“We don’t have to wait” – Anthony urges early diabetes intervention

With diabetes remaining a major public health concern across the country, Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony is urging healthcare workers to take a more proactive approach by identifying and managing at-risk patients early to prevent the onset of the disease and improve health outcomes.

“When we don’t manage people’s sugar… we take a toe, then next we take another piece of the foot, and eventually they lose their limb, but all of that can be prevented if we manage their diabetes better,” Dr Anthony emphasised on Tuesday as he addressed graduands of the Medex Training Programme.

“We have guidelines that relate to diabetes…we don’t have to wait until people get diabetes to start managing them. Most of the places we’ve started using HbA1c, so you have to know when people are pre-diabetic, you have to start there so we delay the onset of diabetes, and if and when they get diabetes, you have other meds that you will use. These things can make a tremendous difference to the lives of people,” he explained.