Email

Print

According to PAHO, the leading causes of death in Belize in recent years were chronic noncommunicable diseases, and deadly Diabetes leads the way. 

Between 2012 and 2016, the Ministry of Health recorded over 20,000 cases of Belizeans afflicted with diabetes. So, to ensure that the nurses and midwives are adequately able to treat Belizeans living with the disease, the Nurses and Midwives Council organized a training workshop for 80 of their colleagues countrywide. 

That all-day session happened today at the Ramada Belize City Princess Hotel, and it was being facilitated by 2 American doctors who have ties to Belize. We stopped by this morning to find out more about what the participants were learning today. Here's what the organizers and the facilitators told us about the training:

Catherine Godinez - Rep., Nurses and Midwives Council
"Nurses, we form the backbone of the healthcare system, and we're usually the frontline personnel. We're usually the first persons who the patient comes in contact with. And for us in Belize, and throughout the Caribbean - in fact even throughout the world, as we've been learning from the most recent statistics - diabetes continues to be a concern for healthcare worldwide. So, from the Nurses and Midwives Council, we are interested that our nurses and healthcare personnel keep abreast, and be cognizant of all the latest evidence-based treatment, modalities. We are here to provide the best quality care our patients could get. So, we want to keep abreast of what's going on throughout the world."

Dr. Claudia Barnett - Facilitator
"I work directly with Dr. Steven Wells, who's one of the facilitators of this conference, and that's why these people are here. The nurses and the midwives are here today. And the reason why we're here is to provide education, to ensure that when we leave Belize, that people are able to continue caring for people who have diabetes here. This is a wound care conference to make sure that people understand. My background is in training and performance improvement, and as the educator for the Diabetic Foot Center Group and clinical administrator, it is important that we understand that we have to teach to reach more people. When we're here for a short period of time, we want to make sure that we leave a legacy, that when we come back, there are more people who are saved because of wound care, and how to take care of patients."

Dr. Seven Wells - Facilitator
"So, one of the things that we're talking about is how to look at wounds. A lot of people have wounds in Belize, but again, they're not healing. Again, there are reasons why. We're also training nurses on how to give education. If you're diabetic, you need to learn how to take care of your diabetes. But, more importantly than that, you need to also know kind of how to manage diabetes yourself. So, we're training the nurses on how to train the patients, to manage diabetes by themselves, but also to be able to be healthier. So, at the end of the day, diabetes awareness, diabetes treatment, and wound healing, as well as also trying to get the doctors to be more proactive."

And, for the global picture, the World Health Organization, estimates that the number of people around the world with diabetes has risen from 108 million in 1980 to a staggering 422 million in 2014. 

Common warning signs of diabetes may include increased thirst; increased hunger, especially after eating; dry mouth; frequent urination or urinary infections; unexplained weight loss; fatigue; and blurred vision.