GStedman
Nov 7, World Diabetes Day Event in Roseau
PUBLIC LECTURE, FORT YOUNG HOTEL
MONDAY 7TH NOVEMBER, 2011, AT 7PM
In observance of World Diabetes Day 2011 the Dominica Diabetes Association presents a public lecture at the Fort Young Hotel on Monday 7th November at 7pm.
Topic of the lecture is “Self Management of Diabetes, a difficult balance“.
Presenter will be Mrs Edris Le Blanc-Sahlu, a Care Coordinator, Heart Failure and Diabetes Educator at the Atlanta Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Georgia, USA. She is a certified Instructor in the fields of Basic Life Support, and Advanced Cardiac Life Support.
Goodbye Dominica from Dr. Vilam Urbancic
—– Forwarded Message —–
From: Vilma Urbancic
To: marvlyn
Sent: Tuesday, 1 November 2011, 17:59
Subject: Good-bye, Dominica, see you next year
Dear Marvlyn
I hope you have enjoyed some rest after all the work you have done for the Step by Step. I arrived home safely – it was a long trip and I had plenty of time to »organize« my thoughts.
I am speaking also on behalf of Simone, Neil and John: we are delighted with what you yourself and all the other people from the island have done. We were impressed by the attitude of the Ministry of health and by the strong determination of the minister to implement this project. It was a real pleasure to work with the participants who were really motivated, with the members of the Diabetes association and with your patients who agreed to participate in the practical sessions. We loved the friendly, cozy atmosphere of the evergreen hotel and the rainbow on the morning sky after heavy rain, we were touched by the warm welcome and the hospitality of the Rotarians, and last – but far from least, hiking to and seeing the biggest boiling lake in the world – the Boiling lake of Dominica – was for Neil and me something we shall remember for the rest of our life.
We would like to thank you all and we hope to see you again next year for the advanced course.
Warm regards
Vilma
Vilma Urbančič, MD, PhD, Assoc prof of medicine
University Medical Centre
Dept of Endocrinology
Zaloška 7
SI-1000 Ljubljana
Slovenia
Opening Ceremony of the Step-by-Step Diabetic Foot Care Training Program
With pleasure we give you an impression of the opening ceremony of this very important training program on Monday Oct 25, 2011 in the Public Service Center in Roseau.
CLICK HERE to see the album on our Facebook page or go to www.facebook.com/dominicadiabetes
Health officials tackle Diabetic Foot
The Ministry of Health is pleased to partner with the Rotary Club of Dominica and the Dominica Diabetes Association in what is the first of a two year Training Programme under the theme “ Maintaining Healthy Feet Step by Step”.
Please click on the link to read a press article published in Dominica News Online on Oct 21, 2011:
CLICK HERE
Step-by-Step Diabetic Footcare Training Program
MAINTAINING HEALTHY FEED STEP-BY-STEP
On Monday October 24, 2011 pairs of medical doctors and nurses will attend the first day of the Step-by-Step Diabetic Footcare Training.
This unique programme, with proven results in the Caribbean, is made possible by the financial support of various Rotary Clubs from the U.K., the USA and Dominica plus the Ministry of Health and the Diabetes Association.
The training in October is the first basic part of the program. Next year the participants will receive the advanced training.The programme will be facilitated by a team of international, regional and local professionals and is led by Dr. Vilma Urbančič, a diabetologist with extensive experience in delivering similar training and who is also an Associate Professor of medicine and head of the Diabetes Unit at the Department of Endocrinology, University Medical Centre Ljubljana in Slovenia.
Objective of the programme is to reduce the number of amputations by better foot care for diabetic patients.
On Monday October 24 a short opening ceremony will be held and persons related to and interested in diabetes in Dominica are kindly invited to the ceremony.
PLEASE CLICK ON THE PICTURE TO THE RIGHT TO DOWNLOAD THE PDF FILE containing the program of the ceremony and more details of the Step-by-Step program.
Feedback from the UN High-Level Meeting on NCDs
Dr. Tomo Kanda, Advisor on Chronic Diseases & Mental Health for the Pan American Health Organization PAHO, Office of Eastern Caribbean Countries has participated in the United Nations high-level meeting on Non-Communicalbe Diseases. Please click the read more button to read his report and to access the NCD Political Declarations UN 2011 and the report on the side events of this very important event. Continue reading
United Nations high-level meeting on noncommunicable disease prevention and control
Noncommunicable diseases – or NCDs – like heart attacks and strokes, cancers, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases account for over 63% of deaths in the world today. Every year, NCDs kill 9 million people under 60. The socio-economic impact is staggering. Global leaders will meet at the United Nations in New York from 19-20 September 2011 to set a new international agenda on NCDs.
World Diabetes Congress – August Newsletter
Get well informed about the World Diabetes Congress in Dubai from December 4 till December 8, 2011.
Organized by the International Diabetes Federation IDF.
Click on the picture below to open the full August 2011 Newsletter.
Great News from Rotary for DOMDA
The president of the Dominica Diabetes Association, Ms. Marvlyn Birmingham, has announced a major step forward in improving diabetes foot care in Dominica.
Marvlyn Birningham, who is not only president of DOMDA but also the president for 2011-12 of the Rotary Club of Dominica has confirmed that the Rotary Foundation has agreed a “matching grant” for the Step by Step Foot Care Project. This is a mutual fund raising project between the Hereford Wye Valley Rotary Club in the UK and the Rotary Club of Dominica. Also the Rotary Clubs of Marches (UK) and Kent (Ohio, US) will donate funds for this matching grant project. In simple terms this means that the Rotary International Organization doubles every dollar that Rotary clubs raise for this project.
Ms. Birmingham says that there will be much to do over the next three years but the Step by Step = SbS Programme has already proven its value on other Caribbean islands where the levels of amputations have gone down by as much as 50%.
The lead faculty member of this program Prof. Dr. Vilma Urbancic-Rovan together with Rotarian John Greedy will pay a visit to Dominica from August 11 to 14 to do a site visit and to initiate the SbS Programme.
Dr. Urbančič-Rovan and Mr. Greedy are expected to meet with Ministry of Health Officials and medical and nursing personnel, officials of Ross University and other stakeholders, to assess the Dominican situation and develop a training programme best suited to identified needs.
What makes SbS so special? It is a program that helps doctors, nurses and other health workers recognize and treat diabetes foot problems from the early stages and it is a continuous training over the course of three years.
The fund raising efforts of the joined Rotary Clubs together with the additional money from the Rotary Foundation will be used to fund the purchase of equipment, training materials and patient education aids, for use by the course participants and the equipment and materials will remain in Dominica. 
Diabetes Prevention and Control
Here is a short video from the Healthy Caribbean Coalition on prevention an control of diabetes.
CLICK HERE TO START IT.
On the HCC page on YouTube you will see more videos on NCD’s. Enjoy.