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Mrs Shirley Wilkes Health Educator in the Ministry of Health on Nevis. | CHARLESTOWN NEVIS (March 7, 2006) -- Nevis will soon have a body to represent the interest of persons afflicted with diabetes and related illness, when the Ministry of Health launches the non profit Nevis Diabetes Association on Thursday March 16, 2006, at the Red Cross Building in Charlestown.
Mrs Shirley Wilkes Health Educator in the Nevis Island Administration, made the disclosure during an interview with the Government Information Service on Monday March 6, 2006. She said apart from being a health issue, the Ministry also wanted diabetes to be viewed at as an economic and a social problem. At present there are 483 known cases of persons with the disease on Nevis.
"So everything that has to do with diabetes on the island would not be soley done by the Ministry of Health, that's where the Association comes in because we are going to have medical persons and social workers and they too would lend their part when it comes to the management prevention of diabetes," she said.
She said once the association was launched, the Nevis Diabetic Association would form part of a larger association in the Caribbean but both Nevis and St. Kitts would have individual associations and would sometime in the future come together.
According to Mrs Wilkes, the Ministry had moved to form the association in light of the fact that diabetes has taken on epidemic proportions in the Caribbean and Nevis was no exception.
"Diabetics feel if they band themselves together they would be able to help in terms of managing their diabetes as well as doing educational programmes to prevent diabetes. They would also look at things like policies, so that we could come together as one voice and propose certain things like foodstuff, the cost of foodstuff, the cost of medication and access to healthcare that we could all do as an association" she said adding that diabetes as well as high blood pressure usually went together, and as such membership in the association was not limited to diabetics only but also to hypertensive persons.
Ms Wilkes explained that the draft constitution which would be adopted and revised when the Association is launched, would address a range of issues including prevention, management, control of diabetes and its related conditions as well as care and support of persons with this condition. It would also speak of research and of policies that would be used in areas like support and protection of the cost of healthy foods for the use of diabetics.
At present the Ministry of Health provides educational support, medication for diabetics and hypertensive patients. Diabetics over 65, however, receive free medication at the Health Centres and when they go for related tests and blood works at the Alexandra hospital they are also exempted from any fees. Ms Wilkes said apart from education, the Health Centres undertake a lot of community testing in terms of blood pressure and blood sugar free of cost.
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