Targeted nutrition and treatment helped reduce diabetes cases by half – Health Minister

As Guyana strives to reduce the number of persons battling diabetes, Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony on Wednesday disclosed that 30,000 persons currently receive treatment.

This is far less than the 60,000 persons recorded in 2021, when the ministry adopted a new strategy to curb the disease through self-monitoring.

The strategy, essentially, involves people regularly monitoring their own blood glucose (sugar) levels. It also highlights the significance of early intervention and prevention.  Diabetes is a chronic disease that occurs either when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces. Insulin is a hormone that regulates blood glucose.

Dr. Anthony shared these insights as he launched a recipe book, focused on improving the way Guyanese prepare meals and guiding more health-conscious options. He emphasised the importance of adopting healthy lifestyles as it has proven effective.

“We have maybe 30,000 persons in Guyana that are coming to institutions for diabetes, and one thing is to treat them but if they don’t have control, they will have complications.

“We’ve seen over the last few years persons with diabetes would progress with these complications. Some of those complications would include kidney disease, problems with your eyes, some persons would have ulcers on their legs,” the Health Minister said.

Guyana continues to record high rates of persons living with chronic non-communicable diseases. It is believed that the diet of persons attribute to this.

“When we see patients in our diabetic clinics, one of the challenges that we have is to talk to them about nutrition and if they don’t change their diet then we will have a harder time managing their blood sugar. Diet is extremely important,” the minister said.