Thousands of people from around India clarified doubts on diabetes and its management addressed by 9 experts from 3 locations in the country
New Delhi
BeatO, India’s largest digital platform for managing diabetes, organized a 24-hour YouTube live interactive session on World Diabetes Day. The one-of-its-kind session helped people from all over India clear their doubts about diabetes and its management. Doctors and diabetes educators across cities answered queries and interacted in real time with more than 7,500 people on a single day.
Over 9 experts from across 3 locations in India answered thousands of questions put forth by viewers. The latter included people with diabetes and longstanding history of the condition to parents of children with Type 1 Diabetes, children of elderly parents asking for tips and even young adults in the 25 to 35 age group.
Speaking about this, Mr Gautam Chopra, Co-Founder and CEO, BeatO, said, “Diabetes has emerged as one of the most impending health issues in the country today. Apart from lifestyle changes, there are several other factors that must be addressed for effective management of this condition. It was in light of this that we attempted to organize a session of this nature, a first by any health platform. We are delighted to see the phenomenal response to this session. BeatO Diabetes 360 offered a channel to not only address concerns but also provide customized solutions for free, making a wide and lasting impact. BeatO has always leveraged technology effectively to help simplify a diabetic’s life through products such as their mobile connected glucometer and the BeatO app. This session was also similar in that it utilized a simple, easy, and free platform like YouTube to allow people to voice their concerns and clarify doubts instantly.”
In addition to YouTube, the session was trending actively on other social media platforms including Twitter (35,322 tweets) and Facebook (reached 67,644 people) for over 3 hours at the second spot. During the session, viewers came up with a variety of queries on several aspects of diabetes: diabetes-related complications; lifestyle changes to be made; diabetes and pregnancy; infections related to the condition; how it affects children; sexual dysfunction in such people; and diabetic ketoacidosis. Interesting discussions on depression and diabetes, case studies of people with the condition, and tips on treatment and dietary changes were the other highlights.
Dr Dr. Minal Vohra, Consultant & Head, Endocrinology, BeatO & Manipal Hospital said, “Diabetes is fast becoming an epidemic. With limited specialists, we need technology and platforms that use our expertise and scale it to reach millions of Indians. Today, when we reach the next 100 Million internet audience fuelled by smartphones, it becomes imperative that we use vernacular and video to spread awareness and education around Diabetes. That is what the platform BeatO provided attempted.”
Adding further, Mr Chopra, said, “Recent statistics are indicative of the fact that India has the highest number of people living with diabetes. It is estimated that by 2030, about 79.4 million people will be living with this condition, perhaps the highest in the world.[1] BeatO’s aim is therefore to create a knowledge ecosystem to foster healthy information exchange among people with diabetes, their families and medical experts. We will organize similar initiatives going forward.”
In diabetes, a person is either incapable of producing insulin or the body is unable to utilize the insulin produced. The management of this condition not only requires the prescription of an appropriate pharmacological regimen by a physician but also nonpharmacological measures, intensive education, and counseling of the patient for better glycemic control. BeatO Diabetes 360 addressed all this and more. BeatO is a one-stop-shop for those living with diabetes. Apart from addressing all-round diabetes management and care for those with the condition, the company also aims to educate anyone with a family history of the condition or other risk factors in assessing it earlier. Through an all-round approach, BeatO aims to make diabetes management and prevention achievable for the entire family.