• According to International Diabetes Federation (IDF), one in 10 adults around the world – some 537 million people – are currently living with diabetes
• In 2019, diabetes was the ninth leading cause of death with an estimated 1.5 million deaths directly caused by diabetes, as per WHO

National, India, 1^st December 2021: Aster Volunteers in association with Aster Labs, BioRad and Roche, is offering free Diabetes screening and HbA1c tests to create awareness and promote early screening through Aster Hospitals and Clinics in GCC and India.

Diabetes is certainly becoming a growing area of concern among people around the world. While diabetes used to be more frequent in people above 40, it is now becoming common in all age groups and even adolescents and young adults are at greater risk of getting diabetes than before.

Speaking on the initiative, Mr. T.J Wilson, Executive Director & Group Head Governance & Corporate Affairs, Aster DM Healthcare said, “Although diabetes is one of the fastest-growing lifestyle diseases worldwide, it can be treated, and its consequences avoided or delayed with diet, physical activities, medication, regular screening and treatment for complication. Regular screening is an essential part of the diabetes management process and we sincerely hope that this initiative can help people get detected and bring their disease under control.”

By offering free assessments and tests Aster Volunteers aim to make people aware of an individual’s health status in terms of diabetes, its degree of threat and measures needed to bring the disease under control. Uncontrolled diabetes can damage the heart, blood vessels, eyes, kidneys, and nerves. Adults with diabetes have a two- to three-fold increased risk of heart attacks and strokes. In fact, the impact of

Covid-19 is estimated to be much serious in people with diabetes. Combined with reduced blood flow, neuropathy (nerve damage) in the feet increases the chance of foot ulcers, infection and eventual need for limb amputation. Diabetic retinopathy is an important cause of blindness and occurs as a result of long-term accumulated damage to the small blood vessels in the retina. Close to 1 million people are blind due to diabetes. Diabetes is among the leading causes of kidney failure.

bridges the gap between people who would like to help with those in need. Driven by Aster DM Foundation, through various initiatives, the programme has been able to impact 3+ million lives across geographies. Aster Volunteers have been able to treat 470,890 individuals through mobile medical camps; 172,423 people have benefitted from basic life support trainings and 39,148 free surgeries as well as health investigations were conducted; supported with the recruitment of 122 differently abled people and treated 559,304 people through medical camps. The aid programme in Somali land, Jordan, Bangladesh, and Kerala has benefitted 294,158 people. Aster Volunteers have also undertaken 124 initiatives towards Sustainability & Community Connect.

Aster Volunteers have also been at the forefront of the battle against COVID – 19, with 1,959,898 people benefitting from the various initiatives.