Residents of Nyamira county will benefit from a free diabetes checkup and special training for those who may detected, Governor John Nyagarama has said.
Speaking at Nyamira Hospital on Sunday during the launch of the one-week exercise, Nyagarama said the move is aimed at helping residents manage the condition which had reportedly affected a sizeable population.
Nyagarama urged residents to turn up in large numbers in all public health facilities for the checkup and subsequent counselling by a group of senior health officials.
“Our county is recording high cases of people with diabetes and astonishingly, many of the victims learn of their condition when it is at advanced stages. As a county government, I urge all residents to visit health centres for checkup and subsequent counselling for those who may be detected with the condition,” he said.
He said his government is in talks with non-governmental organisations to seek ways of reducing treatment costs incurred by diabetic patients.
“We all understand that managing the condition is quite difficult and my government has been reaching out to a number of NGOs to help us subsidise treatment because as you are aware, purchasing insulin on daily or weekly basis is very expensive,” he said.
The county boss, however, promised full support to children who may be detected with the disease from the county government.
“Sometimes back, the condition was synonymous among the elderly but nowadays it doesn’t even spare children. I am ready to support families whose children may be detected with the condition,” he added.