16-year-old on a mission to spread the message

Vaishnavi is also in the process of developing an app that could help people prevent diabetes and save lives.

When Vaishnavi Sharma's grandfather died due to diabetes, she was too young to understand what diabetes was.
"I was only three years old when he died and all I knew was that it was a big loss for me. But now, when my grandmother is also suffering from the same disease, which has taken away her ability to see or hear, I have decided to take steps to spread awareness about the disease," said the 16-year-old.
"I am shocked and saddened because after learning about diabetes I found out how easily avoidable it is but just due to lack of awareness I ended up losing my dear grandfather.
"I now know that even if one has diabetes, he or she can live a long life if there is better awareness about the disease. I do not want this to happen to any family, especially when it is not all that difficult to manage. You don't have to be highly educated to learn about this disease or regularly visit the doctor. You just need to know what diabetes is and some simple tips to prevent it."
Vaishnavi was present at the Beat Diabetes walk from 6.30am pursuing her passion - spreading awareness about the disease by giving talks and distributing pamphlets about the same. "I have personally handed out about 1,000 pamphlets today, which I myself got printed in two languages to reach out to a maximum number of people. My father Naveen Sharma, who is the chairman of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), is participating in today's walk along with other members of the ICAI group. Since he has set up a counter at the walk venue, I used that platform to give out my pamphlets titled ' A guide to prevent diabetes' to about 400 ICAI members here.
Apart from giving out the pamphlets at the Beat Diabetes walk, Vaishnavi also gave small awareness talks about what diabetes is and how it can be prevented to her friends, family and other participants of the walk.
Vaishnavi is also in the process of developing an app that could help people prevent diabetes and save lives.
"All I want to say is that take care of your health because you have family members and friends who love you and depend on you. And it is not difficult to prevent this disease. It is much easier than it looks like."
saman@khaleejtimes.com

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