Lilly sponsors diabetic calendar for Ramadan

UK Muslims with diabetes are being offered a special Ramadan calendar that features advice and tips about fasting during the Islamic holy month.

Some 22,000 copies of the calendar, which is funded by pharma company Lilly and produced by Diabetes UK, have been distributed to mosques and halal butchers across the UK.

Ramadan is the holiest month of the Islamic calendar and a time when the Koran mandates fasting from sunrise to sunset.

This year Ramadan begins in the UK on 11 August and by falling during a summer month there are more fasting hours during the day, potentially placing diabetics at greater risk of hypoglycaemic episodes.

Diabetes UK advises that diabetic Muslims do not have to fast due to their health condition and suggests those who think they should avoid doing so talk to their Imam for clarification.

The Diabetes UK/Lilly Ramadan calendar includes sunrise, sunset and prayer times, as well as health advice for people with diabetes.

This includes suggestions of traditional South Asian foods that can help stave off hunger during fasting hours, such as basmati rice, chapattis and dhal, as well as those to avoid over-indulging in when the fast is broken, such as sweets like jelibi and burfi.

The Ramadan calendar can be downloaded here.

Dominic Tyer