Latest update April 24th, 2024 12:59 AM
May 05, 2017 News
Of the 18,630 persons diagnosed with diabetic retinopathy, a total of 4, 658 of them can become
blind. This was the informed disclosure of Consultant Ophthalmologist of the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation [GPHC], Dr. Shailendra Sugrim, who also heads the Ophthalmology Department.
Diabetic retinopathy is an eye disease which is seen as the most common cause of vision loss among people with diabetes and the leading cause of vision impairment and blindness among working adults. It essentially affects blood vessels in the light-sensitive tissue called the retina that lines the back of the eye.
The number of persons already diagnosed with diabetic retinopathy represents 6.25 per cent of the Guyana population.
But there is a chance to reverse the blindness trend that has become synonymous with the disease.
This is according to Coordinator of the Guyana Diabetes Care Project (GDCP), Dr. Brian Ostrow during a one-day seminar held at Project Dawn, Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown.
Dr. Ostrow pointed out that pregnant women, among other members of the Guyanese society, are screened at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) Eye Care Clinic.
For this year, 3,000 diabetics were screened for retinopathy and 300 cases were referred for laser treatment. But under the GDCP plan, local patients will benefit from laser treatment, a service which was previously only available at one private hospital. Following the unveiling of the plan at the seminar, a hike in awareness is expected. It will provide detailed materials on diabetic eye problems and complications among primary health-care workers and the general public.
A manual for diabetic retinopathy (DR) will also be developed and implemented and will be used by health care professionals to help them better understand and screen for the diabetes-influenced disease. Through the Diabetes in Pregnancy (DIP) component, guidelines for diabetes care in pregnancy have also been developed which highlights the importance and methods of screening, treatment and training of diabetes educators.
This service is expected to be tested and implemented through universal screening at the GPHC and its two associate health centres – Enmore Poly Clinic and Campbellville Health Centre – and health centres in Regions Three (Essequibo Islands/West Demerara) and Four in (Demerara/Mahaica) respectively.
Dr. Judy Hung, final year Resident in obstetrics and gynaecology in her presentation at the forum said that thus far, some 265 women have been for DIP and 68 are receiving treatment.
“Metformin replaced glyburide as oral treatment and patients are now doing self-monitoring of blood sugars,” Hung said
Other components of the GDCP initiative include the use of Metformin [a medication used in the diabetes fight] as a first line treatment; developing a way to detect patients with undiagnosed diabetes and supporting the Ministry of Public Health’s outreach activities.
Under the plan there will also be support for crafting specific modules of the Guyana Health Information System (GHIS) and the developing appropriate arrangements for project management.
Minister of Public Health, Volda Lawrence, acknowledged and expressed gratitude to “all those involved in the project, which, though fledgling in existence has impacted significantly on the diabetic front.”
The project was first introduced in June 2016.
On the issue of the DIP, Lawrence noted that there is mounting evidence that poor maternal health increases the risk of diabetes for both mother and children creating “a vicious cycle of susceptibility for this chronic disease for future generations.
“Once again, educating our mothers become crucial; if any significant impact is to be made with gestational diabetes, they must be schooled in eating healthy, in engaging in healthy activities, in approaching the clinic for screening to arrest the disease.”
The Minister said, “There is urgent need for extensive training of our health practitioners in all our communities to diagnose and manage diabetes in pregnancy and diabetic retinopathy (and) to be equipped with the tools for screening for risk for diabetic foot ulcers, so that in turn, this can be effectively communicated to all concerned.”
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