Pune-based Diabetes Care and Research Foundation on Tuesday announced its first lifetime achievement award to tennis player Kyra Shroff. Kyra, a diabetic, has been selected as the first recipient of the award which has a cash prize of Rs 10,000 that will be given to her on World Diabetes Day on November 14.

Dr Abhay Mutha, president of the Diabetes Care and Research Foundation, said that the award has been instituted to felicitate such children who are diabetic and have also excelled in his/her own field. Kyra has been a Type 1 diabetic patient since birth and despite the disorder has excelled as a tennis player.

This year the special focus is on Type I Diabetes, says Mutha who told media persons that the award will be given away at a function organised at the Tilak Smarak Mandir. The foundation since 2004 has been sponsoring medicines and other expenses for 108 diabetic children.

The childhood diabetes welfare programme of the foundation has adopted 108 poor children with diabetes from across Maharashtra for their complete care till the age of 16 which includes insulin, other medicines ,hospitalisation, other investigations and school fees.

"We spend Rs 4,000 per child per month,'' says Mutha and out of these Type I diabetic children there are several who have not allowed the illness to hamper their professional growth.

Some of them are good swimmers and others have excelled at school. Three such children from the foundation will also be awarded with cash prizes.

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