Testing protocol: The screening proved that gestational diabetes manifests during all trimesters of pregnancy. The risk of nearly 83,000 individuals developing diabetes at a later date has been reduced by a simple, low cost intervention by the Tamil Nadu government. In a first-of-its-kind programme in the country, 5.2 lakh pregnant women visiting government-run prenatal clinics were screened for gestational diabetes (GDM) during 2007-08. And 7-8 per cent were found to have elevated glucose level.