While there are no studies pointing to it, experts in the field of obesity, diabetes and hypertension say that these diseases are the main contributors to early death in Belize. But this trend far surpasses a national problem in fact it is a regional if not a global trend where access to cheap fatty foods has been changing the demographics of populations from being undernourished to being obese. In an effort to combat the new lifestyles diseases, the Pan American Health Organization through its Caribbean Food and Nutrition Institute today launched its protocol for the nutritional management of obesity, diabetes, and hypertension in the Caribbean. 7NEWS was there.
Alfonso Noble Reporting,
Over the next four days health professionals from across the country will be receiving instruction on the use of this book, The Protocol for the Management of Obesity, Diabetes and Hypertension in the Caribbean.
"Its saying that for healthcare workers at the primary level, and also that people from the Diabetes Association and the patients of health groups, the aim is to try and standardize the information and knowledge on the primary management of these conditions. We know that obesity is a big problem in the region and this is one of the big main causes for diabetes and hypertension. So in our effort to prevent obesity, and also in our effort to manage obesity, we are trying to recruit as many of the health care professionals as we can ensuring that the information that they have is accurate, is standardized, and is also the latest available information for the management and prevention of the care. What happens at the moment is that all the countries have their own systems and what we are trying to do is to ensure that people from all across the Caribbean get the same standard quality of care, the highest quality of care, so that if a person from Belize goes to Jamaica or goes to St. Vincent and has diabetes or has hypertension, they will get, at least at the primary level where this protocol is involved, will get the same standardized care across the region. It also is important that we look at standardizing care which is for our region. Many people from support groups are giving advice, or giving support advice, and they are actually using tools that the client and the patient can then utilize and then use because its no use giving somebody literature that is applicable for North America or Europe but it can't be applied for the situation in the Caribbean and Belize particularly as we are saying now."
For Belize in particular the protocol will be of great use as information being offered in it is relevant to our region and our country. Deputy Director of Health Services Dr. Jorge Polanco says that's important because of the growing prevalence of obesity, diabetes and hypertension and the unquantified toll they are having on the population.
Dr. Jorge Polanco, Deputy Director of Health Services
"These diseases, diabetes and hypertension, are diseases that lead to many of our disabling diseases. You are aware we have a lot of strokes in the country, we have a significant number of persons suffering amputations of varying degrees which are nothing but complications of these chronic diseases. The statistics show that the leading cause of death of adults over 50 years are due to these diseases or the complications of these diseases including renal failure. Renal failure is a serious issue right now where there is an increasing need for persons who need dialysis as a result of kidney failure and it's a treatment that's very expensive. So right now when you focus our resources in preventing these diseases or controlling them to such a point that eventually they will not lead to these type of complications. Prevention is better than cure and we have to be cost efficient. The resources are limited, both financial and human within the country, so we have to make sure that what we do, we do it in such a way that on the long run we won't have these complications that are very expensive; not only expensive to government but expensive to the family. As I mentioned earlier the economic or financial impact of an amputation, of a death due to renal failure, on a family has not been determined, we don't have that data. But if we can prevent the diseases to avoid those complications for sure we are in the right direction."
A direction that will hopefully see the protocols that were distributed today put to use, minimizing the risks that the population faces because of completely preventable diseases.
The training on the use of the manual will run up until Thursday.
