Dr. Michael Owen was speaking the day after he contributed to an audience at the Montserrat Diabetes Association’s annual general meeting which was held on World Diabetes Day, Wednesday, November 14, 2012.
He said diabetes can no doubt impact negatively on productivity and ultimately economic and social development, adding that the issues with the dreaded disease are twofold.
The Doctor highlighted that diabetes is, “a very damaging disease,” which does have a major impact. Speaking to ZJB News reporters he said: “…type two diabetes that use to be an illness of older people now it’s something which has become much more common and in fact it’s now starting to affect children… a lot of people are having diabetes through their working life and that means they will be losing time during their working life which will affect their income and it will also affect the productivity on the island as a whole…,” he said.
He explained further: “People with diabetes will be on the treatment and sometimes they have other symptoms while they under treatment – both of these sicknesses may lead to significant time off work and that obviously have an impact on the efficiency and the economic strength of the island.”
The Chief Medical Officer reiterated and concluded, “…it’s a very damaging disease and it does have a major impact. If it’s not addressed it may have an impact on the economy on the island.”
