The Municipal Chief Executive of La Nkwantanang-Madina Municipal Assembly, Jenifer Dede Adjabeng has officially opened Type 1 Diabetes Clinic at Sanford Health Centre, Adentan in Accra. The event which took place on Monday, November 14, 2022 also coincided with this year’s World Diabetes Day.
In her address the MCE said, it was very likely for someone to unintentionally slip the diagnosis for Type 1 Diabetes, because the symptoms are largely the same as that of common diseases in children.
Madam Adjabeng, who was also the Special Guest of Honour for the occasion acknowledged that the presence of the Clinic at Stanford provides the opportunity for everyone to have a better healthcare and therefore no stone should be left unturned.
She therefore called on all health practitioners and parents to pay attention and make sure not to slip diagnosis since early detection was key to ensuring that medication was administered on time to ensure a long and healthy life for people living with Type 1 Diabetes.
The President of Sanford World Clinic, Dr. Kojo Taylor, said despite the high prevalence of the disease in Ghana, people do not have access to good care and described the situation as worrying.
“It is important to have knowledgeable patients who can look after themselves,” He added.
According to him, a well-structured education programme for the public, patients and health professionals was needed in the effort to manage the disease. Dr. Taylor also disclosed that statistics available to the National Diabetes Association indicates that there are more than four million diabetic patients in the country aged between 34 and 64.
For her part, the Founder and Executive Director of Sonia Nabeta Foundation (SNF), Ms Vivian Nabeta noticed that Type 1 Diabetes in Africa is buried under the shroud of confusion and misconception.
She said type 1 diabetes does not have a known cause, not preventable and curable and also no amount of exercise was could prevent.
“It is a condition where the immune system attacks the cells in the pancreas that produces the insulin,” Ms Nabeta explained.
Ms Nabeta said, most people were of the view that diabetes is caused by poor diet, lack of exercise and other conscious lifestyle decisions.
“It is also important to disabuse your minds that diabetes is not for children and that only older people can have it,” Ms Nabeta said.
She therefore called on children living with type 1 diabetes to rise up to the task and fight against the disease as that was the surest way of having equal chance of long, healthy, gainful and productive lives.
This year’s global celebration is on the theme: “Education To Protect Tomorrow”.
Sonia Nabeta and Sanford World Clinic partnered a joint program named “SNF Clinic at Sanford Health” to support the Ministry of Health’s objective of improving access to healthcare for children with type 1 diabetes (T1D) in Ghana.
The Member of Parliament for Madina Constituency, Hon. Francis Xavier Sosu enumerated a number of interventions he has initiated to support the underprivileged. He mentioned the Sosu Medical Project which targets the underprivileged in the area of healthcare, and also pledged to collaborate with the SNF Clinic at Sanford to bring medical relief to persons living with Type 1 Disease.
