Free diabetes screening in Davao City

CIty Health Office Technical Division Chief Dr. Julinda Acosta urged Davaoeños 20-years old and above to avail of the free medical intervention. 

The activity s part of the city’s heightened campaign against the chronic disease in celebration of the National Diabetes Week (July 25-31).

Data from 2019 revealed that 6.3 percent of Filipinos had been diagnosed with diabetes, and  there are more than 463 million diabetic patients in the world. 

Chona Dazon, the CHO Non-Communicable Diseases Program Coordinator also urged Davaoeños to avail  of the free diabetes screening in barangay and district health centers offered every Friday. 

“Our health facilities are always open. We have what we call the Diabetes and Heart Day every Friday,” Dazon said.

Danzon said the free screening is available to individuals as young as 20 years old because cases of juvenile diabetes have been on the rise globally. 

People with obesity and history of diabetes in the family are also highly encouraged to avail themselves of the free screening, she said. 

Those diagnosed with the disease are advised to register under the CHO’s Diabetes and Heart program. Under this program, patients with diabetes can be given free medication. 

The CHO offers both oral medicines and insulin shots to diabetic patients. 

The CHO also teaches diabetic patients proper foot and wound care. The CHO’s nutritionists also give Medical Nutrition Therapy and recommendations regarding a patient’s daily calorie requirement and healthier food substitutes. 

The city also offers assistance to amputee patients through its partnership with the Davao Jubilee Foundation. Through this public-private partnership, amputees are given the chance to walk again with the help of prosthetics.

Diabetes is a chronic disease in which there is currently no cure.

Symptoms are undetectable at its early stages. Advanced stages of diabetes include symptoms like polyuria (excessive urine production), dry mouth, extreme fatigue, numbness due to nerve damage, sudden weight loss, blurring of vision, kidney damage, poor wound healing, and even heart attack.