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| Dr. Kaponda |
Malawi says it is prepared to fight diabetes which at present affects nearly 6% of the country's population.
Dr. Kaponda Masiye Programme Manager for Non-Communicable Diseases and Mental Health in the Ministry of Health said diabetes remains a big issue and therefore the Ministry has put in place number of measures including trainings for health personnel's on management and prevention of diabetes.
"When it comes to Malawi, diabetes is a big issue. There was a study that was done in 2009 which showed that around 5.6% Malawians are diabetic. So, if you look at this figure in a country where we have a population of about 17 million, it is a big figure.” he said
"Government has a fully fledged working non-communicable disease and mental health unit. This unit is well prepared, because what we have done right now is that we have a project that is funded by World Diabetes Foundation where we are training health workers on how to diagnose, how to manage, prevent and control diabetes.” He explained
He mentioned that trainings have been conducted in the Northern Region of the country and they are now beginning trainings in the Central Region. He estimated that 1000 health workers will get training by the end of the project where they will be able to manage the diseases once they come into health facilities.
“As a country, as Government of Malawi we are ready in detecting and managing and even preventing diabetes.”
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| Journalists also were trained on diabetes |
On Tuesday, Malawi Government in collaboration with World Health Organization also conducted workshop for Journalists on issues around diabetes to enable them give correct awareness messages as the World on 7th April, commemorates World Health Day with the theme: Beat Diabetes.
