JEDDAH: Students of Dar Al-Hekma School of Business Studies have launched an awareness campaign called Taayush as part of their service management course on children and juvenile diabetes.
“The course has turned into a campaign,” said Faiza Ahmad Rizvi, the chief financial officer of the project.
The campaign, which started on Saturday, will take place for two weeks with a bus as the main tool to catch people’s attention and spread awareness.
“We will be in places such as Red Sea Mall and Al-Shallal theme park,” said Inas Ali, the instructor of the course.
Lama Sharif, the chief executive officer of the project, said the main aspect of the project is to tackle children with diabetes and provide them with psychological help.
“We want anyone who is specialized in the field to participate and come up with solutions,” she added.
The School of Business collaborated with the Nursing Department at the college and together they set a plan to put their feet on the ground.
Lamya Gazzaz, an instructor in the Nursing Department who used to work as a diabetes nurse educator at the National Guard Hospital, gave a brief lecture on children and juvenile diabetes.
“I developed a passion for this project because I know the need for such a center for that particular age group,” said Gazzaz. “The idea of having a diabetes support center would be great because it’s a badly needed service.”
According to Gazzaz, diabetic children receive the care they need because they have pediatrics clinics, but adolescents are an ignored group. “When it comes to a group of people who are between 16 to 21, they are lost in the middle,” she said, explaining how this age group is caught between children’s clinics and clinics for adults.
Gazzaz said diabetic children could lead normal lives without any problems at all. “I worked with doctors who are diabetic. They only have to monitor their blood-sugar level,” she added.
Only a few hospitals provide diabetes education in the country. “An education support center would be great,” said Gazzaz.
