Health Minister Dr Leslie Ramsammy says diabetic healthcare has been costly which is why the ministry counts on support from the private sector to sustain a comprehensive programme for diabetic children in the country.
This country has some 37,000 registered diabetics on file and of that number, 57 children are in the system as having been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. The reported numbers likely do not reflect the real situation, Ramsammy has said.
He said the health sector expends close to $500m annually for diabetic medicine and other support, noting that it is likely to increase as the programme expands. “This is a huge number for Guyana”, he said yesterday during a press briefing hosted by the Chronic Diseases Department of the ministry to discuss the sponsor-a-child programme which the ministry initiated with several private sector companies.
The minister reported yesterday that all 57 children on file have been sponsored by a company, but that the briefing was held to raise awareness and also emphasise that supporting a child means going beyond a donation. He said that many of the private sector companies on board have already demonstrated this by constantly reaching out to the children they sponsored.
Type 1 diabetes occurs when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin to properly control blood sugar levels. It is most often diagnosed in children, adolescents, or young adults, but can occur at any age. Ramsammy noted that the annual cost for the treatment of Type 1 diabetes can easily set a family back close to $90,000 for medicine and a few commodities alone every year.
For the partnership, which started back in 2008, the company which agrees to sponsor a child is expected to provide glucometers and medicine, and in some cases the sticks which are used for testing. Ramsammy noted that a glucometer costs around $15,500 and the cost of the sticks amounts to some $67,500 in total a year.
He said that many families are unable to afford the medicine and other commodities which are necessary to maintain a normal life for the child. Ramsammy said no child diagnosed with diabetes should be deprived of a productive life, adding that the comprehensive level of care which is needed is beyond some families. He noted that government/private sector partnership is there to offer children the kind of care they need. “We expect that the child which is sponsored would be provided with support in general”, he added.
Ramsammy said too that the country has been developing a robust programme in terms of diabetes prevention and control. He said every person who is diagnosed needs to get in touch with the ministry and get on the register because it allows them to deal directly with families. In addition, he said the register allows them to monitor diabetes-related complications such as renal failure and eye problems among other things in patients. He mentioned also the diabetic foot programme saying it has developed into one of the more successful initiatives within the health sector and is now being rolled out across the country at hospitals and health centres.
The national diabetic foot programme has been credited with a 42% reduction in diabetes-related amputations at the Georgetown public hospital. There is a growing diabetic population and many are in need of foot care; the foot programme will be targeting some 15,000 patients as it enters its second phase this year.