An estimated 70 percent of the country’s diabetic youth population (aged 2 months to 24 years) are from Regions Three, Four and Six, the Ministry of Public Health said today.
The Ministry stated that of the 68 diabetic youth patients registered under the ‘Sponsor the Child Initiative, 48 are from those three Regions.
From this national figure too, Regions Two, Five and Ten account for some 24 per cent of the patients.
Dr Kavita Singh, Head of the Ministry’s Chronic Disease Unit (CDU) said Monday that the absence of diabetic youths in Regions One, Eight, and Nine could be attributed to a “lack of diagnostic tools” in these interior locations.
She said too that an Australian non-governmental organisation (NGO) Life For Child has promised support in this area to Guyana for 2018.
Dr Singh made the disclosure while discussing plans for the 8th annual camp for diabetic youths to be held at the Splashmins ECO Adventure and Camping Park on the Linden/Soesdyke Highway.
Senior MOPH executives are slated to address the youths at the opening ceremony on Wednesday. The camp for diabetic youths was first held here in 2010.
The Ministry of Public Health said it is currently developing a tool to increase accuracy in “spotting diabetic youths.” The Ministry stated that many diabetic youths in the private sector are not accounted for in the national statistics for the subsector.
