By MELISSA DASSRATH Sunday, November 15 2009

click on pic to zoom in

People wait to have their blood sugar level tested on the Brian Lara Promenade. Free glucose testing was being offered in commemoration of World Diabe...

The President’s wife Dr Jean Ramjohn-Richards, yesterday officially launched World Diabetes Day 2009 at the Diabetes Association of Trinidad and Tobago annual walkathon which ended at the Brian Lara Promenade.

As the patron of the association, Richards commemorated the event by encouraging people to adopt healthier patterns of living. “I see this occasion as a clarion call for changes in lifestyle that can engender a turn around in the health of the nation’s people, particularly with regards to diabetes.”

She said that diabetes poses a threat to the quality of life. “The General Assembly of the United Nations recognised that diabetes is a chronic, debilitating and costly disease associated with severe complications which poses severe risks for families, member states and the entire world,” she said.

Association president Carlton Phillip indicated that the organisation was formed in 1988 and was incorporated by an act of Parliament in 1989. According to Phillip, World Diabetes Day is a worldwide event which takes place every year on November 14.

Minister of Social Development, Dr Amery Brown, noted that the Government is taking steps via the Ministry of Health to help people prevent and manage diabetes. “Diabetes is included under the spectrum of chronic disorders in the CDAP programme, so many of you will benefit from this programme. The Ministry of Social Development also offers assistance in the amount of $325 million every single year.”

Brown explained that in Trinidad Type II diabetes is the third leading cause of death in men and the second leading cause of death in women. He warned that there are gloomy predictions about the rise of diabetes: “An estimated 19 million persons live with diabetes in the Caribbean and Latin America and this is projected to rise to 40 million by the year 2025. So there is already a serious epidemic of diabetes and it is predicted those numbers will increase.”

He said that his own family was not untouched by diabetes. His mother was recently diagnosed with diabetes and his grandmother died from complications resulting from disease. Brown urged the public to take responsibility for their health.

In over 193 countries, similar events were being stage to increase awareness and promote a healthy lifestyle.