SMALL medical team from Australia, headed by a doctor from Royal Melbourne Hospital Dr Janine Rowse and medical nurse Becky Houghton, are in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville campaigning and educating people on the dangers of diabetes.
Dr Rowse said diabetes was an illness that could pose a severe threat to the people of Bougainville if nothing was done to prevent it. She was in Bougainville early this year and saw many diabetes patients having their legs amputated at the Buka hospital and decided to do something about it.When she returned to Australia, Dr Rowse decided to make a trip to Bougainville to carry out awareness campaigns on how best people could improve their health.
“Before we came to Bougainville, we did a small survey and found out that one out of every 10 adults is suffering from diabetes and that is alarming,” she said.
She added 97% of the population did not know much about the illness.
She said their purpose was to educate and inform the people about the disease.
Dr Rowse said the major contributing factor to diabetes was unhealthy diet such as eating and drinking too much processed food like sweet biscuits and carbonated drinks that contained a high level of sugar.
The team has been in the region for two weeks now and is mainly conducting awareness among school children, public servants and those in the private sector.
Ms Houghton, who is a registered nurse with a masters degree at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, said people living in urban areas and cities had a high risk of contracting diabetes.
She said there were other complications that diabetes could cause by affecting other organs.Ms Houghton added the only way to prevent it was to have a balanced diet and regular physical exercise.
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