KZN Health: "Get tested for diabetes"

Keen to learn about the disease, they joined commemorations of Word Diabetes Day at the weekend.

“Get tested and prevent diabetes” was the message the KwaZulu-Natal department of health was conveying at the Esikhawini Tertiary Vocational Education and Training school in Richards Bay on Saturday. The department also had a screening centre at the venue.

Commenting on Diabetes mellitus, which “knows no race, no class and no status”, the department said the disease was prevalent in South Africa.

Health head of department Dr Sifiso Mtshali, who spoke on behalf of KZN Health MEC Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo, on Monday said: “Diabetes has become one of the major causes of deaths in the world, with the majority of people suffering from the disease coming from South Africa”.

The health screenings took place in collaboration with the Bongi Ngema-Zuma Foundation and the Department of Transport.

Ngema-Zuma, who is President Jacob Zuma’s third wife, said the foundation’s vision was “to see a continent where diabetes ceases to be a killer disease due to lack of awareness.”

Diabetes is one of the top four chronic, noncommunicable diseases that is responsible for the majority of deaths worldwide, with the others being respiratory diseases, cancer and heart disease.

“All South Africans should check their glucose levels to know what their risk is for diabetes, an easily preventable disease,” said Dr Mtshali.

He emphasised the need for South Africans to test for diabetes at least “once a year, because early detection makes diseases easier and cheaper to treat or manage.”

“Health is like an investment. The more you invest in it, the longer you will live. And type 2 Diabetes is avoidable. It’s a self-made illness. We are urging people to increase exercise and adopt healthy lifestyles, and eat properly,” said Dr Mtshali.

“TB is the number one killer. If you have diabetes, it affects your immune system. Untreated diabetes makes TB thrive in your body. As a Department, we wish to call upon you to get tested. Our message is, ‘Halt the Diabetes epidemic. We are saying be active, decrease your intake of alcohol, and stop smoking.”

Mtshali said diabetes was one of the country’s quadruple burden of disease that includes HIV and AIDS and TB.

He advised people to treat their health as they would an investment portfolio because “health is like an investment. The more you invest in it, the longer you will live.”