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By Chioma Ndife
Pat Nwigwe Foundation has embarked on an awareness campaign to educate people living with diabetes on how to manage the situation and achieve the desired longevity.
The awareness campaign organized in a bid to celebrate the Christmas season for people living with diabetes, was carried out in all the Catholic Churches in Enugwu-Ukwu Community and environs. It also featured free medical outreach that witnessed the screening of blood glucose pressure and administration of drugs for common ailments.
Speaking at the outreach held at St Francis Catholic Church, Enugwu-Ukwu, Njikoka LGA, Anambra State, the Executive Director of Pat Nwigwe Foundation, Dr. Patrick Nwigwe, said the campaign was geared at raising awareness in order to educate people living with diabetes and curtail the rate of death and other conditions associated with the ailment.
‘This is an awareness for people who are living with diabetes, we educate them and provide them with information about diabetes which is a worldwide health issue today.
‘The Foundation also provided free testing to denote the blood glucose pressure and from there we derive means on how to manage the health conditions of the concerned fellow.
‘Aside from conducting tests for blood glucose level, we also provided multivitamins, calcium for bone density, folic acid, Omega Three, among others. For older women with arthritis, we provided drugs that will manage their condition,’ he stated.
He disclosed that the campaign and medical outreach were carried out in all the Catholic churches in Enugwu-Ukwu, Immanuel Anglican Church, Enugwu-Ukwu and St. Michael’s, Nawfia.
Dr. Nwigwe said the foundation hoped to reach as many persons as possible and expressed joy that the medical outreach assisted people to know their sugar level, saying that such knowledge would enable concerned persons to act in order to manage the situation effectively.
He described diabetes as an ailment that required proper management for it to be controlled, saying that it was difficult to cure but advised people with the condition to exercise and engage in other healthy habits.
He revealed that the Foundation would extend its activities to Abba, Abagana and other communities, and stated that the outreach was also carried out in July and August. He noted that the Christmas outreach was part of the ways which the Foundation devised to celebrate Christmas for people and fulfill their social responsibility.
Adding her Voice, one of the nurses that attended to people, Stella Akike, said that aside from testing the blood sugar level, blood pressure and malaria test were also conducted. She maintained that there seemed to be an increase in the number of people living with diabetes when compared with findings made in their previous outreaches.
She advised people to reduce the manner in which they consumed carbohydrates and consume more of proteinous foods, fruits and vegetables.