Governments urged to recognise their work in run-up to World Diabetes Day tomorrow
Diabetes is a chronic condition that affects more than 463 million adults worldwide – including an estimated 40,500 people in Malta aged 20 to 79 years (International Diabetes Federation’s Diabetes Atlas, 9th edition).
Insufficient access to diabetes care and treatment often results in life-threatening complications, which, according to IDF estimates, are responsible for 4.2 million adult deaths annually.
Despite diabetes being a global health threat that incurs high levels of expenditure each year (€644 billion in 2019), millions of people with diabetes cannot afford the care and medicines they need. Many are pushed into poverty to cover the healthcare costs for family members.
The World Health Organisation declared 2020 to be the International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife. Nurses play a key role in identifying and diagnosing diabetes early, tackling the risk factors for type 2 diabetes and providing self-management training and psychological support to help prevent diabetes-related complications.
According to the WHO, nine million more nurses are needed globally if we want to achieve universal health coverage by 2030. If this gap is not urgently addressed, many of the 578 million people who will be living with diabetes by then will not have access to the care they need.
“The role of the diabetes nurse is becoming increasingly important in managing the impact of the condition. Nurses are often the first and sometimes only health professional that a person interacts with and so, the quality of their initial assessment, care and treatment is vital,” the Malta Diabetes Association said in a statement.
In the run-up to World Diabetes Day being marked tomorrow, the association and the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) are requesting national governments to recognise and advance the role of nurses in diabetes care by:
• Ensuring the quality of nursing education (including by providing them with training in diabetes);
• Investing in the recruitment and the retention of nurses;
• Maximising the contribution of nurses in providing preventative and primary care.
In the current prevailing circumstances due to COVID-19, the Maltese Diabetes Association also urges the government to ensure that all the necessary mitigation measures are taken to safeguard the health and well-being of the population, especially those living with chronic conditions like diabetes.
“These are challenging and unprecedented times which require challenging and urgent measures to mitigate the effects of COVID-19 in our community. Unfortunately, there often conflicting messages that are being given, at times diluting the gravity of the COVID-19 situation in Malta,” Chris J. Delicata, president of the association, said.
“We need to work collectively as a community to fight the virus, by first and foremost acting responsibly; by rigorously following the instructions and guidelines given by the health authorities; and by taking good care of our health and that of others.
“Our frontliners, doctors, healthcare professionals are doing a wonderful job, at times beyond their call of duty. We can truly show our appreciation by acting responsibly.”
World Diabetes Day (WDD) was created in 1991 by the IDF and WHO in response to growing concerns about the escalating health threat posed by diabetes.
World Diabetes Day became an official United Nations Day in 2006 with the passage of United Nation Resolution 61/225. It is marked every year on November 14, the birthday of Sir Frederick Banting, who co-discovered insulin along with Charles Best in 1922.