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Guyana observes World Diabetes Day with book launch

Nov 15, 2011 News

 

 

Yesterday, as Guyana joined the rest of the world in observing World Diabetes Day a handbook for schools was officially launched by the Ministry of Health in collaboration with the Ministry of Education.
The handbook will serve to educate teachers on how to deal with students in their schools who are diabetics.
Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Shamdeo Persaud, raised the issues of prevention and care and their importance. He said that the Ministry has already successfully implemented several treatment programmes for people living with diabetes.
Many people do not know that they have the disease. Some are only made aware when they visit the hospitals with some eye disorder, a deliberate consequence of the disease.
Dr. Persaud said that the Ministry over the years has been spending a lot of money on treatment and care for all non-communicable diseases. He however could not put a direct cost to the effort.
He advised persons to come forward and access the treatments that are available instead of using the local remedies. He noted that out of the 47,000 estimated persons living with the disease some 28,000 have been utilizing the services of the Ministry of Health.
He further urged people to adapt healthier lifestyles in order to prevent the disease and in order to avoid complications.
Also on the occasion Health Minister Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, in his message, said that Guyana already spends almost $300 million on diabetes medicines in the public sector. “When we add the private sector, medicines alone account for more than $400 million on an annual basis. We must do something now.
“In 2011, we must commit that we will fight diabetes with all our might, by ensuring all citizens are aware and knowledgeable and are empowered to take action, now, to prevent diabetes or to control diabetes.
“We must take action now to prevent diabetes-related blindness, renal (kidney) failure, heart diseases, amputations etc. We must take action now to reduce the almost 800 premature deaths that occur in Guyana each year because of diabetes.”
World Diabetes Day is observed on November 14 each year. Diabetes education and prevention is the World Diabetes Day focus for the period 2009-2013. This year, the occasion is observed under the theme: “Act on Diabetes Now”.
Ramsammy said that five key messages have been developed to inform the outputs and deliverables of the 2011 campaign: diabetes kills one person every eight seconds, four million people a year; diabetes does not discriminate: it affects people of all ages, the rich and poor;  diabetes can no longer be ignored: four million lives are lost a year, one million amputations a year, millions lost in income and productivity; life-saving care, a right not a privilege: education, medicines, technologies; and choose health: demand healthy food and environments, keep active, eat well.
He said for the day, Guyana has added other key messages such as “Do not smoke”, “Do not misuse alcohol”. “People with diabetes, take your medicines exactly as recommended by your doctor” as everyone must know their risk and those at risk must screen regularly; everyone must know their numbers – BMI, blood pressure and blood sugar level.
World Diabetes Day engages millions of people worldwide in diabetes advocacy and awareness. World Diabetes Day started in 1991 by the International Diabetes Federation and the World Health Organisation in response to growing concerns about the escalating health threat that diabetes now poses.
World Diabetes Day became an official United Nations Day in 2007 with the passage of United Nation Resolution 61/225. The campaign draws attention to issues of paramount importance to the diabetes world, and keeps diabetes firmly in the public spotlight.
While the themed campaigns last the whole year, the day itself is celebrated on November 14, to mark the birthday of Frederick Banting, who along with Charles Best, first conceived the idea which led to the discovery of insulin in 1922.

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