Five Islet Transplantation centres will come up across India for treating the Type-1 and Type 3C diabetes in the country. Talking to reporters at the sidelines of two-day Indo-US bilateral Workshop on ‘ Pancreatic Islets: From isolation to Transplantation, which began here today, Asian Institute of Gastroenterology (AIG) Chairman Dr K Nageshwar Reddy said the centers will be established at Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Hyderabad with the support of ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research, New Delhi) and Department of Bio-Technology. The centres were likely to be set up by next month, Dr Reddy said, adding pancreatic islet transplantation was emerging as an important option in the treatment of Type-1 and Type 3C diabetes. Islet cell transplantation involving injection of the isolated islet cells into liver was being offered in a few specialised centres in the USA and Europe. The centers will be set up with US-collaboration, he said. With about 285 million people afflicted with diabetes worldwide, including 62.4 million in India, he added. Earlier, the workshop was inaugurated by United States Consulate Counsel General (Hyderabad) Ms katherine Dhanani. UNI
