Keeping diabetes at bay
We take time out today to congratulate the Diabetes Foundation of St. Maarten on once again pulling out all the stops and hosting a very successful annual Diabetes Fair.
From all accounts, the fair attracted a full house and members of the public benefited immensely from expert attention and from, among other things, free glucose (blood sugar), cholesterol and blood pressure testing.
But while we are delighted that so many people – estimated at more than 300 – turned up at the fair and were able to benefit from the information, guidance and expert services provided on the spot, we remain concerned that there are still too many people in our community who are not yet alive to how serious a silent killer diabetes is and can be.
The fact that there were a lot of diabetes diagnoses with (high) readings of more than 200 suggests that roaming at large in our communities is a tiger and a silent killer all rolled into one that needs to be tamed.
This is evident based not only on the findings of the organisers of the fair, but also on the glaringly high level of obesity in our communities – including in many of our schools – as more and more people seem to be falling victim to sedentary lifestyles and chronic lifestyle diseases.
While understandably, a lot of attention, money and energy are being dedicated to the struggle against HIV and AIDS and all the associated problems of neglect and stigmatisation, evidence abounds suggesting that there is also need for a community-wide assault on diabetes.
A few years ago, the then-commissioner of health Franklin Meyers took the lead in spearheading a watch-your-diet, eat-healthy and keep-fit programme that held out much hope for a successful diabetes awareness campaign, but that seems to have sizzled and fizzled.
Given the importance of good diet and regular exercise as key elements in the struggle to control diabetes, it would seem the time has indeed come once again for the health authorities to take the lead in challenging St. Maarten to challenge itself to keep the silent killer at bay.
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