All Pharmacies in Gozo Participating in Week-Long Campaign

“The incidence of diabetes in our country has reached high levels and its presence is a reality in Gozo as much as it is in Malta. This was also confirmed by pharmacies in Gozo with whom we have been in direct communication throughout the organization of this week-long campaign where we have learnt more about how Gozitans view diabetes and how they approach this condition. We are in fact happy to confirm that for this initiative, all pharmacies throughout Gozo, 18 of them in all, have agreed to participate in this monitoring drive.”

 

This was stated by Yan Grima, Product Specialist at Vivian Corporation representing Roche Diagnostics during the official inauguration of ACCU-CHEK ‘IN GOZO, an awareness and education campaign organized by Vivian Corporation with the support of ACCU-CHEK Active, a blood glucose meter produced by Roche Diagnostics and distributed in Malta by Vivian Corporation.

 

ACCU-CHEK ‘IN GOZO is being hosted to promote and encourage the importance of regular blood glucose monitoring and is taking place under the auspices of the Ministry for Gozo and the support of the Victoria Local Council. The campaign kicked off with a one-day event on Wednesday 14th September in Victoria and will extend for a whole week throughout all the pharmacies in Gozo who will be offering education about diabetes and free blood glucose monitoring.

 

Addressing the official inauguration of the week-long campaign, Hon Giovanna Debono, Minister for Gozo noted how this initiative will lead to a study about diabetes on a regional basis and that the small size of the island will hopefully make it more possible for any resulting information to be as correct as possible. Whilst praising the collaboration from all pharmacies throughout Gozo throughout this initiative, Minister Debono called on to all the public to participate in this drive so that the higher the participation, the more clear will be the picture about the incidence of diabetes in Gozo. “This will eventually helps us deliver a more better service to all those who are in any way suffering due to this condition whilst contributing to and sustaining our efforts to further improve the quality of life in Gozo,” added Minister Debono.    

 

In his address, Yan Grima expained how this awareness campaign follows Vivian Corporation’s recent announcement of an important observational study which also included the participation of 12 Maltese persons with diabetes, a study that confirmed that regular monitoring of blood glucose helps people with diabetes manage their condition more effectively. The final results of this study in fact confirmed that the HbA1c (average blood glucose level of previous 3 months) was found to be 1.7% lower as compared to when they started the study. Every 1% decrease in HbA1c reduces the risk of death from diabetes by 21%, heart attacks by 14% and also reduces risk of complications of the eyes, feet and kidneys.

 

Complications of diabetes include problems with kidneys, nerves, feet and eyes. Other long-term complications of diabetes can result in skin problems, digestive problems, sexual dysfunction, and problems with teeth and gums.

 

To launch this week campaign, Vivian Corporation together with the Outpatients Department at Gozo General Hospital set up an information center in Victoria from where the public could obtain information, ask questions and make use of the education material and learn more about diabetes in general.

 

Participants taking the free blood glucose test, will also be asked to fill in a short form and following this, there will be a second event in two months’ time on the 17th of November. During this second event, the persons who would have taken the first test in September will be invited to take a seconds free test so that they can see the development in the level of their blood glucose over that two-month period.

 

“The aim of this will be for us to try and draw a general profile of the incidence of diabetes in Gozo. Therefore, the public’s participation in this drive is very important because it will help us understand better how Gozo looks at diabetes and to what extent Gozitans acknowledge the importance of taking this condition seriously,” concluded Mr Grima.