$50M Diabetes Centre opens at Lusignan

Apr 02, 2023 News

Kaieteur News – The country’s first Comprehensive Diabetes Centre was on Saturday opened at Lusignan, East Coast Demerara (ECD).

The G$50 million centre located in the compound of the Lusignan Health Centre is set to offer holistic care to diabetic patients from Lusignan and other central locations along the East Coast of Demerara.

Minister of Health, Dr Frank Anthony said that the initiative is geared towards reducing the instances of fatalities, caused by diabetes. He disclosed that the prevalence of diabetes in Guyana is “relatively” high with some 50,000 people living with the disease.

And such, Dr Anthony said there is need for a primary health care system so that persons can be diagnosed in a “better” way and they can get into the habit of having preventative checkups.

“If people start doing preventative checkups, then we would be able to identify things very early and we would be able to prevent or delay the onset of a lot of chronic diseases,” he said.

Minister of Health, Dr Frank Anthony flanked by other Ministry officials at the unveiling of the plaque to mark the opening of the Lusignan Comprehensive Diabetes Health Centre. (DPI photo)

The Health Minister explained that, “This centre will provide a holistic approach to the care of diabetic patients and stymie the development of irreversible complications…”

“We want to demonstrate over another year or so… We’ll do an evaluation to see if this has been effective, if this is reducing the complications of diabetes… if this is delaying in some cases. We want to assess all of that and if we see what we envisage that this is working, and then this model will be replicated in other parts of our country,” Dr Anthony said.

The centre will offer a host of services including foot care management, eye care screening, laboratory testing, heart care management, endocrinology, kidney care, radiology services, dietary and mental counselling and physiotherapy and rehabilitation services, as part of the ministry’s effort to decrease the number of fatalities linked to non-communicable diseases.

Chairman of the Presidential Commission of the Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs), Dr Leslie Ramsammy commended the initiative.

He said, “We believe that from this centre, actions will be taken to improve the services that we provide for diabetes care around the country,” he asserted.

Meanwhile, PAHO Representative, Luis Codina expressed, “PAHO is confident that the services provided at the centre will ensure better management and patients affected by diabetes and its complications.”

Family Medicine Specialist, Dr Indira Bhoj noted the opening of the centre represents a “shift” in the way primary health care is delivered.

“Diabetes care revolves around goal setting and achieving targets. This requires a shift in perspective by patients but mostly importantly by practitioners,” she said.

Dr. Bhoj disclosed that the centre will also support laboratory testing for all health facilities along the east coast corridor and at the same time and become a training hub for medical personnel in diabetes management.

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Dr. Frank Anthony, Luis Codina, Lusignan Health Centre, Minister of Health, PAHO Representative

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