I was experiencing all the symptoms for almost

a year, but went undiagnosed! It was my 15th

birthday. I ate a lot of cake and went into a
coma due to very high blood sugar. A blood
test revealed the cause! Then came the insulin
injection, my life savior!
When I was recovering from coma, the first
sounds I remember were those of my mum,
telling my father that grandma thought it was
best not to tell me about my insulin dependent
diabetes, as it would be very shocking for me... so I knew even before I had opened my eyes! And for the
best!
The first diabetes specialist I was taken to was Dr. Fauzia Moyeen. I believe that was the life changing
experience for me. She assisted me to cope not only with my levels, but also with what is commonly
called "social discrimination". Social discrimination, for me, was the pity that everyone throws at you
until you start feeling you are either about to die or are the most useless creature on planet earth! Some
think you can't study and your parents shouldn't be wasting their time and money on making you study.
Others think you won't ever be able to marry and have kids. And many have the opinion that you'll
never be able to work because of your condition. I must admit I spent quite some time in self-pity and
depression. But with the help of my Dr Fauzia, and my parents, I started to overcome the negativity.

I was lucky to have amazing and well educated parents who started building my self confidence about all
these myths and misconceptions. We used internet and any books that we could find to learn about
diabetes management. At that time, there were no diabetes educators. With our ship sailing on a rough
sea, we still survived, and not badly. I worked hard in school, because I wanted to show "them" a few
things... I wanted to tell them that "I am not inferior"! I achieved high grades all through high school and
got admission in the most reputable engineering university of the country. I later did my Masters in
Computer Engineering and at 31 years, have now completed my PhD in the same field. In a country with
only 36% literacy rate (and literacy means you can read a newspaper), this says something about having
diabetes and getting educated- they are not related!
I also got married and with the help of my healthcare team and Internet, managed my two pregnancies
successfully I have two healthy, extremely intelligent and extremely active, 2.5 and 7 years olds.
10% of adults living in Pakistan have diabetes. Almost as much are at risk. 5% have Type 1. This statistic
does not account for children that have diabetes. We have a population of almost 200 million. At the
moment, Pakistan is the ranked 13th in the list of countries with most people with diabetes. IDF's
estimates state that it is going to be ranked 7th in 2030. Considering the economic burden of diabetes
treatment, it's interesting to note that 65% of our population lives on under $2 a day! Government
support of healthcare is limited, and medication is usually not adequate when there is!
Topped on this, the social discrimination can make anyone with diabetes face miserable conditions. I
believe that a lot needs to be done, and can be done to impart community awareness, as well as pushing
forward towards better healthcare policies. It is the responsibility of each and every one of us to be the
change that we want to see.
Sana joined the Young Leaders in Diabetes programme of the International Diabetes Federation (IDF)
and served as its Vice President from 2011 till 2013.
She was then elected as the President-Elect of the group for 2013-2014.
She was trained as a diabetes peer educator by the IDF Centre of Education in Pakistan. Despite
having an engineering academic profession, she volunteers a few hours each week, providing peer
education to people with diabetes.
She has been a role model and inspiration for many across the globe. Currently she is involved in
international and national diabetes advocacy efforts. Advocacy, she believes, is the key to sustainable,
long term solutions towards improving the lives of the diabetes nation.