Prevention, early detection keys to control diabetes

Over 40,000 Maltese have diabetes and with this in mind the Maltese Diabetes Association is offering four days of free blood glucose monitoring, starting today, as part of its activities to mark World Diabetes Day.

World Diabetes Day, being celebrated on Saturday, is this year focusing on diabetes and obesity and the association has embarked on a mission to make the public aware of the high incidence of diabetes in Malta.

The association's main objective is to urge the public to stop and think about this possibility while encouraging them to take action.

It endeavours to promote awareness on the condition since it feels that prevention and early detection are the key to control the condition and lead a normal life. It is urging the public to take up this opportunity and make the first step to check their blood sugar levels.

Diabetes is an increasing global health threat. Last year the International Diabetes Federation estimated that there were 194 million people with diabetes around the world.

By 2025 the figure is predicted to rise to 333 million, amounting to 6.3 per cent of the world's population living with diabetes. This condition is now the fourth leading cause of death in most developed countries.

To exacerbate the matter there is an alarming rise in overweight people and obesity and this is likely to drive the prevalence of diabetes even higher than current estimates suggest. Obesity is the main modifiable risk factor for 90 per cent of all cases of diabetes.

Levels of overweight are also increasing dramatically among children, resulting in more and more childhood cases of Type 2 diabetes, a condition that until recently affected only adults.

The younger age of onset increases the risk of serious complications, such as heart disease and blindness. The result is an increased burden on health budgets and society as a whole.

So if you think you are at risk test now. The free blood glucose monitoring exercise is being held in four localities: at the Plaza Shopping Centre, Sliema, today; at the Savoy Shopping Arcades, Valletta, tomorrow; at Bay Street complex, St Julian's, on Saturday and in Gozo on November 20.

The opening hours are 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. with the exception of the activities at Bay Street complex which are between 2.30 and 7 p.m.

The exercise is being organised by the association in collaboration with four of the leading pharmaceutical companies, Alf. Gera & Sons Limited, A.T.G Limited, Vivian Commercial Limited and E.J. Busuttil Limited.