Fourteen new trainers from British Virgin Islands, Belize, Sint Maarten and Turks and Caicos, completed the Train the Trainer workshop on "Clinical guidelines for the management of diabetes in primary care in the Caribbean” hosted by the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) in collaboration with the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States Health Unit (OECS) and the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) from mid-June to July 2022.
According to Dr. Joy St. John, CARPHA's Executive Director, the training will 'go a long way towards the achievement of the Caribbean region's contribution to the sustainable development goals 3.4 goal of reduction of premature mortality from diabetes by a third by 2030'. Participants shared that they were happy to be involved in the timely training and would recommend the activity to other health care professionals. Dr. St. John reminded the participants “You are the change agents, the tools, the champions that we need to help preserve the quality of life of our CARICOM citizens.”
To date, fifty-nine health care professionals have completed the training, including doctors, nurses, pharmacists, nutritionists, health educators and physiotherapists from the private and public sectors. Over seventeen CARPHA Member States can utilise the guidelines to support strengthening and standardising the management of diabetes in primary care settings and improve outcomes in diabetes care. These countries include Anguilla, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Curacao, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Montserrat, St. Lucia, Sint Maarten, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Turks and Caicos and Trinidad and Tobago.
This cadre of trained health professionals will help to disseminate the CARPHA Guidelines for Diabetes Management in Primary Care in the Caribbean, which consist of five modules, focusing on Evidence-Based Treatment Protocols, Healthy Lifestyle Counselling, Guidance for Persons with Diabetes (PwD) & Caregivers, and Access to Essential Diabetic Medicines and Systems for Monitoring.
The workshop was supported with funding from the AFD under the project “Strengthening Strategic Intelligence and Partnership Approaches to Prevent and Control NCDs and Strengthen Regional Health Security in the Caribbean”. The project also supported the production of a pocket guide to accompany the CARPHA Guidelines for The Management of Diabetes in Primary Care in the Caribbean. Two videos were also produced – “What is the state of diabetes” and “What is Diabetes”
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