fast until the next morning to undergo Fasting Blood Sugar (FBS) test. Those with RBS of more than 160 mg/dL and FBS over 126 mg/dL were identified as diabetic.

Diabetes dos and don’ts listed in the Mission Madhumeha pamphlet.
| Photo Credit:
ARRANGEMENT

They were sent for consultation with a Primary Health Centre medical officer. Treatment also focused on diet, moderate exercise techniques (including walking) and other lifestyle modifications to control the disease. The collector said that educational posters on foods to be consumed/ avoided and lifestyle changes to be adopted were also distributed to pre-diabetics (whose RBS levels were high). They were displayed at the government healthcare facilities too. 

Senior consultant physician K. Shivaraju said that chronic complications of unchecked or uncontrolled or untreated diabetes could affect eyes (diabetic retinopathy), which is common among type-II diabetics, and could lead to blindness. Damage to kidneys (mild to end stage), heart, foot (loss of sensation, ulcers, gangrene necessitating amputation) are potential effects of uncontrolled sugar levels in people with the disease. Acute complications can lead to medical emergencies.

Impact on leg and foot

Ajay Mosur, consultant vascular and endovascular surgeon of Apollo Hospitals, said that symptoms of vascular impact of uncontrolled diabetes are cramps in calf muscles when walking, gangrene in toes, disturbance in night sleep, non-healing ulcers in foot and toe. One of the reasons is decrease in blood supply to legs and feet decreases as blood vessels become narrow in patients with uncontrolled diabetes. 

An often overlooked aspect of diabetic neuropathy is the progression of symptoms in the feet. In the early stages, patients may feel as if they are walking on clouds due to reduced sensation, he said. If left untreated, this can progress to a burning sensation, followed by complete loss of feeling in the feet. At this stage, any injury may go unnoticed and heal slowly due to poor blood circulation. These non-healing wounds can become infected, potentially leading to serious complications, including the need for foot or leg amputation, he warned.

“If one has diabetes for more than five to six years, we ask them to get screened (for blood circulation) once in six months so that preventive measures can be taken. Our advice to the people with diabetes is to control it, don’t cut nails close to the skin, always use footwear and use moisturisers to avoid dry skin,” said Dr.Mosur.