World Diabetes Day events to be held today:

Campaigns to boost awareness

by Nilma DOLE

Diabetes is a non-communicable disease that is growing at an alarming rate in Sri Lanka. Those who are at risk can be individuals who have not done proper screening to determine if they have it. The high risk factors include people who have diabetes in their family, obese people who don’t do physical exercises, people who don’t have a healthy lifestyle partly due to eating more than they require and the age group risk factor which has seen more 20-30 year olds being affected by diabetes than the 40-50 year age group.

According to the Director of the Non-Communicable Disease (NCD) Unit of the Health and Nutrition Ministry, Dr. Lal Panapitiya, “Diabetes affects 10.5 percent of the total population in Sri Lanka and out of this number, deaths due to diabetes are 5 percent.” According to the 2003 statistics, 78 percent of Sri Lanka’s total population are affected by non-communicable diseases with diabetes being the main killer. “The side effects of diabetes trigger other diseases like chronic heart disease, cardiovascular conditions, celebral diseases and kidney failure and stress” said the doctor. In addition to this, Dr.Panapitiya said that 11.5 percent of the population are affected by pre-diabetes.

“Even if people aren’t at risk, it’s scientifically proven that a healthy and active lifestyle can prevent you from getting diabetes.

“If you are diabetic, living with the disease without worrying is the key to overcoming diabetes” said Dr.Panapitiya. He said, “By working to prevent diabetes, we are also focusing on commemorating World Stroke Day on November 29 since strokes and heart problems go hand-in-hand with diabetes.”

Dr. Lal Panapitiya

Speaking about the grassroot level tackling of diabetes, understanding it and prevention, Dr.Panapitiya said, “We have adopted a campaign called ‘Healthy Workplaces’ where people can request for healthy food to be served in their canteens, tell the authorities to have tuck shops serving healthier food and also make the area around the workplaces hygienic and clean.”

“Often people blame the government for not doing anything about diabetes but it is the individual’s and community’s responsibility to make sure they adhere to a healthy lifestyle,” said Dr. Panapitiya. Further, he highlighted, “We can only help by giving free blood checking, free medicine and advice on how they can lead a healthy life.”

The National Program spearheaded by the Health and Nutrition Ministry aims at getting people to discipline themselves by eating the correct food, avoiding alcohol and eating 5 servings of fresh fruit everyday.

“If you don’t check your blood for diabetes, the consequences can be deadly. You will suffer loss of limbs, renal failure, nerve damage, heart diseases, delay in wound healing and even stress,” he said.

The NCD Unit also works with international NGOs and relevant stakeholders to ensure that their diabetes campaigns are successful. “We are working with the World Bank on an ‘Improvement Project Treatment Guidelines for major NCDs’ and with the Bloomberg project to eradicate tobacco and alcohol” said Dr.Panapitiya. He added, “The World Health Organisation (WHO) has also been instrumental in helping us fund our health sector campaigns”.

Locally, the National Diabetes Centre chaired by Dr. Mahen Wijesuriya together with the Diabetes Task Force, the Diabetes Association and the Sri Lanka Medical Association has been working tirelessly to ensure that the message of diabetes prevention is delivered to the society.

World Diabetes Day will be commemorated in Colombo and Kandy with a Diabetes Walk and Exhibition, by Dr. Bulugahapitiya who will hold a free clinic for screening and treatment.

World Diabetes Day will also be commemorated in various government hospitals, central dispensaries, clinics and private sector medical institutions islandwide” said Dr. Panapitiya.

In conclusion, Dr. Panapitiya said, “We will have more programs to help in diabetes prevention which will focus a lot on the schools and the curriculum.

“We hope the public will take heed of the diabetic issue and educate their children right now before it’s too late.”

NIROGI LANKA campaign

The Sri Lanka Medical Association’s (SLMA) role in diabetes prevention comes in the form of a campaign called NIROGI LANKA known as the ‘National Initiative to Reinforce and Organise General Diabetes Care in Sri Lanka’.

Dr. Chandrika Wijeyaratne

Speaking to the Sunday Observer about this campaign was its project chairperson Dr. Chandrika Wijeyaratne who is also on the Diabetes Task Force. She said, “With NIROGI LANKA, our aim is to target the lower socio-economic groups in the urban and suburban areas of Colombo who need to have access to proper medical advice on combatting diabetes.” The Ministry of Health of the Government of Sri Lanka has been working together with the Diabetes Task Force of the Sri Lanka Medical Association to make this campaign successful. The three major components of the campaign are to train ‘diabetic educators’ or nurses to be more like friends than medical advisors, develop the primary care of diabetes treatment at the grass root level and encourage communities and families to participate in recreational activities and sports to curb diabetes.

“We hope to have the support of the Colombo Municipal Council to take the campaign forward because with more than 30 dispensaries in Colombo catering to the lower levels of society, it is important to address their health needs” said Dr.Wijeyaratne. She said that the World Health Organisation and the World Diabetes Foundation have been instrumental in providing advice and support for the awareness campaign.

Speaking about the World Diabetes Day falling this weekend, Dr. Wijeyaratne said, “For this year’s Diabetes Exhibition and Walk, the SLMA will have a stall emphasising the importance of nutrition with cookery demonstrations and experts giving nutritional advice”. Further she commented, “We are working with a highly qualified and professional medical staff including paediatricians, physicians, endocrinologists and diabetologists to see that the NIROGI LANKA campaign continues to carry the message even after World Diabetes Day.” The message for the youth would be to seek a career in endocrinology or diabetology because there are only about 20 professionals in diabetes for the whole country. “We are in dire need of diabetic professionals as more people have the disease, so we hope to enlighten the youth to steer our campaigns forward by participating” said the doctor.

Dr. Chandrika Wijeyeratne concluded, “Sri Lanka has been internationally selected by the WHO as the country to spearhead the primary care aspect of treatment and our pilot project in diabetes prevention will be an example for other nations to follow.”

Diabetes Walk and Exhibition

Dr. Prasad Katulanda

The Chairman of the Organising Committee of the ‘Diabetes Walk and Exhibition’, Dr. Prasad Katulanda who is also on the Diabetes Task Force said, “We will commemorate World Diabetes Day (which falls on November 14) with a Diabetes Walk and Exhibition at Town Hall, Colombo today. We will have free screenings and stalls to help people better understand diabetes”. The walk will start from Town Hall at 7:00 am and the exhibition will be held thereafter. “We are aiming to get more than 3000 people to attend the World Diabetes Day celebrations and they will be enlightened on staying fit and healthy” said Dr.Katulanda. The ‘Tharunyata Hetak’ movement will also join in its efforts to create awareness particularly among the youth.

Dr. Katulanda, attached to the Colombo National Hospital said, “We thought diabetes was a Western disease but it has now become rampant in the East as well”. According to a survey done in 2006, Dr. Katulanda said that Sri Lanka has twice the number of diabetics than the UK and U.S.A.

“One third of the population don’t even know that they have diabetes and most of those affected are the Tamils and Muslims in the southern region of the country.” The Type 2 diabetes accounts for 95 percent of diabetic patients which means that the disease can be prevented easily.

The doctor stressed that our traditional eating habits should be maintained but what we intake should be at a limit. “We should eat according to our requirements which is proportionate to our BMI (Body Mass Index)” he said. Hence, he said that it was imperative to make sure that people adopt a healthy lifestyle to prevent diabetes and if they are diabetic, to learn to live with the disease without worry.

“The best advice is to check your blood for glucose every six months even if you are a healthy person” Dr. Katulanda advised.