Diabetes experts cite need for urgent action

If we are to create a strong and healthy nation, we must include diabetes, a chronic disease, in our priorities.

This was stressed by Dr. Francisco Pasaporte, president of the Philippine Association of Diabetes Educators (PADE), in a media briefing held in Quezon City recently.

“The cost of inaction is clear and unacceptable,” he said. “We should get involved and stay involved.”

Also at the media forum was Dr. Ricardo Fernando who is considered the father of diabetology. It was almost five decades ago when he started his mission as a one-man team, educating medical practitioners on diabetes.

In his remarks, he warned that the prevalence of diabetes has reached epidemic proportions. “In the Philippines, there are 500 new diabetics every day,” he said. “The disease is spreading and growing due partly to ignorance.”

Fernando suggested mass education among poorer communities to correct several misunderstandings that have contributed to the neglect of this chronic disease. General information on diabetes should be provided, including the main risk factors: unhealthy diet, physical inactivity and smoking.

According to the World Health Organization 2007 statistics, there are more than three million Filipinos who are suffering from diabetes.  This figure is expected to increase in the coming years.

PADE believes that awareness and patient education are the best weapons against diabetes. It has always been in the forefront of training healthcare professionals and lay educators on the different facets of diabetes education and patient empowerment.  

To create better awareness about diabetes, PADE has gone out of the traditional hospital and clinic setting. It has tried unconventional set-ups such as diabetes camps, care centers, schools and workplaces. As a result, diabetes information has become more accessible to patients, at a more convenient and flexible environment.  

Through PADE’s efforts, regular training and workshops for medical practitioners and allied healthcare professionals in various parts of the country are now in place. 

Pasaporte has listed down the 10 common misconceptions on diabetes:

• “Everyone has to die of something.”

• “My grandpa smoked and was overweight and he lived to 96.”

• Chronic disease prevention and control is too expensive.

• Chronic diseases can’t be prevented.

• Chronic diseases are the result of unhealthy lifestyles.

• Chronic diseases affect men mostly.

• Chronic diseases mainly affect old people.

• Chronic diseases mainly affect rich people.

• Low and middle-income countries should control infectious diseases before chronic diseases.

• Chronic diseases mainly affect high-income countries.

The fight against diabetes is a long and arduous task. But for as long as there are people who are diagnosed with the diabetes, PADE will always be willing to walk the extra mile to help patients and their families manage and cope with the demands of their condition.

At PADE’s sixth annual convention of PADE to be held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Ortigas Center on June 20-21, the diabetes educators will again take to task in promoting diabetes education toward excellent diabetes care. This year’s theme is “Community Diabetes Educators: Walking an Extra Mile.”

The annual convention is a gathering of doctors, nurses, dieticians and other healthcare professionals who share the same aspirations in defeating the silent epidemic of diabetes mellitus.  PADE will be joined by the Association of Diabetes Nurse Educators of the Philippines.

PADE’s advocacy is supported by Sanofi-Aventis, manufacturer of insulin glargine, the number one insulin worldwide.