Pheto urges public to screen for various disease
Nnasaretha Kgamanyane | Monday August 13, 2018 11:15
Speaking at the Walk of Hope Diabetes Sponsored Walk in Molepolole on Saturday, former Botswana Musicians Union (BOMU) president Bafana Phempheretlhe Pheto urged the public to consult their healthcare provider at least once a year and test for various types of diseases. He said this would help early detection of various diseases such as Tuberculosis, HIV, diabetes and other chronic diseases.
“A screening test is done to detect potential health disorders or diseases in people who do not have any symptoms of disease. The goal is early detection and lifestyle changes or surveillance, to reduce the risk of disease, or to detect it early enough to treat it most effectively. I do this once every year because I don’t believe in going to the clinic only when I am sick. This can help you treat whatever disease on time. As we all know, prevention is better than cure,” he advised.
He further urged Batswana to change their lifestyle and adapt a healthy way of living. He encouraged the public to refrain from their mindset of seeking medical health attention and or changing their lifestyles when they are very sick saying take going for regular body check ups to save their lives.
The patron of Walk of Hope Marang Motona said regular body check ups and adapting healthy living was good for people’s wellbeing. She noted that lifestyle diseases were prevalent in Botswana.
“My husband was diagnosed with diabetes in 2016. I joined this organisation and learnt more about this disease. My family had to change our lifestyle more especially the kind of food we ate. Even though my children could not adapt to the new meals we just adapted at the time, they got used to them eventually because I told myself that I will start eating healthy foods only,” she said.
Kweneng DHMT representative Nthipi Otukile said diabetes affected all people of different age and gender. She said the disease could affect even children. Otukile said diabetes was a chronic condition associated with abnormally high levels of sugar (glucose) in the blood. Otukile said insulin produced by the pancreas lowers blood glucose. She explained that absence or insufficient production of insulin, or an inability of the body to properly use insulin causes diabetes.
“Common signs of diabetes include increased thirst, increased hunger (especially after eating), dry mouth, frequent urination or urine infections, unexplained weight loss (even though you are eating and feel hungry), fatigue (weak, tired feeling), blurred vision and others. There are two types of diabetes, which are type one commonly found in young people and type two. Obesity can also attribute to getting diabetes. In Scottish Hospital, we have over 600 diabetes patients. Imagine when you include those who seek medical attention in other facilities such as Block 6 clinic. Lifestyle diseases pose a great concern in our country,” she said.
Commenting on their participation in the event, brand-marketing manager at New Era College, Omphile Visagie said that they sponsored the event because they wanted to highlight that lifestyle diseases such as diabetes affect all people including their young students. She explained that their school believes that fitness was the key in addressing those diseases. She said alignment with the organisations such as Walk of Hope who share same outlook was fitting.