Diabetes:

Free screening soon

Nadira GUNATILLEKE

The Healthcare and Nutrition Ministry will commence free mobile diabetics screening clinics in public places such as bus terminals and railway stations in order to control the rapidly growing number of diabetic patients in Sri Lanka. This will be done through the `Diabetic Task Force' to be established shortly, Healthcare and Nutrition Ministry sources said.

Sources said that the Diabetics Task Force will be set up under the direction of Healthcare and Nutrition Minister Nimal Siripala De Silva. A majority of diabetic patients do not know that they are suffering from diabeties and it is one of the main problems faced by the health authorities when detecting diabetic patients. At the moment the Ministry does not have accurate National level statistics on diabetic patients in Sri Lanka.

The Ministry is also trying its best to find out the statistics on vulnerable groups. There are diabetic clinics run by state hospitals countrywide but they offer only the basic treatment. The do not offer other related treatments such as foot examination which is a must in diabetic treatment.

These clinics also do not have programs to raise awareness on diabetes prevention. After conducting a special discussion with Prof. Rizvi Sheriff, Dr. Chandika Wijeratne and several others Minister De Silva has given instructions to train 400 nurses especially of the proposed Diabetics Task Force and also instructed to assign a team of doctors for the same.

Diabetics among Sri Lankan children has increased from 15 percent to 17 percent in the recent past.