Diabetes support center inaugurated

A $50,000 diabetes support center to increase diabetes awareness diagnosis, free monthly and quarterly screening for diabetic patients has been inaugurated at the Nkwakwa Holy Family Hospital.

The center comprises a 70 capacity patients’ waiting room, a consulting and educational rooms for group or individual, medical officers, nurses and paramedical staffs.

It is a collaborative effort between the National Catholic Health Service, the Holy Family Hospital, NDAG Palb Pharmaceutical in partnership with Novo Nordisk Palb and a Dutch medical organization.

Inaugurating the center Mr Kasper Beje, Project Manager of Base of Pyramid (BOP) of Novo Nordisk, said 440,000 people are living with diabetes which is increasing annually and 75 percent of the affected population are not aware of having the disease.

He said diabetes had become a pandemic disease which has affected 380 million people in the world and 4.9 million people in the world have died from the disease this year.

Mr Beje said if diabetes was not treated properly, it could lead to severe complication such as foot ulcers, poor eye sight which will eventually lead to blindness and impotency.

Mr Kwaku Yeboah, a representative of Palb Pharmaceutical Limited, said the company had been involved in training of diabetic nurses to create a social capital of knowledge among the communities to deliver readily accessible knowledge about the disease

A representative of the Catholic Health Secretariat, Mr Ofosu Agyare, said the Holy Family Hospital recorded 3,970 diabetic patients last year which was the highest among all the Catholic Health facilities in the country.

In his inaugural address, the Bishop of the Koforidua Diocese of the Catholic Church, Most Rev Joseph Afrifa Agyekum, said the disease is acquired through unhealthy lifestyle including lack of exercise and poor nutrition and advised the people to lead a healthy lifestyle.

He said the hospital was the first to benefit from the facility in the Catholic Health Service and advised the people to visit the center for free diabetic screening.