Focusing on Asian diabetes

By Cindi John
BBC News Online community affairs reporter

As a campaign targeting the rapidly growing number of Asians in the UK with diabetes is unveiled to mark World Diabetes Day, BBC News Online talks to one woman attempting to help stem the increase.

Kirpal Marwa (right) aims to raise diabetes awareness among Asians

"I've seen quite a few people who haven't openly admitted they've got diabetes until after they get married.

"Because of the arranged marriage scenario people with diabetes do have difficulties finding a partner because people have heard of amputations or going blind with diabetes," says Kirpal Marwa.

The diabetes nurse says the fear of rejection by potential partners is a major hurdle to tackling diabetes within Britain's Asian communities.

Overcoming such attitudes was one of the reasons why Ms Marwa founded the Focus Group for Asians with Diabetes (FAD) consisting of Asian professionals working in the field of diabetes.

Even though Asians are up to six times more likely than white people to develop diabetes Ms Marwa says until recently the information specifically targeted at the Asian communities was poor.

It's a growing epidemic and research shows it's going to double by 2010 Kirpal Marwa

"A lot of the literature that was available was either hand-written or photocopied and if it was in an Asian language it had been done some interpreter who had translated it word-for-word, there was nobody to check it," she said.

With help from pharmaceutical companies and Diabetes UK, FAD has produced videos and other teaching materials in various Asian languages.

"The group is unique in the sense that we've got Asian professionals from different cultural backgrounds. I'm a Sikh so don't know much about Islam or Hinduism but as a group we're stronger.

"What we've done is to put Asian diabetes on the map nationally and what we've done has also shown we can provide culturally-sensitive material in down-to-earth, everyday language but in a quality way," Ms Marwa said.

Research

The latest FAD video released to mark World Diabetes Day is in the style of a Bollywood soap opera.

But in spite of their efforts, the number of Asians - and black people - with the condition was increasing, Ms Marwa told BBC News Online.

Asians and diabetes Estimated 500,000 UK Asians have diabetes Up to six times more likely than whites to develop diabetes Up to 25% of UK Asians have diabetes compared to 5% of whites

Approximately 1.4 million people in the UK today have diagnosed diabetes and it is estimated that at least 500,000 of them are from an Asian community.

But little was known about why they were so disproportionately affected by the condition, Ms Marwa said.

"It's a growing epidemic and research shows it's going to double by 2010."

"The only thing that research has really shown is that people from an Asian background and African Caribbean people have a different distribution of fat from Caucasians, we're more apple-shaped so we have more abdominal obesity and that gives us what is called insulin resistance," she said.

'More help needed'

Kirpal Marwa hopes that in years to come research may reveal more about why some ethnic groups seem more predisposed to developing diabetes.

But in the meantime she uses her weekly specialist clinic in Coventry in the West Midlands to help Asian people - who make up more than 11% of the city's population - come to terms with their diabetes and manage it as best as possible.

Yasmeen Khan believes young people should be targeted

Patient Salma Jamall, who's had diabetes for 18 years, says it took her a long time to accept her condition but she believes the presence of someone from their own community like Kirpal makes it easier for others.

"Kirpal has helped a lot of the Asian community here because many of them can't speak English.

"There are so many Asians getting diabetes. The problem is Asians have so many different languages we need more people to help," she said.

Yasmeen Khan, 18, whose diabetes was diagnosed when she was just seven thinks more needs to be done to educate young people about the condition.

"They are just not aware it. They just wouldn't connect their symptoms with diabetes.

"People should maybe go into schools and tell younger people about it and there should be more adverts on TV," she said.