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Farooq Abdullah encourages all to take health seriously – Afternoon Despatch & Courier

The on-going Eyebetes clinic set up at Siddhivinayak by Dr. Nishant Kumar is proving to be a success, drawing thousands in everyday. Ex-chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Farooq Abdullah, a diabetic who is active even at the age of 80, visited the camp and spoke to those present about the need for them to take their health seriously.

Talking about why check ups are important from an early age, Abdullah said, “You may not be diabetic now, but the signs start to show earlier- it is important to get the checks up now so the signs can be caught at an early stage.”

Charming everyone around, Abdullah encouraged those who hadn’t got the check-ups done yet to go ahead with the non-time consuming procedure, even holding the hands of those who were nervous about the needles. “Look at the lifestyles and habits of today,” he added, “Look at the pressure everyone has to deal with. This Eyebetes clinic is a wonderful thing, we need more awareness about these issues that impact us.”

Farooq Abdullah

Dr. Nishant Kumar, who is an ophthalmologist and the man behind Eyebetes, said, “Farooq is a living example of the fact that life does not stop after diabetes. Once you get it detected it is treatable, this clinic is an initiate towards the same.”

The Eyebetes clinic is set up annually and offers free blood pressure and blood sugar check up, as well as vision assessment and retina examination. It will be conducted everyday from 8:30 am till 8 pm, until the 23rd of this month. While the blood results are available to the patients on the spot, the retina examination results will be sent to the them by SMS within the next 15 days, after being properly examined.

The check ups are done by medical students who are patient and friendly with patients, especially the ones who get nervous with the sight of needles. There is also counseling and a quick survey done of these patients, to know how aware the average citizen is about health issues, and to combat the negligence.

The preparation for the clinic starts months in advance, Meenakshi Agarwal, Dr. Kumar’s wife tells us. “These things are taken too casually by people, we want to change that. Most people wait until the situation is very bad to start taking care, which is not how it should be,” she said.

Article Source: Afternoon Despatch & Courier | September 17, 2018
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