Text of report by Caribbean Media Corporation news agency website
CASTRIES, St Lucia, CMC-The St Lucia Diabetic and Hypertensive Association Thursday cautioned against public panic after a medical study revealed that the island has the highest per capita ratio of diabetes in the world.
The results of the study conducted by a Canadian expert were announced Wednesday, and the Association said what was needed now was public and political commitment to address the problem.
Association President George Eugene said he was “not the least bit surprised” about the findings of the study conducted by urologist Dr Michael Graven, who screened more than 31,000 St Lucians during his study.
“The state of diabetes in St Lucia is tantamount to a public health disaster, much like a hurricane with catastrophic rates,” Dr Graven said as he presented the findings.
Eugene said the writing had been on the wall for years now but limited resources restricted the amount of work the organization was able to do to address the situation.
“The statistics show that more young people are being affected by the disease, and as a result the need for lifestyle management has never been more important.
“If we don’t care about out health as much as we should, we take care of our vehicle, we take it for service and do what we are is required of us, but when it comes to our bodies and our health, we are laissez-faire where that is concerned,” he said.
Eugene said the frightening reality was the economic impact this would have on the country, adding “what we will need is a strong political will and public commitment to reverse the trend and not panic.
“We need to look at the things we import in the country and what we feed ourselves with. We have to become more health conscious, we are an agricultural nation yet we hardly consume what we can grow,” he said.
Health Minister Stephenson King Thursday described the statistics as startling, and said that government would move swiftly to make a number of interventions such as formulating policies and developing programmes to change people’s lifestyles.
“In a sense this information has been timely as the ministry is at a critical juncture where we are seeking to refocus to health programmes. This will encourage renewed approaches and develop ideas that will help us fulfil the provision of total heath to our people,” he said.
The study found that based on the current trend, the rate of new cases of diabetes would double every four years and hypertension every five years, with the complications of heart attacks, strokes, renal failure, blindness and amputations burdening the health system.
It indicated that 8.1 per cent of the population was diabetic, painting a bleak picture for the future.
(c) 2007 BBC Monitoring Americas. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.
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