Key takeaway:
- To mark World Diabetes Awareness Day, Dauphin and Manitoba are partnering up to conduct a free and portable blood sugar testing clinic.
- Another goal of the November campaign is to raise awareness about the scope of diabetes in Canada.
Dauphin and Manitoba are teaming up to host a free and mobile blood sugar testing clinic to honour World Diabetes Awareness Day.
The inaugural #Dynacare4Diabetes clinic was held on Sunday at the St. Kateri Tekakwitha Aboriginal Church in Winnipeg, and the second clinic will be held in Dauphin on November 21.
From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Dynacare will donate 50 cents to Diabetes Canada for every A1C test performed at the Metis Community Health Centre at 101-11 Avenue in Dauphin.
“The A1C test is a screening tool to assess if you’re at risk of diabetes, and it’s a technique to identify those who may have diabetes but aren’t aware,” explains Dynacare operations manager Myles Duffy.
“You can get the test free of charge from any Dynacare (Laboratory and Health Services Centre) in Manitoba.”
According to Duffy, diabetes has numerous possible repercussions, and getting a free test can help you avoid some major issues in the future.
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“We’re targeting those demographics with mobile centres, so it’s simpler for them to go to, and we’re taking our team with us to these sites to try to deliver testing to these communities,” Duffy adds.
Another goal of the November campaign is to raise awareness about the scope of diabetes in Canada.
According to Diabetes Canada’s Andrea Kwasnicki, Manitoba has one of the country’s highest diabetes rates per capita.
“In Manitoba, there are roughly 403,000 persons who have Type 1, Type 2, or prediabetes.”
According to Kwaznicki, the availability to care is currently good, but as more people are diagnosed each year, the need for care is also rising.
“Ideally, if patients have access to programmes and services like the A1C test, as well as physicians who can help them,” Kwaznicki says, “that would be a chance to lower risk factors.”
“A lot of people are carrying it about and aren’t even aware of it.” [The test] is simply a simple needle poke, and perhaps we’ll be able to provide them with some information that will assist them to improve the health of their communities. That is our objective.”
The clinic will be held at Maples Community Centre in Winnipeg on November 28 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Source: Global News
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