It may sound alarmist to say that diabetes has become a full-blown epidemic in Barbados, but it is true. And while this is also the case in many emerging nations, it is not something of which we can be proud. Â
While today is not a public holiday, and there is no national observation, it is still significant, in that it is World Diabetes Day, a time to spread awareness about this terrible disease, which is impacting people in every community across this island.
We have always had incidents of diabetes and until a few years ago many sufferers and their relatives were often very guarded about revealing their plight. Like with many other illnesses, the society once scorned those afflicted with the disease. That kind of ignorance has fortunately been largely pushed aside. What has not changed for the better has been our lifestyle.
The economic transformation Barbados has enjoyed over the past 40 years has resulted in a shift in disease patterns. Eating habits have taken a turn for the worse, with a rising number of Barbadians hooked on the wrong types of foods – those high in saturated fats, salt, sugars and calories. In a society where the majority of people are already predisposed to diabetes this has been a recipe for disaster.
The results have been horrendous in many different ways. Diabetes and its complications have impacted on the national health budget and health-care facilities are burdened by patients experiencing the disease’s worst fallout: limb amputations, kidney failure, blindness and death.
There is need for a continuous public education effort at the national and community levels, involving the workplace, schools and churches to fight this disease.
The work of those various associations and groups in Barbados building awareness of the dangers of diabetes must be lauded but this would be accentuated if Government were to give its support to help reduce the prevalence of type 2 diabetes in much the same way it has helped in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Diabetes does not have the same stigmatisation as HIV/AIDS but it certainly impacts on national productivity.
Even though diabetes is not benign and given the available resources in this country, the disease can be managed.
A major part of the solution is to change to a healthy lifestyle supported by physical activity. Admittedly, the care of diabetes is not going to be a quick fix.
