National Diabetes Week to assess at-risk

A serious health problem affecting countless Pilbara residents is in the spotlight, thanks to events being run by Pilbara Population Health and Pilbara Health Network for National Diabetes Week.

A morning tea will be held tomorrow at the Pilbara Population Health meeting room in Karratha. The focus will be diabetes education and prevention. The team will use a new teaching tool developed by Diabetes WA to demonstrate the impact diabetes can have on the entire body. A display will be set up in Centro Karratha tomorrow morning, offering risk assessment for type 2 diabetes.

Visitors can check their blood pressure, gather educational resources on diabetes and learn about the consequences of obesity. In Roebourne, 8.4 per cent of residents were listed on the National Diabetes Service Scheme as living with type 1, type 2 or gestational diabetes. This percentage is higher than the national average of 5.6 per cent. A Diabetes WA spokeswoman said while the Pilbara was below the national average, many outlying communities were not listed on the scheme accounting for low numbers.

Susie Hudson from Pilbara Health Network said people in the Pilbara were at higher risk of type 2 diabetes, because long work hours and high temperatures caused a general lack of desire to exercise and eat healthily. “We want to see people before they have developed diabetes and teach them how they can prevent diabetes through their diet, exercise and visits to a GP, so many cases of diabetes can be prevented,” she said. A morning tea was held in Onslow at the Bindi Bindi Village Community Centre to promote diabetes education among Aboriginal people on Monday.