Fighting Diabetes Through CSR: Biocon

BENGALURU: Biocon Ltd. has scaled up its ‘Winning with Diabetes’ program through a nationwide disease awareness campaign to observe World Diabetes Day recently on 14 November.

The Company aims to reach out to over 100,000 diabetes patients and engage with more than 550 healthcare professionals in over 100 cities across the country as a part of this campaign. Multiple Diabetes Detection Camps, Patient Education Programs and Walkathons are being held to create awareness about diabetes, its prevention and management.

The Patient Education Programs have been designed to educate the common man about the causes, effects, diagnosis and treatment of diabetes, which affects over 65 million people in India currently.

Biocon had introduced India’s first indigenously developed Insulin in 2004 along with its unique patient-centric program ‘Winning with Diabetes,’ involving its team of Field Scientific Officers who counsel patients on managing their life with diabetes. The program focuses on partnering with the medical fraternity to sensitize and educate diabetics on self-help methods including monitoring of blood glucose, exercise and dietary routines in addition to providing helpful tips to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Extending its program further, Biocon has also partnered with Semora to introduce a new initiative ‘The Diabetic Food Trail®, which will offer Diabetics, Pre-Diabetics and Health conscious individuals a diabetic friendly cuisine at over 120 restaurants across Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Bangalore, till Nov 30, 2015. Acclaimed and celebrated chefs at some of the most popular dining establishments will present special ‘Diabetic friendly’ nutritious menus that adhere to the calorific and dietary requirements of diabetics without compromising on taste. This initiative is aimed at sensitizing the food outlets on the need of  preparing healthy, nutritious yet tasty food for their guests and presenting diabetics stress-free dining out options.

Commenting on this campaign, Partha Roy Chowdhury, Head-Metabolics Division, Biocon said “Biocon has been making a difference to the lives of millions of diabetics for over a decade now. As a compassionate, caring and responsible company our efforts are aimed at raising awareness about managing the disease through a holistic diabetes management and lifestyle modification program. Our endeavour is to empower many more ‘people with diabetes’ with the ability to ‘win with diabetes’ through lifestyle modification, nutrition management and regular exercise.”

Diabetes is a metabolic disorder in which a person has high blood glucose (blood sugar), either because insulin production is inadequate or because the body's cells do not respond properly to insulin, or both. It is estimated that the number of people with diabetes could cross 100 million* in India by 2035.

Over the past decade, Biocon has been offering cost-effective and easily accessible treatment for diabetes, which typically imposes a huge economic burden on patients that gets magnified because it leads to related complications, including heart, kidneys, eyes and foot disease.

Biocon has been addressing the large need for affordable Insulin therapy in India through its generic rh-Insulin, analogs and easy to use devices. It has enhanced patient access to Insulin across India through affordable therapy, resulting in improved diabetes management.

* Source: IDF

'Winning with Diabetes' is an initiative to educate and help people manage their Diabetes to lead richer and healthier lives. It is aimed at partnering with the medical fraternity, people with diabetes and care givers. It offers training on self-help methods including monitoring of blood glucose, exercise and dietary routines in addition to providing helpful tips to control diabetes.

Press Release Source: