Grassroots role urged in diabetes fight

Healthcare providers at the grassroots should play a bigger role in preventing and controlling diabetes, which currently afflicts more than 40 million Chinese, health officials and experts have said.

Going to doctors in large hospitals for treatment and taking prescribed medication is not adequate for containing diabetes, said Yang Wenying, chairwoman of the Chinese Diabetes Society.

"We need qualified educators to help patients combat the chronic disease," Yang said at the launching ceremony of the Jonson-Jonson Diabetes Institute on Friday.