Easy Rules for Insulin Injections

A set of concise and easy to understand recommendations has been released by the Diabetes Association of India (DAI) and the Forum for Injection Technique (FIT) to facilitate easier use of insulin by the elderly, on Tuesday.

“Counselling the elderly or geriatric patients for self injection may often be a challenging task,” said A Sundaram, advisory member, FIT India, while speaking to reporters. “The FIT recommendations suggest that physicians should not use age as an excuse to avoid use of insulin.”

FIT also pointed out that in the past one year, it had launched the first ever India-specific recommendations for appropriate insulin usage. “We reached out to more than 60 hospitals and 200 health care professionals and patients,” said Dr A Paneerselvam, co-chairman of the DAI. “We are trying to raise awareness on correct injection practices and impart the right education to healthcare providers and people living with the disease.”

The panel pointed out its observation that more than 30 per cent of diabetics in the city do not adhere to appropriate insulin treatment practices. “40 per cent do not know the right injection techniques. The consequences of bad injection skills could compromise dosage accuracy and even lead to pain, bleeding and infection,” they added.

The recommendations cover several key instructions including ones on needle length, site rotation, needle and syringe hygiene, injection sites and other safety issues, all written in very simple language to facilitate easier understanding. The recommendations will be distributed to hospitals, healthcare professionals and are also available for download from the FIT website.