AS the world recognised World Diabetes Day last Saturday, the St. Lucia Diabetes and Hypertension Association did their part in raising awareness about the disease which has given St.Lucia the blackened reputation of having the highest rate of diabetes in the world per capita.
The Association hosted free public screening for diabetes and hypertension on the William Peter Boulevard and also in Soufriere on Friday and Saturday, giving the public the opportunity to know their status in the form of high blood pressure and high blood sugar tests.
Representing the Castries Health Centre was Nurse Desir who is the centre’s Public Health Nursing Supervisor.
Desir said this effort is a means of giving back to the community: “We are hoping that today we can discover persons who have not been told that they have high blood pressure or high blood sugar. We provide counselling to those persons we find with elevated readings both for blood pressure and blood sugar.”
She said the Association has been doing this venture for six years now and the public response was excellent with hundreds of individuals turning up to get checked.
The small group started at 8:30 a.m. and ended shortly after 4:00 p.m.
On duty was a family nurse practitioner, two nurses and two community health aides