Nevis Junior Minister delivers address to mark World Diabetes Day
ZIZ News (Chaïra Flanders) — Diabetes and its complications represent the majority of mortality and morbidity rates in the Federation. Although Type 1 diabetes cannot be prevented, Type 2 diabetes can be controlled but still accounts for about 90 percent of the cases of diabetes in St. Kitts and Nevis.
Junior Minister of Health in the Nevis Island Administration (NIA), Hon. Hazel Brandy-Williams advised that although there is a downward trend of registered Type 2 diabetics in Nevis, there is still much to be done to improve the health of our people.
She was at the time delivering an address to mark World Diabetes Day 2019 which is celebrated annually on November 14.
She said, “Annual reports reveal that in Nevis, there were 455 registered diabetics accessing care at our community health centres for 2018. Eighty-seven percent of this number were Type 2 diabetics. There was a slight decrease in the total compared to 2017, when there were 473 registered diabetics. Even though there is a general downward trend in the totals over the past six years, there is still much more work to do in the area of behaviour and lifestyle change, to reduce the incidences of Type 2 diabetes.”
Minister Brandy-Williams encouraged all to take advantage of free health services, adopt and maintain healthy lifestyles in order to fight non-communicable diseases like diabetes.
“I implore you to take advantage of the free services the Ministry of Health offers for prevention and control of diabetes. I also implore you and your families to develop healthy lifestyles to reduce the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. These include engaging in at least 30 minutes of exercise every day, maintaining a healthy body weight, eating fruits and vegetables, and avoiding sugar-sweetened beverages.”, she explained.
World Diabetes Day 2019 is being observed under the theme, “Family and Diabetes”.