By Caribbean Medical News Staff
It is costing Barbados $75 million dollars directly and directly to shoulder the burden of Diabetes to the economy in Barbados. This is according to Chief Medical Officer, Dr Joy St John, who made her remarks at the First Annual Multidisciplinary Diabetes Conference at the Hilton Barbados Resort, Needhams Point, St Michael.
In addition St John said that overweight figured in the equation with 70% of women and 62 per cent of men being overweight or obese and statistics showed that in 2007, 29 000 people were living with the illness while an estimated 5 000 were living with undiagnosed type 2 diabetes. In addition many more people were at risk and/or are pre-diabetic.
St John also indicated that between 2010 and 2012, 60 individuals presented for the first time with diabetes with 25 000 visits annually by diabetics to the island’s polyclinics. The Chief Medical Officer noted that coinciding with the prevalence of obesity or overweight.
“It is estimated that 30 per cent of school aged children are overweight and another 14.4 per cent are obese. The Global School Health Survey 2012 indicates that 75 per cent of children drank fizzy drinks three or more times per week. The survey further showed that only 40 per cent were achieving the recommended 60 minutes of moderate daily physical activity and exercise. It also showed that only 30 per cent of school aged children were consuming the recommended five servings of fruit and vegetables per day,” St John continued.
She also gave kudos to the Diabetes Foundation of Barbados and its leaders including Dr Oscar Jordan stating that the Foundation had met many of its goals especially related to providing care at the Maria Holder Diabetes Centre in Warrens, St Michael.
Vice-president of the International Diabetes Federation, Canadian Anne Belton examined the growing number of worldwide cases of diabetes and its prevalence in the Caribbean. Belton was particularly concerned about the stigma attached to juvenile diabetes.
“We found that children who have diabetes are often marginalised in the school environment. They are not allowed to go on bus trips and even in some countries they are not allowed to attend schools because they have diabetes,” she said.
Belton said that not only was public education critical and plans being implemented to recruit young people to push the drive for education through the International Diabetes Federation, but that school teachers were also being asked to be part of the process of educating children and older students on the prevention of the incurable illness. She also addressed the issue of juvenile diabetes.
The two day conference featured a number of renowned medical speakers from across the region as well as health care practitioners from other disciplines. The conference was geared towards illustrating the value of a team approach by team players in the health care industry toward the use of a singular but cohesive and holistic approach to treating diabetics. Prevention was also emphasized. The conference ended with a Q & A session for the general public.
