Techfest screens 1 lakh people for diabetes

The organisers of Techfest at IIT-Bombay — the largest technological festival in Asia — created a record on Sunday, screening around 1 lakh people for diabetes at a pan-India level during an event named ‘Can U Really Escape Diabetes’ (CURED).

Techfest is conducted every year for engineering and non-engineering students from India and abroad at IIT-B’s Powai campus. This year, the check-up drive was held at 180 camps, of which around 100 were in Mumbai at Metro stations, railway stations, religious places, housing societies, parks, the airport, malls and the IIT-B campus.

The event’s organisers said that officials from the Limca Book of Records and Guinness World Records were also present to oversee the camps.

According to Karan Mehta, media manager, Techfest 2016, India has the second-largest number of diabetic patients in the world, as per a World Health Organisation study. “With the number of people with diabetes increasing exponentially and a majority of patients unaware even if they are affected by the same, it is of utmost importance to make the masses aware about diabetes,” Mr Mehta said.

He added that keeping that very aim in mind, IIT-B — in collaboration with Rotary District 3141 and Gadge Diabetes Care — conducted the mass check-up drive for diabetes.

“People could get a diabetes check-up done for free, along with getting free consultation from doctors, at every camp, which included the 100 camps in Mumbai as well as 20 camps each in Ajmer and Jabalpur and 40 camps in total in the cities of Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Indore, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Gurgaon and Noida,” Mr Mehta said.

He added that the Guinness Word Record officials put in an entry for the maximum number of pledge cards signed in a day, while their Limca Book of Records counterparts put in an entry for the maximum number of diabetes check-ups in a day.