The treatment of diabetes continues to place a significant burden on the health care system.
This was revealed by Acting Senior Medical Officer of Health (chronic non-communicable diseases), Dr Leslie Rollock as she addressed the prize-giving ceremony of the Diabetic Poster and Poetry Competition hosted by the Maurice Byer Polyclinic yesterday.
“Estimates from the Barbados Drug Service indicate that for the year 2008, approximately BDS$30 million was spent in the procurement of drugs for the treatment of chronic diseases. Of this sum, BDS$5 million was directly attributed to the acquisition of medicines that were solely for the treatment of diabetes,” Rollock explained.
As Barbados prepares to celebrate World Diabetes Day tomorrow, Rollock said the collaboration has the potential to assist schools in Barbados to provide a critical component of the environmental support that will allow children to grow and develop into healthy and productive citizens.
This year’s World Diabetes Federation’s theme for World Diabetes Day is Diabetes Education And Prevention and Rollock noted that Barbados, like other countries, is now challenged to deploy strategies to ensure that we can fully embrace prevention as an essential component of our healthcare reform agenda.
Rollock stated that the Ministry of Health was working closely with the Ministry of Education to facilitate the full implementation of the Guidelines for Healthy and Nutritious Foods in Schools, developed by the National Nutrition Centre.
She explained that the competition was an innovative approach to diabetes education, which reinforces the well known adage that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. She added that the contest had the potential to establish a real and lasting impression on the lives of the young people involved. (LK)