Vivian monitoring drive for diabetes in Gozo

The campaign will kick 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.

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.

“When persons with diabetes monitor their blood glucose regularly they will feel more in control and this increases their confidence in managing their diabetes condition. It’s a chain reaction,” Yan Grima,product specialistat Vivian Corporationrepresenting Roche Diagnostics, said.

“The results of this study have also been encouraging for us and this is what spurred us to embark on this awareness project in Gozo, where diabetes is a reality as much as in Malta but where the condition is sadly viewed as a taboo.

“Besides explaining what diabetes is, the aim of this campaign is to promote the importance of regular monitoring amongst people who already live with this condition because it is the regular monitoring that can help patients keep their glucose levels to minimum levels, thus decreasing future complications.”

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.

On Wednesday 14th September, Vivian Corporation together with the Outpatients Department at Gozo General Hospital will be setting up an information center at It-Tokk in Victoria from where the public can ask questions, retrieve information, view and make use of the education material and learn more about diabetes in general. In conjunction with this, Vivian Corporation has also secured the collaboration of most pharmacies in Gozo who will be hosting persons with diabetes and the general public to monitor their blood glucose.

Participants will be asked to fill in a short form and following this, there will be a second event two months later when on the 17th of November, 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.

This event has already found the support of all pharmacies in Gozo who will be encouraging their respective patrons to participate and learn more, as well as the support of the Ministry for Gozo and the Victoria Local Council who will be endorsing this event.