Did you know that type 2 Diabetes is most common among Haitians

Diabetes is a highly manageable disease but requires a lot of self-care. The most effective intervention strategy for Diabetes in Haiti, intervene early. There are still many problems facing most Haitians today, and diabetes isn't the least of them.

A merely cursory look at the system of health care still present in the country shows that, because most Haitians have no access to financial support for disabilities and don't collect unemployment, their diseases remain solely their problem. As such, early detection, before a disease like diabetes has progressed and had time to cause great complications, may mean the difference between life and death.

While the strategy of early detection can be employed to mitigate high costs in many disease scenarios, diabetes shows this to great effect for, it is a highly manageable disease normally kept under control by regular visits to a medical personnel and control of one's blood sugar level. In the country, based on a 2006 study done by the Fondation Haïtienne de Diabète et de Maladies Cardio-vasculaires, some 4.8% of men and 8.9% of women in Port-au-Prince have diabetes. The statistics grow more gruesome with WHO data stating that 90% of diabetes cases are type II, and a greater number than 80% of those with the disease live in countries of low to medium income.

Put bluntly, Haitians are still too poor to handle this disease's complications which can go from amputation of a limb, to blindness, heart disease, kidney failure and stroke. Type II diabetes is known to be controlled by diet, the staving off of obesity, and oral medication. It can also be prevented or, in some cases, reversed by the first two components, showing that early detection certainly does matter with such a disease.

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