Aligarh: A Center of Excellence (CoE) for Type 1 Diabetes at the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Diabetes and Endocrinology, Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Aligarh Muslim University for diabetes management was inaugurated on Wednesday by Vice Chancellor, Prof Tariq Mansoor.  

The Centre has come out to advance scientific knowledge and translate it into better care and health outcomes for people with Type 1 Diabetes after a Memorandum of Understanding between the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Diabetes and Endocrinology and Novo Nordisk Education Foundation, Bangalore.

“The new CoE will aid in ensuring high-quality diabetes care and make arrangements for the easy supply of insulin to those in need as not all disadvantaged people especially children who are heavily reliant on the public healthcare system have access to it”, said the Vice Chancellor, Prof Tariq Mansoor.

He stressed that JNMC is catering for a large number of diabetic patients who will benefit from CoE and since the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Diabetes and Endocrinology fulfils the National Medical Commission norms, it is high time that we must push to begin a super speciality DM Endocrinology course at the Centre.

Prof MU Rabbani, Dean, Faculty of Medicine, pressed the need for proper management of Type 1 Diabetes patients as lack of it can lead to acute and chronic complications and Prof Rakesh Bhargava, Principal, JNMC, called for good education and teamwork for Type 1 Diabetes Management and other chronic diseases.

In the welcome address, Dr Hamid Ashraf, Director of Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Diabetes and Endocrinology, said: “The number of children with Type 1 Diabetes is on the rise and unfortunately many such patients die before reaching 30 years of their age. In this scenario, it is hoped that the newly established CoE will undertake the tasks of identifying predictive markers and therapeutic targets for T1D complications”.    

He extended gratitude to Jagit Singh and his team from Novo Nordisk Education Foundation for providing the necessary support.

Prof Sheelu Shafiq Siddiqui extended the vote of thanks.