The 7th Jothydev’s Professional Education Forum (JPEF) Annual Diabetes two-day convention was inaugurated by Dr. Cherian Varghese (Acting Director, Non-Communicable Diseases(NCD), World Health Organization(WHO), Geneva). Around 120 faculty from across the world including Australia, England, Egypt, Canada, Oman, Singapore etc. and from various parts of India lectured at the two-day convention held at Hotel Uday Samudra, Kovalam, Trivandrum. More than 950 delegates including doctors, dietitians, diabetes educators etc. participated in the two-day convention.

     Diabetes is a priority NCD for WHO. It is affecting the developing world in epidemic proportion. In India, it is estimated that close to 75 million subjects are affected with diabetes. The onset of diabetes now occurs at an early age with more and more children being fed with food rich in saturated fats, carbonated beverages, and with no focus on daily exercise. More aggressive and structured educational activities are still required for prevention of diabetes and its complications. Diabetes affects individuals irrespective of their education and financial status. Not even 10% of patients accept scientific modality of treatment. The vast majority succumb to kidney disease, heart attack and foot ulcers before they realise the significance of seriously treating the disease increasing the treatment cost by several folds.

     The two-day convention witnessed the launch of a new concept- The Diabetes Fashion Show which saw diabetes patients walking the ramp proving that ‘It’s not ugly; diabetes is fashionable’. Subjects with diabetes and treating team consisting of doctors, nurses, dietitians, pharmacists and psychologists from various parts of India participated in the fashion show.

     Dr.Nanditha Arun(Dr.A.Ramachandran’s Hospital, Chennai) bagged the JPEF P.Kesavadev Young Researcher Award for diabetes worth Rs. 1 lakh. Dr. Parameswaran Ramakrishnan(Cleveland Clinic, USA) and Dr.Nishanth Dev(AIMS, New Delhi) won prizes for best research abstracts. Dr.Sijo Jose(Gokulam Medical College, Trivandrum) won the best poster award.