Photo: Phayul.com
World Health Day was marked in Dharamshala with free checkups for the general public by courtesy of Delek Hospital in collaboration with the Kunphen Centre and Regional Tibetan Women’s Association. 300 people took advantage of free blood sugar and blood pressure tests at an awareness raising booth under the slogan of “Beat Diabetes”, which is this year’s World Health Day theme.
Dr Tenzin Tsundue, a resident doctor at Delek Hospital speaking to Phayul explained there is concern at the increasing number of cases of diabetes in the Tibetan community, saying “We hope to contain the rising number through awareness.” He said that diabetes patients also have a higher chance of contracting Tuberculosis, which, in the Tibetan community is around 6 times higher than the world’s average rate. Dr Tsundue blames increased consumption of junk food and sugar, together with reduced physical exercise, for this rise.
The Central Tibetan Administration’s Department of Health declared April as the “Health Promotion and Disease Prevention” month. They have identified diseases which commonly afflict people in the Tibetan community and which they see as requiring priority preventative interventions. They are sending out information to community leaders and administrators, schools, hospitals, monasteries, etc, with a focus on prevention of diseases such as hepatitis B, tuberculosis, liver cancer, stomach/esophageal cancer, hypertension, cervical cancer, diabetes, and HIV AIDS. The awareness campaign aims to foster a climate where behavior can be changed in response to awareness of diseases and their causes, and uses the slogan “Prevention Is better than cure”.
As well as providing information and health care advice about the diseases, the Department also promoted the “Beat Diabetes” campaign for World Health Day.
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