EXECUTIVE director of the Diabetes Association of Jamaica, Owen Bernard, wants increased public awareness regarding diabetes, due to the high prevalence of the disease in Jamaica.

Speaking recently with JIS News, Bernard said that the association was doing its part in implementing prevention programmes, but there was still a need for more prevention programmes, coupled with proper access to health care and education to curb the number of persons affected by disease.

Bernard said that the association wanted to use the observance of Diabetes Week -- November 10 to 15 -- to further heighten awareness about the disease and to encourage people to join the association.

"We are encouraging persons to become members of the association because it is a one stop shop. Everything that relates to diabetes management is located at the Diabetes Association of Jamaica under one roof, from dialysis to laser therapy," the executive director noted, adding that the association was the only one of its kind in the Caribbean.

Today, World Diabetes Day, a diabetes education session will take place at Enfield in St Mary. "We will be targeting persons like nurses, teachers and members of the security forces, teaching them about diabetes and then educating them regarding nutrition, and foot care, among other topics. Successful candidates are then certified as lay diabetes facilitators, who go out into the community to teach and help diabetics manage their disease," said Bernard.

The week's activities will culminate tomorrow with a health fair on the grounds of the association at Downer Avenue in Kingston.

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