By
Evelyn Anane/Judith Amoateng, GNA
Accra, Sept. 6, GNA – The National Diabetes
Association Ghana on Thursday organised diabetes screening to create awareness
in the Greater Accra, Western and Central Regions in preparation to mark World
Diabetes Day on November 14.
The theme for World Diabetes Day 2018-2019:
“The Family and Diabetes,” seeks to raise awareness of a condition that millions
of people all around the world live with every day.
Mrs. Elizabeth Esi Denyoh, President of the
Association told the Ghana News Agency in an interview that the exercise should
have been conducted nationwide but due to funding challenges, three regions
have been selected for this year.
She stated that 624 people have been screened
out of that, 15 tested positive and they have been counselled and referred to
their nearest health facilities, adding, “We will follow up on them”.
She stressed that a quarter of Ghana’s
population was expected to be diabetic by the year 2020 and that, “Out of every
four people on the street, you have a probability of one being diabetic and not
knowing”.
The National Diabetes Association is an organ
under the Ministry of Health and a member of International Diabetes Federation
(IDF) whose duty it was to advocate, educate and regulate everything concerning
diabetes.
According to the International Diabetes
Federation, the number of people with diabetes is expected to rise to 522
million by 2030 and three out of four people with diabetes live in low and
middle income countries.
World Diabetes Day (WDD) is celebrated
annually on November 14. It was created in 1991 by IDF and the World Health
Organisation (WHO) in response to growing concerns about the escalating health
threat posed by diabetes.
Essentially, diabetes is about the body’s
ability (or lack of it) to produce the required amount of a hormone called
insulin to control glucose levels in the blood.
There
are broadly two types of diabetes. The Type one requires daily administration
of artificial insulin by means of injection or insulin pump. Type two is more
generally managed by a combination of dietary control and medication in the
form of tablets.
GNA