Overall training plan targets nurses, medical students, primary care physicians and medical nurses.
AQELA SUSU
SUVA
Doctors and private medical practitioners now have more knowledge on the care of diabetic patients.
This follows a two-day training workshop for primary health care practitioners on diabetes management.
The training was organised by Diabetes Fiji in conjunction with the Ministry of Health and the World Diabetes Federation.
Diabetes Fiji Chairman, Dr Wahid Khan, said the training was part of their Foot-care project that was launched earlier this year aimed at training nurses, medical students, primary care physicians and medical nurses on foot care.
“This training is organised to empower them and revisit some things on diabetes and to also upskill them on managing diabetic patients,” Dr Khan said.
Statistics displayed to participants at the workshop revealed that one in three people in Fiji had diabetes.
Dr Wahid said there was a high rate of diabetes in Fiji because patients were always scared to present themselves for medication at health facilities in the country.
“Many are shy of insulin and always afraid to have injections and rather just take tablets.
“Inactivity and poor choice of food are two main causes of this disease in Fiji,” he said.
Dr Khan said the participants were taught about the importance of food, exercise and the management of acute problems in diabetes.
Suva Private Hospital’s Doctor Shalini Kumar was among the sixty medical practitioners from the Central Eastern division who were part of the two-day training workshop that started last Saturday.
“The training was good because it had a lot to teach us doctors. We were shown new statistics and how people in rural areas were more prone to diabetes rather than those living in urban areas.
“We also learned about insulin therapy and complications,” Dr Kumar said.
Dr Khan added their aim was to train eighty primary care physicians in each division.
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