By Prince J Musa in Kenema
As part of measures to identify one of the non-communicable diseases in the communities, the District Health Management Team (DHMT) in Kenema has embarked on free diabetes screening in the city. Some medical doctors based in the USA are supporting the exercise.
In an interview with Politico, the district medical officer Kenema Dr. Donald Samuel Grant said the (DHMT) decided to undertake the free testing for people to know their diabetes status. He added that as primary health specialists they have realized an increase in non- communicable diseases especially diabetes, hepatitis, stroke and hypertension and are mostly undetected.
Dr. Grant said diabetes contributes to other illness such as stroke, hypertension among others, saying it’s against this backdrop that they have thought it wise to conduct free diabetes test for people which will also help them have a data base.
He said the initiative of testing came through his medical friend, a Sierra Leonean based in USA who provided the glucometer and two thousand kits for diabetes testing and they in Kenema decided to set up a team to carry out the exercise without demanding money from the public.
’’Not everybody will afford to pay for the testing and since the materials are provided free of cost I don’t want anybody to take money from our people,’’ he said.
Dr. Grant further disclosed that upon testing people those that are at risk will be given advice on their diet as they are doing the screening alongside nutritionists who recommend the type of diet those identified with the disease will be allowed to eat.
He said the test targets everybody from 45 years upwards and urged people to come for testing assuring of a first come first served arrangement.
Dr. Grant said data collected from the exercise will be shared with the partners and the government.
He encouraged pregnant women especially to come for the testing as the disease could create complications for such women.
He noted that plans are under way for massive outreach programmes in the community since the test kits are not enough and said they intend to go to other chiefdoms to screen people to known about their sugar status.
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