President Irfaan Ali made a startling revelation on Wednesday when he said the coronavirus (COVID-19) has expose the high number of young adults living with diabetes in Guyana.
With COVID-19 deaths in Guyana at 98, the President revealed that the frightening phenomenon was detected as more persons get tested and screened for other underlying health issues. Additionally, the Health Ministry itself reported that many of the dead had severe medical issues.
To quote the President:“What has been reported to me is frightening in relation to the ratio of our population that has diabetes.”
Worldwide, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) – diabetes, heart disease, cancer and chronic respiratory diseases – are responsible for the deaths of about 36 million people annually.
Only in September, on Caribbean Wellness Day 2020, themed: “Power Through Collective Action — Stronger Together 2020” – Guyana, in joining the observation, made the stark reminder that both the health authorities and citizens must continue to take very seriously the issue of non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony confirmed, also, that NCDs are responsible for most of the deaths occurring in Guyana, and they are linked to sedentary lifestyles. They are driven primarily by four major risk factors: tobacco use, physical inactivity, harmful use of alcohol, and unhealthy diets.
NCDs pose devastating health consequences for individuals, families, and communities, and they continue to severely impact the health, economy and development of Guyana and the rest of the Caribbean as a whole. The Government recently pointed out that critical areas in the nation’s healthcare delivery were ignored by the previous administration, and this is why renewed efforts have to be made to bring all levels of the health sector up to par, including putting effective and efficient systems in place to tackle NCDs.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), people with underlying health conditions, such as NCDs including cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and cancer, have a higher risk of contracting a severe form of the COVID-19 disease, and are more likely to die from COVID-19. Risk factors for NCDs can make people more vulnerable to becoming severely ill with COVID-19. For example, smokers may have reduced lung capacity, which would greatly increase risk of serious illness.
PAHO/WHO has suggested that informing populations about these health risks posed by COVID-19 is critical. In addition, health services need to be adapted to maintain essential NCD services to ensure continuity of care during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Leading health expert Dr Alafia Samuels disclosed that, based on a study, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago were found to have the highest mortality rates for premature cardiovascular disease and diabetes in the Americas.
Former Minister of Health, Dr Leslie Ramsammy, was quoted in this newspaper as saying that some of the crucial programmes that were previously in place to tackle NCDs appear to have been reduced or totally abandoned during the tenure of the previous administration. Dr Ramsammy, in particular, had pointed to the aggressive education and awareness campaigns that were very much visible some years ago. Also, community health fairs and school programmes, and other initiatives which were used to address issues such as positive lifestyles, had become less visible.
These are all useful strategies in ensuring the message of healthy lifestyles continues to reach everyone in every community across the country, and it is hoped that the new Minister of Health would engage in a serious review of what currently obtains at the Ministry. From all indications, some of these measures are being taken, but they are being done in a limited fashion.
We believe that discussions surrounding NCDs should constantly be kept on the national development agenda, where serious efforts are made at all levels to reduce the large numbers of persons suffering or facing death. That said, while the various stakeholders are involved in the battle to confront the COVID-19 pandemic, we support the announcement by President Ali that: when the pandemic is under control, a national study on diabetes must be done to determine how Government can intervene to help the populace live healthier lives.
