Diabetic retinopathy (DR) may be the leading cause of visual impairment and blindness worldwide with approximately 93 million people living with the condition, according to the first global estimate.

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Dear All,

I am pleased to inform that Government has approved a subvention which will meet the cost of rent and utilities for office space for both
the Dominica Cancer Society and
the Dominica Diabetes Association. 
Both organizations will be sharing the same building. More information soon.

Thanks for the support as we work to reduce the incidence of the NCD’s.
Marvlyn

HEALTHY CARIBBEAN COALITION

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The Healthy Caribbean Coalition (HCC), a civil society network established to combat chronic diseases, has launched a pan Caribbean text based campaign in support of the upcoming United Nations Summit on chronic diseases.

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Dominica News Online DNO reports today again about workshops focused on the management of diabetic foot in Dominica.
The Dominica Diabetes Association DOMDA is very much aware of the fact that diabetic foot problems are a significant clinical and public health issue in Dominica and the rest of the Caribbean. Please see also other articles on this website about the SbS Foot Care Programme.

To read the full article of DNO of June 10, 2011 PLEASE CLICK HERE

MoH tackles increasing rates of amputations, hospitalisation due to diabetes and high blood pressure

In response to increasing rates of amputations and hospitalizations related to chronic, non-communicable diseases, such as diabetes and high blood pressure, the Ministry of Health held a workshop today, the first in a series aimed at arresting the problem.

National Coordinator for Health Promotion, Helen Royer, said that today’s workshop was intended to give care-giving organizations, manicurist and pedicurists knowledge of how to properly deal with persons who may have diabetic foot problems.

She said, “We are expecting that from this workshop, from the information that has been given, these persons will be able to return to their agencies or their communities and be able to translate the information and put it into practical use.”

She continued, “We know that the complications of diabetes can be very detrimental, not just to the individual, but to their families and it has economic implications for the government, related to hospitalizations and medication.”

The text of this article was copied from Dominica News Online DNO – June 6th 2011. For the original see THIS LINK

Dominica’s Health Minister and Caribbean Nutrition Day

Fellow Dominicans, Caribbean Nutrition day is observed every year on June 1, as part of the programme of the Caribbean Food and Nutrition Institute.

Please read the following article from Dominica News Online DNO: CLICK HERE

It is estimated that approximately 57 million people have prediabetes. To me, one million sounds like a lot, I can’t even begin to fathom a number as big as 57 million. This enormously, huge number is twice the number of people that already have diabetes, estimated to be 26 million.

A little over one-quarter of these people, approximately seven million don’t even know that they already have the disease. In fact, it is estimated that one out of every two people that are newly diagnosed with diabetes already have at least one diabetes related complication at the time of their diagnosis. These complications do not occur overnight, which means the diabetes did not just recently develop.

The real tragedy, is that in most diabetes complications are not reversible. Can you imagine, “Well your lab results came back and it looks like you have type 2 diabetes. And that numbness and sporadic burning you have been experiencing in your feet is what we call neuropathy. It is caused from having diabetes. You are going to have it from now on because it doesn’t go away once you get it?” Think of the frustration; imagine the anger.

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A review of the 2009 mortality data in Dominica has revealed that diabetes and hypertension are among the top ten leading causes of death in Dominica.

This was confirmed by National Epidemiologist, Dr. Paul Ricketts.

Dr. Ricketts was at the time delivering a presentation at the launch of a national hypertension and diabetes management manual launched by the Ministry of Health last week.

Read the full article of Dominica News Online by CLICKING HERE

UN Summit on NCDs

On 13 May 2010, the General Assembly of the United Nations unanimously passed a Resolution (64/265) to hold a High-Level Summit on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) in September 2011. The Resolution is the result of a campaign led by the NCD alliance, comprised of the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union), the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), and the World Heart Federation (WHF).

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