Tamil Nadu Governor Surjit Singh Barnala today stressed that universal screening for gestational diabetes during pregnancy should be made compulsory on the lines of HIV. Inaugurating the first national conference of Diabetes in Pregnancy Study Group-India here, he expressed concern that the prevalence of diabetes during pregnancy in the country had been on the rise from two per cent in 1980s to 7.2 per cent in the 1990s and 16.55 per cent in 2000.

Stating that the development of glucose intolerance during pregnancy had a long term consequence for the children born to them, he said women who develop diabetes during pregnancy were the ideal target group for the primary prevention of diabetes.

These women had a lifetime risk of developing diabetes and by 17 years of age, one third of the children born to them have had evidence of abnormal blood sugar.

Increase in maternal blood sugar would lead to increased pregnancy morbidity, resulting in increased likelihood of subsequent diabetes in the mother and increased susceptibility of future diabetes in the infant, the Governor said.