World Diabetes Day - Why Do We Need Multi-Lingual Medical Pamphlets

Tomorrow is World Diabetes Day, a day when we stand together and try to bring awareness about this disease. Granted, Diabetes needs no introduction, but there are many people who are still unaware of it, or they choose to ignore it. When I say Diabetes does not need an introduction, I mean to draw attention to the fact that we all know a person who has diabetes. Every single person has a relative or friend who is diabetic. In every 11 adults, 1 adult is diabetic i.e. 415 million people in this world are suffering from diabetes.

By 2040, this count will be increased and in every 10 adults, 1 will be diabetic. This will take the official diabetic count to 642 million people. What is more alarming is the rate of infants born with diabetes, in every 7 births, at least 1 baby is affected by gestational diabetes. So the chances of these children living fulfilling lives are not only dim, they will also have many psychological effects that will impact their whole childhood.

Here Are Some More Scary Facts About Diabetes.

• More than 2/3 of the African population is unaware of their diabetic condition. They are still undiagnosed, which is the most dangerous condition.
• In Middle-East and North Africa, every 4 adults out of 10 have diabetes and it is undiagnosed.
• Europe has the highest rate of children who has Type 1 Diabetes.
• In the North America and Caribbean region 1 out of every 8 adults is diagnosed with diabetes.
• By the time it is 2040, South and Central America will see a 65% increase in people who have diabetes.
• Western Pacific has 37% of the world’s adults who have diabetes.
• In South-East Asia, ¼ births happens when the mother is diagnosed with high blood glucose.

This scary statistic is provided by the IDF Diabetes Atlas. The best we can do is to create an environment where everyone is aware of Diabetes and its risks. And the best way to do that is by creating multi-lingual medical pamphlets and brochures.

Even though many countries have their own doctors and medical staff, there are still many people who do not understand English, and even if they do, they do not understand it properly. Having multi-lingual medical pamphlets will allow them to understand the drug better and then prescribe the right drug for the disease.

Here are some more benefits of multi-lingual medical pamphlets.

Must Needed Information

These pamphlets have a much needed information about the drug and how it must be administered. This will allow the patients to use the drug in the way it must be administered. But more importantly, this will provide necessary information to the third world countries that are under developed. The doctors will know when, why and how the drug should be administered. This will help reduce the number of people dying of diabetes every single day.

Decreasing Liability

In regions like the Caribbean, Africa and Middle East, there is a big danger of inaccurate interpretation of English pamphlets which leads to the wrong administration of the drug. This has even led to death of the patient. Having multi-lingual pamphlet is minimize the risk.

Increase Patient Awareness

The whole point of World Diabetes Day is to spread awareness and bring information to people who are still unaware of the dangers of diabetes. The medical brochures and pamphlets will take the necessary information to the patients and the translated literature will allow them to learn the risks and benefits of the drug on their own.

Open Communication Channels

The patients will be aware of the hazards of diabetes and they will be more prone to talk about their chances of getting the disease. They will be more susceptible to get tested and get their diagnoses. If they do not know about the risks, how are they going to protect themselves?

Beyond the Pamphlets

Having multi-lingual content for everything related to medicine, including medical devices, research equipment, healthcare software and technical instruments like blood glucose monitors will help people get the right medical attention for their diabetes related problems. Most of the time, your diabetes affects your other body parts like your kidneys. The doctors need to regularly check your other organs and parts to make sure that they are not affected by the disease.

Some of the tests the doctors suggest include:

• Fasting Lipid Profile (LDL, Triglycerides, HDL, Total Cholesterol)
• Creatinine
• ALT and AST
• Glycohemoglobin A1C (HB A1C),
• Urine Complete Analysis
• Uric Acid

Having proper translated materials for these tests and their equipment would help a lot. Taking help of a translation service provider will ensure that these manuals and directions are delivered right on time.

Languages That Must Be a Part of Medical Pamphlets

In order to simplify the process, the medical pamphlets must have these languages. These are the languages that are spoken widely in the world.

• Mandarin or Chinese Simplified – number of speakers: 1,200 million
• English – number of speakers: 850 million
• Arabic – number of speakers: 490 million
• Spanish – number of speakers: 490 million
• Modern Standard Hindi – number of speakers: 380 million
• Bengali – number of speakers: 210 million
• Malay – number of speakers: 210 million
• Portuguese – number of speakers: 200 million
• Russian – number of speakers: 170 million
• French – number of speakers: 160 million
• Urdu – number of speakers: 160 million
• Japanese – number of speakers: 130 million

Having translated material in these languages will be helpful. Medical translation services are actively used all around the world, so using them for Word Diabetes Day awareness will be even better.